Virtual machines (VMs) let you run an operating system separate from your primary one. You can use programs like VirtualBox or VMware Workstation to create VMs on your computer, but Paperspace takes it a step further with online virtual machines.
When you make a VM with Paperspace, the entire creation process happens automatically. You just choose what kind of operating system to use, wait a few minutes for it to finish, and then log in.
Since Paperspace runs online, you can use it from any computer that has internet access. There’s also a desktop program for using Paperspace right from your main computer’s desktop.
Reasons to Use a Cloud VM
Cloud-based VMs provide lots of benefits, and Paperspace, specifically, is pretty awesome.
Virtual Machine Benefits
- Test programs, open files, create a server, etc., without affecting your existing computer
- Get a clean operating system installation with very little effort
- Build a file server even if your computer has low-quality hardware or little bandwidth
- Learn about a different operating system without needing an entirely different computer
- Save the entire state of the VM so that you can restore it to a previous, working state should something happen that prevents it from working normally
Paperspace Benefits
- Regularly gets over 70 Mbps download speeds and over 300 Mbps upload speeds
- Choose a VM from one of three regions: West coast US, East coast US, or Europe
- Get Windows 10 or Windows 7, either pre-licensed or bring your own license. Ubuntu, Parsec, H20, Fast.ai, RStudio, and ML-in-a-Box are other options
- Pay by the hour or the month
- Pick from 50 GB of storage to up to 2 TB
- Order more than one virtual machine at once (e.g., get two pre-licensed Window 10s VMs at once)
- Enable auto-shutdown when idle to save money
- Sync the clipboard with your host computer
- Create a restorable snapshot of the entire VM on a schedule: every hour, day, week, or month; keep up to 10 recent snapshots
- Use the virtual machine in full screen mode
- Connect it to your multiple monitors
- Use a static public IP address for reliable access all the time
- Enable Gamer Mode to support relative mouse movements and fine-grained bit rate control
- Turn on full color to send twice the color resolution to your computer for maximum color fidelity
- Build VM snapshots that you can use to create other machines
- Business users can have shared drives, VPN, Active Directory, and more
Paperspace Prices
There are several machines to pick from when it’s time to pay:
- Air: $0.07 /hour or $17 /month; 2 CPU, 4 GB RAM
- Standard: $0.10 /hour or $30 /month; 5 CPU, 8 GB RAM
- Advanced: $0.18 /hour or $60 /month; 6 CPU, 16 GB RAM
- Pro: $0.32 /hour or $115 /month; 8 CPU, 32 GB RAM
The VM’s storage is up to you. Pick anything from 50 GB ($5 /month) up to 2000 GB ($120 /month).
You can get a trial of Paperspace right now that comes with $10 in free money. As an example, this would afford you the cheapest machine, Air, for 140 hours.
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