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(LiM) Kubernetes Cluster set up using Ansible |
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Inspired by “Network Chuck”’s video tutorial “i built a Raspberry Pi SUPER COMPUTER!! // ft. Kubernetes (k3s cluster w/ Rancher)” on youtube{:target="_blank"} and corresponding course on his [website]( https://learn.networkchuck.com/courses/take/raspberry-pi-projects/lessons/29763478-i-built-a- raspberry-pi-super-computer-ft-kubernetes-k3s-cluster-w-rancher/discussions/index){:target="_blank"} as well as Jeff Geerling’s video channel{:target="_blank"} and blog{:target="_blank"}, I set out on four journeys:
- The first led me down my father’s foot steps of electrical engineering designing and building a custom carrier board for the Raspberry Pi compute module.
- The second, learning and creating kubernetes clusters on Raspberry Pis with kubernetes{:target="_blank"}/k3s{:target="_blank"} - a light weight version of kubernetes and managing them with Rancher{:target="_blank"}.
- The third, learning a new to me way of automating/simplifying administrative tasks, cluster installs and management using Ansible{:target="_blank"}.
- The fourth, was designing a cluster tray that would house my cluster in a unique way, inspred by toilet paper roles and a Pringles tube. But more about that later.
I should add that I am well down the path of my career but I always enjoyd tech and Linux. However, I am doing all of this as a hobby. I am sure there is many different (and possibly better) ways of doing things but this was my way.
Watching Jeff Geerling's video New Raspberry Pi Projects - CM4 NAS, Piunora, and Seaberry!{:target="_blank"} where he talks about mebs_t's self designed NAS{:target="_blank"}, made me think I am interested in doing somehting like this too. At the time, the use case I was woking on was staking Navcoin headlessly with a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4.{:target="_blank"}.
I was looking for a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 (CM4) carrier board that only provides power to a CM4 with emmc storage. Many of the carrier boards out at the time provided a lot more functionality so set out to design and build the Less-is-More (LiM) carrier board{:target="_blank"}.
The LiM Carrier Board series is a series of minimalistic Raspberry Pi (RPi) Compute Module 4 (CM4) Carrier Boards. Less-is-More (LiM) refers to the minimalistic design only providing the most rudimentary functionality to the CM4 such as 5V power via USB-C power connector and two status (power/activity) LEDs for the original LiM Carrier Board version. Additional + versions of the LiM Carrier Board will/might feature additional functionality such as flashing capability and SD card slot (see conceptual table below).
Except for the LiM CM4 Cluster Carrier Board, the LiM and LiM+ Carrier boards are meant for CM4 boards with onboard storage (the LiM CM4 Cluster Carrier Board supports both CM4 versions with and w/o eMMC (lite version), micro SD card and 2232 and has a 2241 M.2 M-key socket for NVMe PCIe SSD) and wifi as the LiM and LiM+ carrier boards provides no other functionalty other than power and status LEDs. The LiM CM4 Cluster Carrier Board has PoE ethernet and supports wifi and non-wifi CM4 models.C
{% include carousel.html height="75" unit="%" duration="7" number="1" %} Various LiM Carrier Board models
Three versions of the LiM Carrier Board series have been prototyped and more information can be found on their respective pages
The original LiM carrier board took about two months from idea (May 22nd, 2021) to delivery (July 14th, 2021). Special thanks to Anish Verma{:target="_blank"} for working with me on the CAD designs of the carrier board.
I was looking for such a minimalistic board and had a conversation with Jeff Geerling{:target="_blank"} when I asked him if he knew of a more minimalistic design than this board{:target="_blank"}? He pointed me to to uptime.lab's Upberry{:target="_blank"}.
Neither of these boards are exactly what I was looking for for my use case. So iI was motivated to design my own, customized board to my specs and that's how the Less-is-More board series came to be.
I forked this board design from Shawn Hymel{:target="_blank"}. He has a two part youtube series where he goes through how to design a CM4 Carrier Board.
- Part 1 - How to Make a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 Carrier Board in KiCad{:target="_blank"}
- Part 2 - How to Make a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 Carrier Board in KiCad{:target="_blank"}
Feel free to modify this design for your own application.
Here is the current sepc and feature list of designed and planned carrier boards:
| Model | Power (5V USB-C) | LEDs (Power/Activity) | Flashing Capability | SD card slot | Development Stage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LiM Board | ✔ | ✔ | ❌ | ❌ | prototype |
| LiM+ Board | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ❌ | prototype |
| LiM++ Board | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | abandoned |
While working onthe LiM++ Board I, got interested in clustering and decided to switch directions. I wanted to add a ccouple more features that coule be of value for a cluster type carrier board. And so the LiM CM4 Cluster Carrier Board idea was born. The LiM CM4 Cluster Board has the following features:
{::nomarkdown}
- RPi Pi Compute Module 4 (CM4) support (both versions with and w/o eMMC - Lite version)
- PoE Gigabit RJ45 port (GbE)
- USB-C (USB 2.0) for CM4 module flashing (power + data)
- toggle switch for boot/flash mode
- microSD card slot
- 2232 and 2241 M.2 M-key socket dedicated for NVMe PCIe SSD drives
- Fan Pins
- SDA, SDC, YCC, GND pins for OLED Displays
This is a summary of my Journey 1 and how I designed and built a custom carrier board for the cluster idea I
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