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Turing Pi: Kubernetes Cluster on Your Desk

turingpi.com

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Re: Turing Pi: Kubernetes Cluster on Your Desk

#2
Looking at the specs, it seems almost dishonest to promote this for kubernetes.

> The nodes interconnected with the onboard 1 Gbps switch. However, each node is limited with 100 Mbps USB speed.

Not only that but Compute Module 3+ are limited to 1GB RAM, is it really expected someone could run a realistic workload? How stable is the control plane node with such limited resources?

It seems like picking up 3 raspi4s (4GB RAM each) and powering via PoE would be a must better result.

Re: Turing Pi: Kubernetes Cluster on Your Desk

#3
post #2

Looking at the specs, it seems almost dishonest to promote this for kubernetes. > The nodes interconnected with the onboard 1 Gbps switch. However, each node is limited with 100 Mbps USB speed. Not only that but Compute Module 3+ are limited to 1GB RAM, is it really expected someone could run a realistic workload? How stable is the control plane node with such limited resources? It seems like picking up 3 raspi4s (4G…

I agree, using the USB bus for inter node communication seems like a poor design choice. Anyone got any insight on why they wouldnt use the much faster ethernet connection?

Re: Turing Pi: Kubernetes Cluster on Your Desk

#4
post #2

Looking at the specs, it seems almost dishonest to promote this for kubernetes. > The nodes interconnected with the onboard 1 Gbps switch. However, each node is limited with 100 Mbps USB speed. Not only that but Compute Module 3+ are limited to 1GB RAM, is it really expected someone could run a realistic workload? How stable is the control plane node with such limited resources? It seems like picking up 3 raspi4s (4G…

I agree, using the USB bus for inter node communication seems like a poor design choice. Anyone got any insight on why they wouldnt use the much faster ethernet connection?

My understanding is that the ethernet module on the raspberry pi is a usb device, not a pci device.

Re: Turing Pi: Kubernetes Cluster on Your Desk

#5
post #2

Looking at the specs, it seems almost dishonest to promote this for kubernetes. > The nodes interconnected with the onboard 1 Gbps switch. However, each node is limited with 100 Mbps USB speed. Not only that but Compute Module 3+ are limited to 1GB RAM, is it really expected someone could run a realistic workload? How stable is the control plane node with such limited resources? It seems like picking up 3 raspi4s (4G…

I agree, using the USB bus for inter node communication seems like a poor design choice. Anyone got any insight on why they wouldnt use the much faster ethernet connection?

The SoC used in the Pi 3 does not have an Ethernet MAC. It's always provided via USB. The CM3 does not have a USB Ethernet device onboard, it's provided by the carrier board.

Re: Turing Pi: Kubernetes Cluster on Your Desk

#6
post #2

Looking at the specs, it seems almost dishonest to promote this for kubernetes. > The nodes interconnected with the onboard 1 Gbps switch. However, each node is limited with 100 Mbps USB speed. Not only that but Compute Module 3+ are limited to 1GB RAM, is it really expected someone could run a realistic workload? How stable is the control plane node with such limited resources? It seems like picking up 3 raspi4s (4G…

I randomly came across a similar offering and thought about buying for fun: https://www.mininodes.com/product/5-node-raspberry-pi-3-com-...

Any idea how the specs compare?

Re: Turing Pi: Kubernetes Cluster on Your Desk

#7
post #2

Looking at the specs, it seems almost dishonest to promote this for kubernetes. > The nodes interconnected with the onboard 1 Gbps switch. However, each node is limited with 100 Mbps USB speed. Not only that but Compute Module 3+ are limited to 1GB RAM, is it really expected someone could run a realistic workload? How stable is the control plane node with such limited resources? It seems like picking up 3 raspi4s (4G…

I randomly came across a similar offering and thought about buying for fun: https://www.mininodes.com/product/5-node-raspberry-pi-3-com-... Any idea how the specs compare?

This is still based on the compute modules, so you're going to have the same tradeoffs.

These are interesting ideas, but until the compute modules start having more on board RAM, you'd be much better off working with a few RPi 4's. They will be faster (1Gbps ethernet, more RAM), and cheaper since you only need a gigabit switch to connect them together, not a custom carrier board.

If the compute modules start to get more powerful, then having to deal with only one power supply and ethernet uplink would be nice. It's a very appealing idea. But, you're going to almost always have a better experience with a bunch of standard RPis.

Re: Turing Pi: Kubernetes Cluster on Your Desk

#8
There's something amusingly cyclical about a blade server architecture for Kubernetes. The tech comes out of a whole movement towards combining commodity machines using clever software instead of buying specialist hardware, but then adds the specialist hardware back in.

Some deeper integration between Kubernetes and the hardware (acceleration/offload ASICs maybe), branding of k8s + this hardware as a unified product, and this would literally just be a mainframe. Which is not a terrible idea! Maybe Kubernetes is the mainframe operating system of the future.

Re: Turing Pi: Kubernetes Cluster on Your Desk

#9
post #2

Looking at the specs, it seems almost dishonest to promote this for kubernetes. > The nodes interconnected with the onboard 1 Gbps switch. However, each node is limited with 100 Mbps USB speed. Not only that but Compute Module 3+ are limited to 1GB RAM, is it really expected someone could run a realistic workload? How stable is the control plane node with such limited resources? It seems like picking up 3 raspi4s (4G…

If you insist on using Pis (IMHO you're quickly at the point where a (potentially used) NUC or small office PC is the better choice), why would you go for extra expense and effort for PoE? Just connect a 5V PSU to the power pins? I guess it gives you individual power switching without any DIY, but other than that?
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