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Covid-19 project re-jiggery

A project log for Raspberry Pi Cluster

A Raspberry Pi Cluster to test docker based services for .NET Core and Python applications

craig-hissettCraig Hissett 04/07/2020 at 14:100 Comments

So, like the rest of the UK I'm stuck at home during this current outbreak. I'm able to continue to work from home, so the work I was doing will continue in as normal a capacity as possible.

The need to have this cluster up and running to demonstrate how Kubernetes can be used to greatly improve the deployment and running of our .NET Core apps and legacy PHP content is still very much there; if anything it's a perfect time to get it up and tested ready to showcase once we return to a more normal way of working.

That being said I don't have a desk on which to leave this running at home so some changes will be made to integrate it into my home network.

Firstly, it's too big - my home network currently resides behind our TV unit in our living room and space is already at a premium. To make it fit in without causing too many issues I'm going to separate the screen from the project and replace the current switch I'm using with the PoE switch from this project. I can then build a much smaller and discreet frame for the Pis themselves and leave them running headless and accessible remotely.

The screen will be built into in it's own frame to compliment my Totem Mini Lab that I use for quick prototyping, maintaining the form factor of the Lab and including an Arduino Mega and a pHAT Stack instead of breadboards.

My current home switch is an old 24 port Netgear switch.  Only 6 ports are being used, so the 10 port PoE switch will be able to handle the 6 devices plus the three Pis running in the cluster. I currently have a big old Cisco Access Point connected to my router and using a PoE injector to power it (it's a thirsty PoE+ device); I can use the last spare port on the switch (which is also PoE+) to remove some of the cable mess behing there.

Once the Cluster is up and running I can also remove one or two of the other devices that will no longer be needed for running projects on, and I'll still have a free port on the back of my router itself for quickly plugging in the odd thing for a test here and there.

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