Now that the cluster is powered, I can start setting up the software environment I want to use. Since my plans for the cluster is to try out new things whenever something interesting comes along, I want to be able to remotely start, stop and reinstall the cluster nodes as easily as possible.
Continue reading “Building a mini cluster – Part 8: Cluster software setup woes”
Building a mini cluster – Part 7: Testing the cluster hardware
Circumstances dictated that I could not work on my cluster for a few weeks, but this last week, I made some progress. While I am waiting for all the bits and pieces I ordered to arrive, I wanted to play with the server hardware that had arrived a while ago. I need to test everything so I can send out for replacements and check that all the pieces actually work together as I expect them too.
Continue reading “Building a mini cluster – Part 7: Testing the cluster hardware”
Building a mini cluster – Part 6: Fans, push buttons, filters, screws, spacers, tools, etc….
Now that the design is “finalised”, I need to get the rest of the materials I will need to put it all together. This post will be a somewhat mixed bag, going over the different things I ordered. Continue reading “Building a mini cluster – Part 6: Fans, push buttons, filters, screws, spacers, tools, etc….”
Building a mini cluster – Part 5: Graphic Design of cluster housing.
As promised (and delayed once) this post will go over the case design. The following were the idea’s I had in my head when I started. Continue reading “Building a mini cluster – Part 5: Graphic Design of cluster housing.”
Building a mini cluster – Part 4: The postman rings, and he does ring twice!
I know I promised that the next post would be about the case design, but that is not finished yet. In the meantime, the postman was kind enough to deliver some hardware and I had a fun time opening my presents: Continue reading “Building a mini cluster – Part 4: The postman rings, and he does ring twice!”
Building a mini cluster – Part 3: One power supply to feed them all…
After going over the hardware selection in my previous post, we still need to get power to the servers…
The power system is going to be a difficult part of this build… As I wrote earlier, I am not a DYI person and I’ve been on the receiving end of enough electric shocks that, frankly, electricity scares me. But there is no way I can use discrete power supplies for every motherboard because: Continue reading “Building a mini cluster – Part 3: One power supply to feed them all…”
Building a mini cluster – Part 2: Server Hardware Selection
A Following my previous entry, where I went over the Design Criteria for my mini cluster, the next step is the selection of the server hardware: processor and motherboard, memory and storage.
Since I will be needing twelve of everything, even a small cost difference of “only” 10.00 EUR immediately means a total extra cost of 120.00 EUR… Penny saving matters! Continue reading “Building a mini cluster – Part 2: Server Hardware Selection”
Building a mini cluster – Part 1: Design Decisions
Ever since I can remember, I’ve had easy access to some form of multi node compute environment . But after changing jobs earlier this year, I found myself without access to anything resembling a cluster. At first it was only mildly annoying and I made do with using virtual machines on my (rather beefy) PC and I dabbled with public clouds like Azure and Amazon when I got a free coupon at some convention. But recently, I needed a cluster environment to test something for a potential customer and much to my chagrin, every virtual environment I tried just did not want to cooperate.
So I made the solemn promise to myself:
I will never be at the mercy of virtual compute ever again!