40-node Raspberry Pi Cluster

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Introduction

This cluster is intended to serve as a testbed for distributed applications. Specifically, it’s meant to shine where the number of nodes available for testing is far more important than the overall computing power of the system. The Raspberry Pi was chosen because it is inexpensive, has a small footprint, does not require much power to operate, and performs adequately.

Requirements

• Build a model supercomputer, which structurally mimics a modern supercomputer.
• All hardware required for the cluster to operate must be housed in a case no larger than a full tower.
• Parts that are likely to fail should be easy to replace.
• It should be space-efficient, energy-efficient, economically-efficient, and well-constructed.
• Ideally, it should be visually pleasing.

Photos

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  Left

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  Front

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  Right

Project members

• David Guill

Status

• 1/30/2014 - The cluster is hardware-complete, but does not have software installed yet.

Next Steps

• A disk image needs to be built and installed.
• Distributed software needs to be written. This may take years. But it was the point in building it, so that’s fine.

Resources

• David’s cluster write-up: http://likemagicappears.com/projects/raspberry-pi-cluster/