diff --git a/ci/L0_multi_gpu/vllm_backend/test.sh b/ci/L0_multi_gpu/vllm_backend/test.sh
index 09a0bb08..fb583cb3 100755
--- a/ci/L0_multi_gpu/vllm_backend/test.sh
+++ b/ci/L0_multi_gpu/vllm_backend/test.sh
@@ -31,50 +31,104 @@ TRITON_DIR=${TRITON_DIR:="/opt/tritonserver"}
 SERVER=${TRITON_DIR}/bin/tritonserver
 BACKEND_DIR=${TRITON_DIR}/backends
 SERVER_ARGS="--model-repository=`pwd`/models --backend-directory=${BACKEND_DIR} --model-control-mode=explicit --log-verbose=1"
-SERVER_LOG="./vllm_multi_gpu_test_server.log"
-CLIENT_LOG="./vllm_multi_gpu_test_client.log"
 TEST_RESULT_FILE='test_results.txt'
 CLIENT_PY="./vllm_multi_gpu_test.py"
 SAMPLE_MODELS_REPO="../../../samples/model_repository"
 EXPECTED_NUM_TESTS=1
 
-rm -rf models && mkdir -p models
-cp -r ${SAMPLE_MODELS_REPO}/vllm_model models/vllm_opt
-sed -i '3s/^/    "tensor_parallel_size": 2,\n/' models/vllm_opt/1/model.json
+### Helpers
+function validate_file_contains() {
+    local KEY="${1}"
+    local FILE="${2}"
 
-RET=0
+    if [ -z "${KEY}" ] || [ -z "${FILE}" ]; then
+        echo "Error: KEY and FILE must be provided."
+        return 1
+    fi
 
-run_server
-if [ "$SERVER_PID" == "0" ]; then
-    cat $SERVER_LOG
-    echo -e "\n***\n*** Failed to start $SERVER\n***"
-    exit 1
-fi
+    if [ ! -f "${FILE}" ]; then
+        echo "Error: File '${FILE}' does not exist."
+        return 1
+    fi
 
-set +e
-python3 $CLIENT_PY -v > $CLIENT_LOG 2>&1
+    count=$(grep -o -w "${KEY}" "${FILE}" | wc -l)
+
+    if [ "${count}" -ne 1 ]; then
+        echo "Error: KEY '${KEY}' found ${count} times in '${FILE}'. Expected exactly once."
+        return 1
+    fi
+}
+
+function run_multi_gpu_test() {
+    export KIND="${1}"
+    export TENSOR_PARALLELISM="${2}"
+    export INSTANCE_COUNT="${3}"
+
+    # Setup a clean model repository
+    export TEST_MODEL="vllm_opt_${KIND}_tp${TENSOR_PARALLELISM}_count${INSTANCE_COUNT}"
+    local TEST_MODEL_TRITON_CONFIG="models/${TEST_MODEL}/config.pbtxt"
+    local TEST_MODEL_VLLM_CONFIG="models/${TEST_MODEL}/1/model.json"
+
+    rm -rf models && mkdir -p models
+    cp -r "${SAMPLE_MODELS_REPO}/vllm_model" "models/${TEST_MODEL}"
+    sed -i "s/KIND_MODEL/${KIND}/" "${TEST_MODEL_TRITON_CONFIG}"
+    sed -i "3s/^/    \"tensor_parallel_size\": ${TENSOR_PARALLELISM},\n/" "${TEST_MODEL_VLLM_CONFIG}"
+    # Assert the correct kind is set in case the template config changes in the future
+    validate_file_contains "${KIND}" "${TEST_MODEL_TRITON_CONFIG}"
+
+    # Start server
+    echo "Running multi-GPU test with kind=${KIND}, tp=${TENSOR_PARALLELISM}, instance_count=${INSTANCE_COUNT}"
+    SERVER_LOG="./vllm_multi_gpu_test--${KIND}_tp${TENSOR_PARALLELISM}_count${INSTANCE_COUNT}--server.log"
+    run_server
+    if [ "$SERVER_PID" == "0" ]; then
+        cat $SERVER_LOG
+        echo -e "\n***\n*** Failed to start $SERVER\n***"
+        exit 1
+    fi
+
+    # Run unit tests
+    set +e
+    CLIENT_LOG="./vllm_multi_gpu_test--${KIND}_tp${TENSOR_PARALLELISM}_count${INSTANCE_COUNT}--client.log"
+    python3 $CLIENT_PY -v > $CLIENT_LOG 2>&1
 
-if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
-    cat $CLIENT_LOG
-    echo -e "\n***\n*** Running $CLIENT_PY FAILED. \n***"
-    RET=1
-else
-    check_test_results $TEST_RESULT_FILE $EXPECTED_NUM_TESTS
     if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
         cat $CLIENT_LOG
-        echo -e "\n***\n*** Test Result Verification FAILED.\n***"
+        echo -e "\n***\n*** Running $CLIENT_PY FAILED. \n***"
         RET=1
+    else
+        check_test_results $TEST_RESULT_FILE $EXPECTED_NUM_TESTS
+        if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+            cat $CLIENT_LOG
+            echo -e "\n***\n*** Test Result Verification FAILED.\n***"
+            RET=1
+        fi
     fi
-fi
-set -e
+    set -e
+
+    # Cleanup
+    kill $SERVER_PID
+    wait $SERVER_PID
+}
+
+### Test
+rm -f *.log
+RET=0
 
-kill $SERVER_PID
-wait $SERVER_PID
-rm -rf models/
+# Test the various cases of kind, tensor parallelism, and instance count
+# for different ways to run multi-GPU models with vLLM on Triton
+KINDS="KIND_MODEL KIND_GPU"
+TPS="1 2"
+INSTANCE_COUNTS="1 2"
+for kind in ${KINDS}; do
+  for tp in ${TPS}; do
+    for count in ${INSTANCE_COUNTS}; do
+        run_multi_gpu_test "${kind}" "${tp}" "${count}"
+    done
+  done
+done
 
+### Results
 if [ $RET -eq 1 ]; then
-    cat $CLIENT_LOG
-    cat $SERVER_LOG
     echo -e "\n***\n*** Multi GPU Utilization test FAILED. \n***"
 else
     echo -e "\n***\n*** Multi GPU Utilization test PASSED. \n***"
diff --git a/ci/L0_multi_gpu/vllm_backend/vllm_multi_gpu_test.py b/ci/L0_multi_gpu/vllm_backend/vllm_multi_gpu_test.py
index f9bb56b3..c7d42fcd 100644
--- a/ci/L0_multi_gpu/vllm_backend/vllm_multi_gpu_test.py
+++ b/ci/L0_multi_gpu/vllm_backend/vllm_multi_gpu_test.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 # (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
 # OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 
+import os
 import sys
 import unittest
 from functools import partial
@@ -40,7 +41,6 @@ class VLLMMultiGPUTest(TestResultCollector):
     def setUp(self):
         pynvml.nvmlInit()
         self.triton_client = grpcclient.InferenceServerClient(url="localhost:8001")
-        self.vllm_model_name = "vllm_opt"
 
     def get_gpu_memory_utilization(self, gpu_id):
         handle = pynvml.nvmlDeviceGetHandleByIndex(gpu_id)
@@ -56,7 +56,12 @@ def get_available_gpu_ids(self):
                 available_gpus.append(gpu_id)
         return available_gpus
 
-    def test_vllm_multi_gpu_utilization(self):
+    def _test_vllm_multi_gpu_utilization(self, model_name: str):
+        """
+        Test that loading a given vLLM model will increase GPU utilization
+        across multiple GPUs, and run a sanity check inference to confirm
+        that the loaded multi-gpu/multi-instance model is working as expected.
+        """
         gpu_ids = self.get_available_gpu_ids()
         self.assertGreaterEqual(len(gpu_ids), 2, "Error: Detected single GPU")
 
@@ -67,8 +72,8 @@ def test_vllm_multi_gpu_utilization(self):
             print(f"GPU {gpu_id} Memory Utilization: {memory_utilization} bytes")
             mem_util_before_loading_model[gpu_id] = memory_utilization
 
-        self.triton_client.load_model(self.vllm_model_name)
-        self._test_vllm_model()
+        self.triton_client.load_model(model_name)
+        self._test_vllm_model(model_name)
 
         print("=============== After Loading vLLM Model ===============")
         vllm_model_used_gpus = 0
@@ -80,7 +85,7 @@ def test_vllm_multi_gpu_utilization(self):
 
         self.assertGreaterEqual(vllm_model_used_gpus, 2)
 
-    def _test_vllm_model(self, send_parameters_as_tensor=True):
+    def _test_vllm_model(self, model_name: str, send_parameters_as_tensor: bool = True):
         user_data = UserData()
         stream = False
         prompts = [
@@ -98,11 +103,11 @@ def _test_vllm_model(self, send_parameters_as_tensor=True):
                 i,
                 stream,
                 sampling_parameters,
-                self.vllm_model_name,
+                model_name,
                 send_parameters_as_tensor,
             )
             self.triton_client.async_stream_infer(
-                model_name=self.vllm_model_name,
+                model_name=model_name,
                 request_id=request_data["request_id"],
                 inputs=request_data["inputs"],
                 outputs=request_data["outputs"],
@@ -118,6 +123,59 @@ def _test_vllm_model(self, send_parameters_as_tensor=True):
 
         self.triton_client.stop_stream()
 
+    def test_multi_gpu_model(self):
+        """
+        Tests that a multi-GPU vLLM model loads successfully on multiple GPUs
+        and can handle a few sanity check inference requests.
+
+        Multi-GPU models are currently defined here as either:
+          - a single model instance with tensor parallelism > 1
+          - multiple model instances each with tensor parallelism == 1
+
+        FIXME: This test currently skips over a few combinations that may
+        be enhanced in the future, such as:
+          - tensor parallel models with multiple model instances
+          - KIND_MODEL models with multiple model instances
+        """
+        model = os.environ.get("TEST_MODEL")
+        kind = os.environ.get("KIND")
+        tp = os.environ.get("TENSOR_PARALLELISM")
+        instance_count = os.environ.get("INSTANCE_COUNT")
+        for env_var in [model, kind, tp, instance_count]:
+            self.assertIsNotNone(env_var)
+
+        print(f"Test Matrix: {model=}, {kind=}, {tp=}, {instance_count=}")
+
+        # Only support tensor parallelism or multiple instances for now, but not both.
+        # Support for multi-instance tensor parallel models may require more
+        # special handling in the backend to better handle device assignment.
+        # NOTE: This eliminates the 1*1=1 and 2*2=4 test cases.
+        if int(tp) * int(instance_count) != 2:
+            msg = "TENSOR_PARALLELISM and INSTANCE_COUNT must have a product of 2 for this 2-GPU test"
+            print("Skipping Test:", msg)
+            self.skipTest(msg)
+
+        # Loading a KIND_GPU model with Tensor Parallelism > 1 should fail and
+        # recommend using KIND_MODEL instead for multi-gpu model instances.
+        if kind == "KIND_GPU" and int(tp) > 1:
+            with self.assertRaisesRegex(
+                InferenceServerException, "please specify KIND_MODEL"
+            ):
+                self._test_vllm_multi_gpu_utilization(model)
+
+            return
+
+        # Loading a KIND_MODEL model with multiple instances can cause
+        # oversubscription to specific GPUs and cause a CUDA OOM if the
+        # gpu_memory_utilization settings are high without further handling
+        # of device assignment in the backend.
+        if kind == "KIND_MODEL" and int(instance_count) > 1:
+            msg = "Testing multiple model instances of KIND_MODEL is not implemented at this time"
+            print("Skipping Test:", msg)
+            self.skipTest(msg)
+
+        self._test_vllm_multi_gpu_utilization(model)
+
     def tearDown(self):
         pynvml.nvmlShutdown()
         self.triton_client.close()
diff --git a/src/model.py b/src/model.py
index 2d9d8ff8..3fe7cd1e 100644
--- a/src/model.py
+++ b/src/model.py
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 from typing import Dict, List
 
 import numpy as np
+import torch
 import triton_python_backend_utils as pb_utils
 from vllm.engine.arg_utils import AsyncEngineArgs
 from vllm.engine.async_llm_engine import AsyncLLMEngine
@@ -98,12 +99,31 @@ def auto_complete_config(auto_complete_model_config):
         return auto_complete_model_config
 
     def initialize(self, args):
+        self.args = args
         self.logger = pb_utils.Logger
         self.model_config = json.loads(args["model_config"])
+        output_config = pb_utils.get_output_config_by_name(
+            self.model_config, "text_output"
+        )
+        self.output_dtype = pb_utils.triton_string_to_numpy(output_config["data_type"])
+
+        # Prepare vLLM engine
+        self.init_engine()
+
+        # Counter to keep track of ongoing request counts
+        self.ongoing_request_count = 0
+
+        # Starting asyncio event loop to process the received requests asynchronously.
+        self._loop = asyncio.get_event_loop()
+        self._loop_thread = threading.Thread(
+            target=self.engine_loop, args=(self._loop,)
+        )
+        self._shutdown_event = asyncio.Event()
+        self._loop_thread.start()
 
-        # assert are in decoupled mode. Currently, Triton needs to use
-        # decoupled policy for asynchronously forwarding requests to
-        # vLLM engine.
+    def init_engine(self):
+        # Currently, Triton needs to use decoupled policy for asynchronously
+        # forwarding requests to vLLM engine, so assert it.
         self.using_decoupled = pb_utils.using_decoupled_model_transaction_policy(
             self.model_config
         )
@@ -118,17 +138,25 @@ def initialize(self, args):
             engine_args_filepath
         ), f"'{_VLLM_ENGINE_ARGS_FILENAME}' containing vllm engine args must be provided in '{pb_utils.get_model_dir()}'"
         with open(engine_args_filepath) as file:
-            vllm_engine_config = json.load(file)
+            self.vllm_engine_config = json.load(file)
+
+        # Validate device and multi-processing settings are currently set based on model/configs.
+        self.validate_device_config()
+
+        # Check for LoRA config and set it up if enabled
+        self.setup_lora()
 
         # Create an AsyncLLMEngine from the config from JSON
         self.llm_engine = AsyncLLMEngine.from_engine_args(
-            AsyncEngineArgs(**vllm_engine_config)
+            AsyncEngineArgs(**self.vllm_engine_config)
         )
+
+    def setup_lora(self):
         self.enable_lora = False
 
         if (
-            "enable_lora" in vllm_engine_config.keys()
-            and vllm_engine_config["enable_lora"].lower() == "true"
+            "enable_lora" in self.vllm_engine_config.keys()
+            and self.vllm_engine_config["enable_lora"].lower() == "true"
         ):
             # create Triton LoRA weights repository
             multi_lora_args_filepath = os.path.join(
@@ -146,21 +174,31 @@ def initialize(self, args):
                     f"Triton backend cannot find {multi_lora_args_filepath}."
                 )
 
-        output_config = pb_utils.get_output_config_by_name(
-            self.model_config, "text_output"
-        )
-        self.output_dtype = pb_utils.triton_string_to_numpy(output_config["data_type"])
-
-        # Counter to keep track of ongoing request counts
-        self.ongoing_request_count = 0
+    def validate_device_config(self):
+        triton_kind = self.args["model_instance_kind"]
+        triton_device_id = int(self.args["model_instance_device_id"])
+        triton_instance = f"{self.args['model_name']}_{triton_device_id}"
+
+        # Triton's current definition of KIND_GPU makes assumptions that
+        # models only use a single GPU. For multi-GPU models, the recommendation
+        # is to specify KIND_MODEL to acknowledge that the model will take control
+        # of the devices made available to it.
+        # NOTE: Consider other parameters that would indicate multi-GPU in the future.
+        tp_size = int(self.vllm_engine_config.get("tensor_parallel_size", 1))
+        if tp_size > 1 and triton_kind == "GPU":
+            raise ValueError(
+                "KIND_GPU is currently for single-GPU models, please specify KIND_MODEL "
+                "in the model's config.pbtxt for multi-GPU models"
+            )
 
-        # Starting asyncio event loop to process the received requests asynchronously.
-        self._loop = asyncio.get_event_loop()
-        self._loop_thread = threading.Thread(
-            target=self.engine_loop, args=(self._loop,)
-        )
-        self._shutdown_event = asyncio.Event()
-        self._loop_thread.start()
+        # If KIND_GPU is specified, specify the device ID assigned by Triton to ensure that
+        # multiple model instances do not oversubscribe the same default device.
+        if triton_kind == "GPU" and triton_device_id >= 0:
+            self.logger.log_info(
+                f"Detected KIND_GPU model instance, explicitly setting GPU device={triton_device_id} for {triton_instance}"
+            )
+            # vLLM doesn't currently (v0.4.2) expose device selection in the APIs
+            torch.cuda.set_device(triton_device_id)
 
     def create_task(self, coro):
         """