Use Cases for Research Development
Google Colab provides a limited amount of CPU and GPU resources and should be considered a quick and easily accessible solution. Larger research efforts and computational needs should still result in contacting the Research Computing team for available dedicated solutions.
Researchers should consider using the included Google Colab resources if they are running Python or R code, not working with other licensed software, and their computations can:
Run on a single physical core, 2 logal cores, or TPU v2-8
Run using less than ~12.5 GB RAM
Run using no more than 15 GB of GPU memory
Need more resources? Syracuse University does not provide additional CPUs, GPUs, or storage capacity beyond what is included with the standard g.syr.edu accounts. However, additional CPU and GPU units are available at a cost to the user.
Getting Started
To log into Google Colab, simply visit https://colab.research.google.com/. Instead of your regular ‘syr.edu' email address, users will log in using their 'g.syr.edu’ account (i.e. <your-netid>@g.syr.edu). Note this account utilizes your currently NetID password. To manage this password, follow the normal NetID password management steps.
Logged into Google with another account? Some users may be logged in with another account. To resolve this, first simply log out and attempt to log in with your ‘g.syr.edu’ account. If your browser does not cooperate, clearing the cache of your current browser or simply trying another browser may be required.
Configuring Your Notebook (for GPU
To open a new or existing notebook, use the ‘File’ dropdown. Here you can open a new notebook in your g.syr.edu Google Drive, open a new notebook, or upload an existing notebook. There is also the ability to save or open notebook from Github.
Once a new or existing notebook is open, you’ll want to configure the settings by going to Edit > Notebook Settings.