Table of Contents
Dedicated GPU servers have a real operational lifecycle. Treat it like any other infrastructure.
TL;DR
Lifecycle: 1) Provision (day 0), 2) Configure (week 1), 3) Operate (1-3 years), 4) Refresh / migrate (year 2-3), 5) Decommission (cleanup). Document each phase; don't treat servers as immortal.
Lifecycle phases
- Provision: order, OS install, driver, baseline config
- Configure: vLLM, LiteLLM, monitoring, auth — eval baseline
- Operate: monitor, alert, periodic upgrades
- Refresh: GPU generation upgrade or move to bigger card
- Decommission: data wipe, backup verification, contract end
Artifacts
- Build manifest (versions of all components)
- Eval baseline scores
- Monitoring dashboards / alerts
- Runbook
- DR plan
Verdict
Treat GPU servers as infrastructure, not pets. Document and refresh on schedule.
Bottom line
Lifecycle discipline pays back at refresh time. See version pinning.
