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Version: 0.0.1

Introduction to Bison

Bison Logo

Enterprise GPU Resource Billing & Multi-Tenant Management Platform

Bison is a Kubernetes-based platform that provides comprehensive GPU resource management, billing, and multi-tenant isolation for organizations running shared GPU clusters.

The GPU Management Challenge​

Managing shared GPU clusters across multiple teams creates critical operational and financial challenges:

For Platform Administrators:

  • How do you fairly allocate expensive GPU resources across competing teams?
  • How do you prevent resource hogging while ensuring everyone gets their fair share?
  • How do you track who's using what and implement accurate chargeback?
  • How do you maintain strict multi-tenant isolation without complex manual configuration?

For Finance & Budget Teams:

  • How do you implement automated chargeback for GPU usage without manual accounting?
  • How do you prevent budget overruns before they happen?
  • How do you generate accurate cost reports for internal billing?

For Development Teams:

  • How do you get predictable, isolated access to GPU resources?
  • How do you know when you're approaching your budget limits?
  • How do you avoid impacting other teams' workloads?

Traditional Approach:

  • Manual quota configuration per namespace
  • Excel-based billing calculations
  • No real-time cost visibility
  • Complex multi-tool setup (quota management + cost tracking + billing system)
  • Frequent resource conflicts and budget surprises

Bison's Integrated Solution​

Bison combines:

  • 🔐 Kubernetes-native multi-tenancy (Capsule) - True team isolation with shared or exclusive node pools
  • 💰 Real-time cost tracking (OpenCost + Prometheus) - Per-pod, per-namespace, per-team cost visibility
  • 💳 Automated billing & budgets - Prepaid balances, auto-deduction, low-balance alerts, and auto-suspension
  • 📊 Unified dashboard - Single interface for admins, team leaders, and finance teams
  • 🔧 Zero external dependencies - All data stored in Kubernetes ConfigMaps (etcd-backed)

Result: Deploy once, get complete GPU resource management with automated billing in under 30 minutes.

Quick Start​

Prerequisites​

  • Kubernetes 1.22+
  • kubectl configured
  • Helm 3.0+
  • Capsule operator (v0.1.0+) installed
  • OpenCost deployed with Prometheus

Installation​

Choose one of the following installation methods:

# Add Bison Helm repository
helm repo add bison https://supermarioyl.github.io/Bison/charts/
helm repo update

# Install with default configuration
helm install bison bison/bison --namespace bison-system --create-namespace

# Or customize installation
helm install bison bison/bison \
  --namespace bison-system \
  --create-namespace \
  --set opencost.url=http://opencost.opencost-system.svc:9003 \
  --set auth.enabled=false

Option B: From GitHub Release​

# Download latest Helm chart
VERSION=0.0.1
wget https://github.com/SuperMarioYL/Bison/releases/download/v${VERSION}/bison-${VERSION}.tgz

# Install
helm install bison bison-${VERSION}.tgz \
  --namespace bison-system \
  --create-namespace

Option C: From Source​

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/SuperMarioYL/Bison.git
cd Bison

# Install dependencies and build
make install-deps
make build

# Deploy using Helm
helm install bison ./deploy/charts/bison \
  --namespace bison-system \
  --create-namespace

Access the Platform​

After installation, access Bison through:

# Port-forward the Web UI
kubectl port-forward -n bison-system svc/bison-webui 3000:80

# Access at http://localhost:3000
# Default credentials (if auth enabled):
# Username: admin
# Password: admin (change immediately in production!)

Next Steps​