> ## 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.

# Compare with Workspace

> When to use a containerized workspace and when to use a dedicated VM cluster.

Both run on VESSL Cloud, but they solve different problems. A **[workspace](/member/workspace/overview)** is a containerized environment that starts in seconds. A **VM cluster** gives you dedicated VM nodes with root access and InfiniBand.

## Comparison

|                          | Workspace (container)                      | VM cluster                                                                                  |
| ------------------------ | ------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Isolation**            | Shared node, containerized                 | Dedicated nodes, not shared                                                                 |
| **Privileges**           | Container-scoped, no host or kernel access | Full root access on each VM                                                                 |
| **Container privileges** | No — you're already inside a container     | Yes — run any container, including `--privileged`, with full capabilities and device mounts |
| **OS and kernel**        | Container image only; shared host kernel   | Your OS, kernel modules, and drivers                                                        |
| **Multi-node**           | Single node                                | Multi-node                                                                                  |
| **InfiniBand**           | —                                          | Default, between nodes                                                                      |
| **Storage**              | Optional Cluster storage or Object storage | 2 TiB boot disk per node (not durable), plus optional NFS shared storage                    |
| **Billing**              | On-demand, per hour                        | Reserved contract, arranged with sales                                                      |

## When to choose a workspace

* A container already covers your workload — you don't need kernel-, driver-, or OS-level control.
* You want to start experimenting immediately for short, exploratory work.
* You prefer no commitment — pay per hour for what you actually use, when capacity happens to be available.

## When to choose a VM cluster

* You need kernel-, driver-, or OS-level control — install custom kernel modules, specific driver versions, Slurm, Kubernetes, your own orchestrator, or host-level security agents.
* You need multi-node distributed training — InfiniBand is provisioned by default for high-bandwidth, low-latency RDMA between your nodes.
* You need capacity locked in at your chosen start date and guaranteed available for the entire contract — so a project plan doesn't depend on "is a GPU free right now?"
* You want dedicated hardware — each VM owns its physical server, with no other customer sharing your GPUs, CPU, memory, or network.

## What about batch jobs?

A **[job](/member/job/overview)** is another containerized option: it runs a script to completion on a single node, non-interactively — submit a fine-tuning or evaluation run and let it finish, with no infrastructure to manage. Like a workspace, it has no root access and no multi-node InfiniBand. Choose a VM cluster when you need multi-node distributed training with InfiniBand, root- or kernel-level control, or a dedicated reserved cluster.

<Note>
  A VM cluster is billed separately from VESSL Cloud and can't be paid with VESSL Cloud credits. Your account manager handles billing.
</Note>