Overview

TorchServe is a flexible and easy-to-use tool for serving PyTorch models. It provides capabilities for packaging models, scaling workers based on hardware availability, and managing multiple model versions via a REST/gRPC API.

When to Use

Use TorchServe when you need a production-ready inference server that handles multi-GPU load balancing, request batching, and custom preprocessing/postprocessing logic via Python handlers.

Decision Tree

1. Do you need custom logic for image resizing or JSON parsing before model inference?
   • OVERRIDE: preprocess() in a class inheriting from BaseHandler.
2. Do you have multiple GPUs available?
   • RELY: On TorchServe's round-robin assignment; check the gpu_id in the handler context.
3. Do you want to deploy to a system with limited resources?
   • CAUTION: TorchServe is in limited maintenance; check environment compatibility.

Workflows

1. Packaging and Serving a Model

   1. Write a custom handler or use a default one (e.g., 'image_classifier').
   2. Use torch-model-archiver to package the model, weights, and handler into a .mar file.
   3. Start TorchServe specifying the model store and the initial models to load.
   4. Test the endpoint using curl or a gRPC client.

2. Customizing Inference Logic

   1. Define a class inheriting from BaseHandler.
   2. Override preprocess() to handle incoming JSON/Image data.
   3. Override inference() or postprocess() to customize output formatting.
   4. Package this script as the --handler in the model archiver.

3. Scaling Inference Capacity

   1. Use the Management API (typically on port 8081) to adjust the number of workers.
   2. Send a PUT request to /models/{model_name}?min_worker=N.
   3. Monitor logs to ensure new workers are successfully initialized on the available hardware.

Non-Obvious Insights

• A/B Testing: TorchServe naturally supports multiple model versions simultaneously, making it trivial to perform A/B testing by routing requests to different model endpoints.
• GPU Round-Robin: Workers are assigned GPUs in a round-robin fashion. Handlers must use the gpu_id provided in the context to ensure the model is loaded onto the correct physical device.
• The MAR Format: The Model Archive (.mar) file is a self-contained ZIP that includes the model definition, state dictionary, and the handler script, ensuring that the deployment environment exactly matches the development environment.

Evidence

• "Archive the model by using the model archiver: torch-model-archiver --model-name densenet161 --version 1.0..." (https://pytorch.org/serve/getting_started.html)
• "In case of multiple GPUs TorchServe selects the gpu device in round-robin fashion and passes on this device id to the model handler in context." (https://pytorch.org/serve/custom_service.html)

Scripts

• scripts/torchserve_tool.py: Skeleton for a custom TorchServe handler.
• scripts/torchserve_tool.js: Script to send inference requests to a running TorchServe instance.

Dependencies

• torchserve
• torch-model-archiver

References

• TorchServe Reference