
DIY Kubernetes cluster with x86 stick-pcs - youngtaff
https://hackernoon.com/diy-kubernetes-cluster-with-x86-stick-pcs-b0b6b879f8a7#.vdx36xv73
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sciurus
I get the idea of doing this for fun, or as a means of testing tools for
setting up kubernetes clusters, but then the author says

> This could then be used as the ultimate continuous delivery appliance.

and I'm scratching my head about why you'd want to run important
infrastructure on a bunch of underpowered, probably unreliably, stick PCs.

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moondev
Author here. The plan is to get spinnaker setup on the cluster. It's a
collection of around 8 microservices. Kubernetes should handle HA just fine.
20 cores and 10GB of memory for the cluster. I can build another one of these
and put it in a separate room for multi-region ;)

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sciurus
You plugged all 5 stick pcs into a single usb hub and ethernet switch. Your
definition of HA must be very different from mine.

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moondev
You're right. I should go get redundant power supplies and a full rack for my
little hobby cluster.

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ceocoder
Don't think that is enough, check if your next door neighbor is willing to
plug one of these in their coat closet - that gives you multi zone. Then ship
one to me (or I can build one myself) and host it in San Francisco, that gives
us multi region. Are you game?

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moondev
Sure! Lets put one on a balloon with a battery pack and hotspot too. That is
true cloud computing right there

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wyldfire
These look pretty neat. There are several ARM-based boards that are
competitive IMO. ODROID-XU4 (pros: gigabit, big.LITTLE octa-core, Mali OCL/OGL
GPU, cons: no included storage or enclosure).

Whatever the case, this is a neat project. Tie wraps FTW!

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kondor6c
the Odroid c2 is pretty nice too, but again no included storage, but then
again its emmc so you don't end up wearing out 4 SDcards per year.

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hinkley
Cool project.

Is that an Anker USB charger in your stack? Did you have any trouble powering
the sticks with it? I have some BBBs that won't spin up plugged into my Anker
and I'm wondering if I need a firmware upgrade.

Edit: have you had any problems with heat dissipation under load? You seem to
have packed things closer together than I would think.

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moondev
Yes it's an Anker. No problems so far.

The sticks do get warm to the touch. The case is sort of faceted like a heat
sink but I'm not sure if it's just decorative. I'm planning on getting some
more load and temp logging for tests soon.

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hinkley
I haven't gotten anywhere near as big as you, but I was contemplating hooking
one of those USB powered fans up to mine when I tried to load up the devices.

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moondev
That's a cool idea. I was also looking into usb powered switches so everything
can run off the hub

