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Chromebook Cluster: low-power, cost effective, extensible [2022]

10 points by nateb2022 3y ago

nateb2022 3y ago
For price context, you can buy most Chromebooks on eBay used for $20-$40 each. RAM is usually 4GB, processor generation varies but the current average is usually about a Celeron N3060. Storage is the biggest downside, averaging about 16GB EMMC however a lot of Chromebooks have a SD card slot for storage expansion. Compared to a Raspberry Pi 4 with 4GB of RAM, Chromebooks average $20-$40 cheaper, and the Celeron usually beats the RPi's Broadcom processor in single-core performance, only lagging slightly behind (~20%) in multi-core performance due to being dual-core rather than quad-core. Power usage is usually about ~6W, with is again comparable to a RPi, and most Chromebooks feature at least two USB-A ports, an HDMI port, audio jack, and SD card reader.
- jauntywundrkind 3y ago
  Running a SSD attached via USB3 is really not a bad option. My daily driver for almost two years was a Celeron Chromebox similar to the one in this write-up, via USB, and it was kind of ok. I had 16 GB ram. The thing mounted nicely behind my monitor, which was fun. But eventually I realized that even for web browsing and video playing it really was slowing me down too much, was unnecessary self-torture.
merpkz 3y ago
How would you power 4 of these boards from single power source? I mean without using 4 separate power "bricks" using 4 wall outlets which is quite wasteful. I guess using regular ATX power supply and attaching 12V rail directly to power inputs of these boards would work, albeit being a bit messy on the looks.
- justsomehnguy 3y ago
  > I mean without using 4 separate power "bricks" using 4 wall outlets which is quite wasteful By using 1 power brick with 1 wall outlet. You just need to fancy a way to split one output to four, probably a bit of soldering.
gymbeaux 3y ago
What’s interesting to me is that the author mentions he has no use for the cluster and that it was just something fun to do. That’s usually the case with RPi clusters too. Like what can you do with 10 very weak computers, realistically? I think we all want for there to be a pragmatic use case but there isn’t one.
- nateb2022 3y ago
  Such clusters are a good choice for a low-power homeserver setup. While in many instances a single PC would suffice as a homeserver, sometimes people just happen to have a couple RPi's/Chromebooks laying around or easily accessible, and reusing these devices helps stem the flow of e-waste.
  - gymbeaux 3y ago
    Sure, but most people probably go out and buy them, case in point the still astronomically-high demand for Raspberry Pis. They’re cool but their pragmatic use is limited.

10 points by nateb2022 3y ago

nateb2022 3y ago

For price context, you can buy most Chromebooks on eBay used for $20-$40 each. RAM is usually 4GB, processor generation varies but the current average is usually about a Celeron N3060. Storage is the biggest downside, averaging about 16GB EMMC however a lot of Chromebooks have a SD card slot for storage expansion. Compared to a Raspberry Pi 4 with 4GB of RAM, Chromebooks average $20-$40 cheaper, and the Celeron usually beats the RPi's Broadcom processor in single-core performance, only lagging slightly behind (~20%) in multi-core performance due to being dual-core rather than quad-core. Power usage is usually about ~6W, with is again comparable to a RPi, and most Chromebooks feature at least two USB-A ports, an HDMI port, audio jack, and SD card reader.

jauntywundrkind 3y ago
Running a SSD attached via USB3 is really not a bad option. My daily driver for almost two years was a Celeron Chromebox similar to the one in this write-up, via USB, and it was kind of ok. I had 16 GB ram. The thing mounted nicely behind my monitor, which was fun. But eventually I realized that even for web browsing and video playing it really was slowing me down too much, was unnecessary self-torture.

merpkz 3y ago

How would you power 4 of these boards from single power source? I mean without using 4 separate power "bricks" using 4 wall outlets which is quite wasteful. I guess using regular ATX power supply and attaching 12V rail directly to power inputs of these boards would work, albeit being a bit messy on the looks.

justsomehnguy 3y ago
> I mean without using 4 separate power "bricks" using 4 wall outlets which is quite wasteful By using 1 power brick with 1 wall outlet. You just need to fancy a way to split one output to four, probably a bit of soldering.

gymbeaux 3y ago

What’s interesting to me is that the author mentions he has no use for the cluster and that it was just something fun to do. That’s usually the case with RPi clusters too. Like what can you do with 10 very weak computers, realistically? I think we all want for there to be a pragmatic use case but there isn’t one.

nateb2022 3y ago
Such clusters are a good choice for a low-power homeserver setup. While in many instances a single PC would suffice as a homeserver, sometimes people just happen to have a couple RPi's/Chromebooks laying around or easily accessible, and reusing these devices helps stem the flow of e-waste.
- gymbeaux 3y ago
  Sure, but most people probably go out and buy them, case in point the still astronomically-high demand for Raspberry Pis. They’re cool but their pragmatic use is limited.