Deploy AI Models on Render

Render provides fully managed infrastructure for deploying AI models with automatic scaling.

Prerequisites

• Render account
• GitHub/GitLab repository
• Docker knowledge (optional)
• Basic understanding of web services

Deployment Options

1. Web Service

For API endpoints:

# render.yaml
services:
  - type: web
    name: ai-model-api
    env: python
    buildCommand: pip install -r requirements.txt
    startCommand: uvicorn app:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port $PORT
    envVars:
      - key: PYTHON_VERSION
        value: 3.10.0
      - key: HUGGING_FACE_TOKEN
        sync: false
    instance_count: 2
    instance_size_slug: professional-s

2. Background Worker

For async processing:

services:
  - type: worker
    name: ai-model-worker
    env: python
    buildCommand: pip install -r requirements.txt
    startCommand: python worker.py

3. Docker Deployment

FROM python:3.10-slim

WORKDIR /app

COPY requirements.txt .
RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt

COPY . .

EXPOSE 8000

CMD ["uvicorn", "app:app", "--host", "0.0.0.0", "--port", "8000"]

Configuration

Environment Variables

Add via Render Dashboard:

• HUGGING_FACE_TOKEN
• MODEL_NAME
• MAX_BATCH_SIZE
• CACHE_DIR

Health Checks

@app.get("/health")
async def health_check():
    return {"status": "healthy"}

Persistent Disks

Attach disks for model caching:

services:
  - type: web
    name: ai-model
    disk:
      name: model-cache
      mountPath: /app/cache
      sizeGB: 50

Auto-Scaling

Configure in Render Dashboard:

• Minimum instances: 1
• Maximum instances: 10
• CPU threshold: 70%
• Memory threshold: 80%

Monitoring

• View real-time logs
• Monitor resource usage
• Set up alerts
• Track deployment history

Cost Optimization

• Use appropriate instance types
• Enable auto-scaling
• Implement caching
• Optimize Docker images
• Use spot instances for dev

Production Checklist

• [ ] Set up custom domain
• [ ] Configure SSL/TLS
• [ ] Add environment variables
• [ ] Attach persistent disks
• [ ] Configure auto-scaling
• [ ] Set up health checks
• [ ] Enable monitoring
• [ ] Configure backups
• [ ] Set up CI/CD
• [ ] Document deployment