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https://colab.research.google.com

Colaboratory, or “Colab” for short, is a product from Google Research. Colab allows anybody to write and execute arbitrary Python code through the browser, and is especially well suited to machine learning, data analysis and Python education. More technically, Colab is a hosted Jupyter notebook service that requires no setup to use, while providing free access to computing resources including GPUs.

Jupyter is the open source project on which Colab is based. Colab allows you to use and share Jupyter notebooks with others without having to download, install, or run anything.

“Despite being a popular choice, Colab faces several issues that are deal breakers for many users. Just a few of the drawbacks to Google Colab include:

• Service interruptions
• Slow storage
• Non-configured environments
• Feature-poor

Perhaps the biggest complaint of Colab users is that instances can be shut down (“preempted”) in the middle of a session, and disconnect if you're not actively connected to your notebook. This means that you can lose your work and any training progress – also if you happen to close your tab, or log out by accident. Imagine waiting hours for your model to train, just to come back and see that your instance was shut down; or imagine having to keep your laptop open for 12 hours, afraid that it will go into sleep mode and disconnect you. Other providers, on the other hand, will guarantee the entire session and allow you to pick up where you left off, even if you're not connected the entire time.

Another disadvantage to Colab is its extremely slow storage. When it needs to ingest large quantities of data, Colab will start to crawl. Users report Colab repeatedly timing out if they have too many files in a directory, or failing to read files with obscure and nondescript errors. Unfortunately, dealing with big datasets is a pretty standard part of most ML pipelines, thus making Colab's slow storage reason enough for many users to search for an alternative Jupyter host.

Although Colab might meet the needs of some hobbyists, in contrast to other providers, Colab doesn’t provide many additional features for a comprehensive data science workflow / ML workflow. Colab features are essentially limited to Python support and the ability to share notebooks on Google Drive, which are both quite standard. For instance, other cloud-hosted notebook providers will support version control and easy integration with a full MLOps pipeline.”

Fair Use Source: https://blog.paperspace.com/best-google-colab-alternatives

Colab notebooks are stored in Google Drive, or can be loaded from GitHub. Colab notebooks can be shared just as you would with Google Docs or Sheets. Simply click the Share button at the top right of any Colab notebook, or follow these Google Drive file sharing instructions.

The types of GPUs that are available in Colab vary over time. This is necessary for Colab to be able to provide access to these resources for free. The GPUs available in Colab often include Nvidia K80s, T4s, P4s and P100s. There is no way to choose what type of GPU you can connect to in Colab at any given time. Users who are interested in more reliable access to Colab’s fastest GPUs may be interested in Colab Pro.

Note that using Colab for cryptocurrency mining is disallowed entirely, and may result in your account being restricted for use with Colab altogether.

Choose the Colab plan that's right for you

Whether you're a student, a hobbyist, or a ML researcher, Colab has you covered Colab Free

• No subscription required.
• Recommended: Colab Pro
• Faster GPUs: Access to faster GPUs and TPUs means you spend less time waiting while your code is running.

• More memory: More RAM and more disk means more room for your data.

• Longer runtimes: Longer running notebooks and fewer idle timeouts mean you disconnect less often.

Colab Pro Plus

• Background execution: Notebooks keep working even after you close your browser.

• Faster GPUs: Priority access to faster GPUs and TPUs means you spend less time waiting while your code is running.

• Even more memory: Significantly more memory than ever before.

• Even longer runtimes: Gives you the longest running notebooks in Colab so you are able to get your work done.

• What kinds of GPUs are available in Colab Pro and Pro+?

With Colab Pro you get priority access to our fastest GPUs, and with Pro+ even more so. For example, you may get access to T4 and P100 GPUs at times when non-subscribers get K80s. You also get priority access to TPUs. There are still usage limits in both Colab Pro and Pro+, and the types of GPUs and TPUs available may vary over time.

In the free version of Colab there is very limited access to faster GPUs and to TPUs, and usage limits are much lower than they are in Colab Pro and Pro+.

• How long can notebooks run in Colab Pro and Pro+?

With Colab Pro your notebooks can stay connected for up to 24 hours, and idle timeouts are relatively lenient. Durations are not guaranteed, though, and idle timeouts may sometimes vary. With Colab Pro+ you have even more stability in your connection.

In the free version of Colab, notebooks can run for at most 12 hours, and idle timeouts are much stricter than in Colab Pro or Pro+.

• How much memory is available in Colab Pro and Pro+?

With Colab Pro you get priority access to high-memory VMs, and with Pro+ even more so. These VMs generally come with a significantly larger disk than a standard Colab VM. You will be able to access a notebook setting to enable high-memory VMs once you are subscribed. Additionally, you may sometimes be automatically assigned a high-memory VM when Colab detects that you are likely to need it. Colab Pro and Pro+ VMs also generally come with a significantly larger disk over standard Colab VMs. Resources are not guaranteed, though, and there are usage limits for high memory VMs.

In the free version of Colab the high-memory preference is not available, and users are rarely automatically assigned high memory VMs.

• What is “background execution”?

A subscription to Colab Pro+ offers background execution which permits your notebook to continue to execute after you close your computer or browser tab up to the VM lifetime limit of 24 hours. Your output will be saved to Drive after the completion of each cell execution. As always, resources are not guaranteed, and usage limits still apply.

Colab Pro users will see extended execution times and saving of output to Drive based on availability.

Users without a paid subscription should not rely on execution to continue in the background; execution will be interrupted when user interaction ceases, and the VM will be deleted soon after that.

• Why aren't resources guaranteed in Colab Pro or Pro+?

In order to offer faster GPUs, longer runtimes and more memory in Colab for a relatively low price, Colab needs to maintain the flexibility to adjust usage limits and hardware availability on the fly. Although we make no guarantees, we anticipate that most subscribers who use Colab Pro and Pro+ as they are intended to be used – for interactive computing – will experience few if any usage limits.

• How can I get the most out of Colab Pro and Pro+?

Resources in Colab Pro and Pro+ are prioritized for subscribers who have recently used less resources, in order to prevent the monopolization of limited resources by a small number of users. To get the most out of Colab Pro and Pro+, consider closing your Colab tabs when you are done with your work, and avoid opting for GPUs or extra memory when it is not needed for your work. This will make it less likely that you will run into usage limits within Colab Pro and Pro+. For more information, see Making the Most of your Colab Subscription

• Where are Colab Pro and Pro+ available?

For now, both Colab Pro and Pro+ are only available in the following countries: United States, Canada, Japan, Brazil, Germany, France, India, United Kingdom, and Thailand

• How does upgrading from Colab Pro to Colab Pro+ work?

Your billing renewal date will remain the same, and the charge for your first month will be prorated as described below. Subsequent renewals will be at the full monthly price (shown above).

Your initial charge will be less than the full monthly price if you are upgrading from Colab Pro. Specifically, it will reflect a prorated charge for Colab Pro+, as well as a prorated credit for your most recent payment for Colab Pro.

For example, if there is only ⅓ of the month left in your current billing cycle when you upgrade to Colab Pro+, then the amount you will be charged when you upgrade will be ⅓ of the full price of a Colab Pro+ subscription, minus ⅓ the monthly price of Colab Pro (a discount reflecting the fact that you already paid for your Colab Pro subscription at the beginning of the billing cycle).

The exact amount of your first monthly charge will be shown to you before your purchase is finalized. Subsequent months will renew at the full monthly price shown above.

There are no prorated refunds if you later cancel your subscription to Colab Pro+.

There is also no way to downgrade from Colab Pro+ to Colab Pro (although you can cancel Colab Pro+ and then re-subscribe to Colab Pro once your pre-paid month of Colab Pro+ has lapsed.)

• How can I cancel Colab Pro or Pro+?

You may cancel your subscription any time at pay.google.com under Subscriptions & services. After cancellation, your Colab Pro or Pro+ benefits will continue to be available to you until a month after your final payment.

Please verify that you are using the correct Google account and payments profile on pay.google.com in order to be able to see and cancel your subscription.

• How can I downgrade from Colab Pro+ to Colab Pro?:

Unfortunately, the only way to downgrade is by canceling Colab Pro+ at pay.google.com, then subscribing to Colab Pro at colab.research.google.com/signup.

Fair Use Sources:

• https://blog.paperspace.com/best-google-colab-alternatives
• https://colab.research.google.com/signup/pricing
• https://research.google.com/colaboratory/faq.html
• https://colab.research.google.com/notebooks/snippets/importing_libraries.ipynb
• https://colab.research.google.com/notebooks/io.ipynb
• https://support.google.com/drive/answer/2423534