> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.cloud.vessl.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Browse the FAQ

> Common questions about VM clusters, billing, storage, and operations.

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Why VM instead of bare metal?">
    VMs recover quickly from hardware failures by migrating to a new physical host. You still get GPU passthrough performance and can run root-level operations through `sudo`. For bare-metal requirements, [talk to sales](https://vessl.ai/en/talk-to-sales?utm_source=docs\&utm_medium=referral\&utm_campaign=vm_clusters_en\&utm_content=faq_bare_metal).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I pay with my existing VESSL Cloud credits?">
    No. VM clusters are billed separately from VESSL Cloud and can't be paid with VESSL Cloud credits. Your account manager handles billing.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Do you provide managed Kubernetes or Slurm?">
    Not yet — managed Kubernetes and Slurm are on our roadmap. In the meantime, you can install your own orchestrator (Kubernetes, Slurm, or anything else) on the cluster yourself, since you can run root-level operations through `sudo`.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How is contract length decided?">
    Contract length is agreed with sales when you request a cluster. [Talk to us](https://vessl.ai/en/talk-to-sales?utm_source=docs\&utm_medium=referral\&utm_campaign=vm_clusters_en\&utm_content=faq_contract_length) for the terms you need.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I change node count or specs mid-contract?">
    No. To change your configuration, [talk to sales](https://vessl.ai/en/talk-to-sales?utm_source=docs\&utm_medium=referral\&utm_campaign=vm_clusters_en\&utm_content=faq_change_config) and we'll scope a new cluster.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I change my payment method mid-contract?">
    No. To change your payment method, talk to your account manager.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I recover data after expiry?">
    No. All data is deleted immediately at expiry, with no grace period. Back up before the expiry date — see [Data retention and expiry](/vm-clusters/data-retention).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How long does a reboot take?">
    Reboots typically take tens of minutes, and can run past an hour in some cases. See [Reboot a node](/vm-clusters/reboot).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What if I lose my SSH key?">
    You manage authorized keys directly on each node. Because you have root, you can add a new public key to `~/.ssh/authorized_keys`. If you've lost access to the node entirely, [contact support](mailto:support@vessl.ai).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I change the GPU driver?">
    Yes. You have root access, so you can change drivers and kernel modules.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I run privileged containers (Docker `--privileged`, K8s `securityContext`)?">
    Yes. You have root on the VM itself, so any container runtime you install — Docker, containerd, Kubernetes — can run containers with `--privileged`, custom capabilities, raw device mounts, or anything else that needs host-level access.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Do you provide InfiniBand?">
    Yes — InfiniBand is provided by default on all nodes for multi-node communication.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What GPU types and cluster sizes are available?">
    H100 through the latest Blackwell GPUs (H100, H200, B200, B300), in multi-node clusters sized to your workload. [Talk to sales](https://vessl.ai/en/talk-to-sales?utm_source=docs\&utm_medium=referral\&utm_campaign=vm_clusters_en\&utm_content=faq_other_gpus) to scope and provision your cluster. Once it's set up, you can manage it from the VM clusters dashboard.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Is auto-scaling supported?">
    No. The node count is fixed for the contract term. If you need more capacity, [talk to sales](https://vessl.ai/en/talk-to-sales?utm_source=docs\&utm_medium=referral\&utm_campaign=vm_clusters_en\&utm_content=faq_autoscaling).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>