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Chapterframe training / Render and review

Rent and manage Vast.ai servers

GPU rentals let you process several takes on your own render pool. Rental time includes setup and idle time, so configure the pool before committing to a long batch.

Lesson 11 of 14 · Mac edition

In the app’s walkthrough: Rent GPUs on Vast.ai

Before you begin

Save your Vast.ai key in Settings → Connections and have a funded provider account. Know which GPU and workflow your project requires.

The Mac Vast.ai offer browser showing GPU models, locations and quoted hourly rates.
The Mac Vast.ai offer browser showing GPU models, locations and quoted hourly rates. Open full size. Offers and prices are a historical snapshot.

Work through it

  1. Open the Vast rental window

    Choose Rent a Server and search offers. Compare GPU memory, hourly price, reliability and any record of previous successful readiness. An earlier success is useful history, not a promise about this rental.

  2. Set the pool controls

    Enter a Render pool name and Concurrent jobs per server. The default concurrency is 2. Set Destroy node after idle hours; the default is 0.5 hours (30 minutes). Zero disables automatic destruction.

  3. Select offers and rent

    You can select more than one offer. Chapterframe initializes rentals in sequence and tracks their setup. Start with one until you have verified the workflow and throughput.

  4. Wait for verified readiness

    Chapterframe uploads and sets up the server. Follow its status and latest logs; an instance being “running” is not the same as its render service being ready.

  5. Refresh one server if its details are stale

    Use the server’s Refresh action to reload inventory details, readiness and logs. Check instance IDs when comparing the app with Vast’s dashboard.

  6. End rentals deliberately

    Inspect idle-termination status. If you are done, use Delete… and refresh to confirm destruction in both Chapterframe and Vast. Closing the app is not a command to destroy a rented server. Keep the app and engine running for its local idle-management checks.

Try it in your chapter

Before renting, calculate the hourly cost of the whole selected pool. After your test, confirm that every unneeded rental has been destroyed.

Check before moving on

Every server you intend to use is ready; every server you no longer need is confirmed destroyed.

If something goes wrong

A server is stuck waiting for SSH or installing

Refresh that server and read its logs. Check the Vast account and instance status before retrying setup.

An idle server has not disappeared

Inspect the saved idle limit and whether active or remote work is holding termination. If it should be gone, use Delete… again and verify in Vast. “Scheduled for termination” is not confirmation of destruction.

Still stuck? Contact support with the exact message and the operation you were running.

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