5 ms·

Putting together a Raspberry Pi Beowulf cluster

20 points by tanglesome 13y ago

wcfields 13y ago
The whole engineering server at Boise State seems to be down. There is an 8 min video here demonstrating the system: http://youtu.be/i_r3z1jYHAc http://youtu.be/i_r3z1jYHAc
jff 13y ago
I'd like to first point out that the name "Beowulf cluster" is pretty silly in general; allow me to enumerate the incredibly complicated setup procedure for a Beowulf cluster: 1) Install Linux on a bunch of networked computers, 2) "apt-get install mpi" on every one. That's it. Here’s something made at a national lab about 3 years ago: http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3538/5702439502_b6448467b8_o.jpg http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3538/5702439502_b6448467b8_o.j... I wonder if it inspired this project at all? The case, the fans, very similar looks. The box has 7 Gumstix “Stagecoach” motherboards, each loaded with 7 Gumstix Overo boards for a total of 49 ARM processors in the box. There is an Ethernet switch mounted in the bottom and a power supply at the back. They made 4 of these and stacked them up for a total of 196 CPUs. You can check out some action shots in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPyn9krjIRc&feature=youtu.be&t=50s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPyn9krjIRc&feature=youtu...
- WestCoastJustin 13y ago
  Very cool! Do you have any details on how to build one of these? A parts list for example.
  - jff 13y ago
    Well, the plexiglass case was custom-made by a shop with a laser cutter. As for the hardware: * 7 of these: https://www.gumstix.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=247 https://www.gumstix.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2... * Each of the Stagecoach boards needs 7 Gumstix boards. Anything in the Overo line should work. * The switch is just an 8-port Netgear. Remove the board from the switch case in order to save space and make for easier mounting. * The power supply is the toughest part. Each Stagecoach board needs a 5V 3.5A power input. I believe they went with a ham radio power supply of some kind. It was fully modular. The stagecoach boards simply stand in little slots cut into the plexi case, so you just unplug the power + ethernet to pull out the board. Once you've done that, it's easy to swap out the individual Gumstix nodes. The switch is just held on under the boards by a couple case screws.
- bascule 13y ago
  Confirm, I don't think I've heard anyone even use the term "Beowulf cluster" since the late '90s/early '00s
  - jff 13y ago
    Same here, aside from Slashdot and breathless Hackaday posts where someone has shoved 8 beagleboards into a suitcase.
daniel-cussen 13y ago
Or buy a GA144, with 144 incredibly tightly networked 700 MHz computers, for $20.
- jff 13y ago
  "The GA144 comes in an 88-pin QFN package and the 144 nodes — each core is a self-contained F18A Computer with 64 18-bit words each of ROM and RAM — are arranged in an 8x18 grid. Those around the edge of the grid are equipped with I/O ranging from asynchronous serial boot, GPIO and SPI flash, through to high-speed SERDES and analogue I/O." It's cool tech, but you shouldn't pretend that you'll be running the same software or operating systems on the GA144.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
jbuttars 13y ago
As a BSU Alum and someone who cobbled together a cluster while studying parallel programming at BSU, awesome! That's a beautiful build you have there. The custom power delivery with the pretty lights is such a nice touch. That looks like it was a lot of fun, and I'm sure you learned a lot.

20 points by tanglesome 13y ago

The whole engineering server at Boise State seems to be down. There is an 8 min video here demonstrating the system: http://youtu.be/i_r3z1jYHAc http://youtu.be/i_r3z1jYHAc

jff 13y ago

I'd like to first point out that the name "Beowulf cluster" is pretty silly in general; allow me to enumerate the incredibly complicated setup procedure for a Beowulf cluster: 1) Install Linux on a bunch of networked computers, 2) "apt-get install mpi" on every one. That's it. Here’s something made at a national lab about 3 years ago: http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3538/5702439502_b6448467b8_o.jpg http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3538/5702439502_b6448467b8_o.j... I wonder if it inspired this project at all? The case, the fans, very similar looks. The box has 7 Gumstix “Stagecoach” motherboards, each loaded with 7 Gumstix Overo boards for a total of 49 ARM processors in the box. There is an Ethernet switch mounted in the bottom and a power supply at the back. They made 4 of these and stacked them up for a total of 196 CPUs. You can check out some action shots in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPyn9krjIRc&feature=youtu.be&t=50s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPyn9krjIRc&feature=youtu...

WestCoastJustin 13y ago
Very cool! Do you have any details on how to build one of these? A parts list for example.
- jff 13y ago
  Well, the plexiglass case was custom-made by a shop with a laser cutter. As for the hardware: * 7 of these: https://www.gumstix.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=247 https://www.gumstix.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2... * Each of the Stagecoach boards needs 7 Gumstix boards. Anything in the Overo line should work. * The switch is just an 8-port Netgear. Remove the board from the switch case in order to save space and make for easier mounting. * The power supply is the toughest part. Each Stagecoach board needs a 5V 3.5A power input. I believe they went with a ham radio power supply of some kind. It was fully modular. The stagecoach boards simply stand in little slots cut into the plexi case, so you just unplug the power + ethernet to pull out the board. Once you've done that, it's easy to swap out the individual Gumstix nodes. The switch is just held on under the boards by a couple case screws.
bascule 13y ago
Confirm, I don't think I've heard anyone even use the term "Beowulf cluster" since the late '90s/early '00s
- jff 13y ago
  Same here, aside from Slashdot and breathless Hackaday posts where someone has shoved 8 beagleboards into a suitcase.

daniel-cussen 13y ago

Or buy a GA144, with 144 incredibly tightly networked 700 MHz computers, for $20.

jff 13y ago
"The GA144 comes in an 88-pin QFN package and the 144 nodes — each core is a self-contained F18A Computer with 64 18-bit words each of ROM and RAM — are arranged in an 8x18 grid. Those around the edge of the grid are equipped with I/O ranging from asynchronous serial boot, GPIO and SPI flash, through to high-speed SERDES and analogue I/O." It's cool tech, but you shouldn't pretend that you'll be running the same software or operating systems on the GA144.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]

jbuttars 13y ago

As a BSU Alum and someone who cobbled together a cluster while studying parallel programming at BSU, awesome! That's a beautiful build you have there. The custom power delivery with the pretty lights is such a nice touch. That looks like it was a lot of fun, and I'm sure you learned a lot.