Introducing Racklet, a commoditized, educational and open source data center scale-model for tinkerers

“The future is already here - it's just not evenly distributed” - William Gibson

We’d like to announce our latest open-source project: Racklet. It’s a fully-integrated, Raspberry Pi form-factor server rack and software stack that aims to be a scale model of hyperscaler datacenters. All layers of the stack are 100% OSS/OSH, and will be developed together with the community. It’s reproducible through open PCB designs, 3D printed casing, and commodity, off-the-shelf hardware.

We want to lower the barrier of entry for becoming cloud native. Racklet aims to inspire users to explore how modern server architectures work, in a tangible and educational way. Emphasis is put on security, knowledge sharing, extensibility, and portability.

The goal is to conceptually map to real environments and provide an accessible and well-documented path to welcome future talents to the world of cloud native.

Youtube link: https://youtu.be/YKWtR0xOnF4
Online slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1cfVf4ZSiCef6gpWr8UMtdMPqyIdWTLaGt1du5v5Kex0/edit#slide=id.gd48a3760c5_0_2030

Transcript

1. the cloud
   @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
   

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2. someone else’s server?
   @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
   

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3. someone else’s problem?
   @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
   

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4. but, what is the problem anyways?
   “It just works”
   @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
   

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5. mental model vs reality
   @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
   

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6. mental model mismatch
   @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
   *
   *Original image adapted
   Relevant: “KubeCloud: A Small-Scale Tangible Cloud Computing Environment”,
   a Master’s Thesis from Aarhus University, by Kasper Nissen and Martin Jensen.
   

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7. a practical way to bridge the gap
   Relevant: “KubeCloud: A Small-Scale Tangible Cloud Computing Environment”,
   a Master’s Thesis from Aarhus University, by Kasper Nissen and Martin Jensen. @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
   *Original image adapted
   *
   

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8. the hidden complexity
   what the developer sees
   logical software
   Web App
   Power Premises
   Cooling Network
   Compute Storage
   Firmware Hypervisor
   VM
   hardware-software interface
   finite hardware
   OS
   @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
   

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9. what are my options?
   @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
   

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10. what are my options?
    /month
    Rent
    Note: This project is not affiliated with any of these companies, the logos are just for illustration. @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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11. Buy
    what are my options?
    Rent
    /month
    Note: This project is not affiliated with any of these companies, the logos are just for illustration. @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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12. reality for us students
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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13. what are my options?
    Buy
    Rent Build
    /month
    Note: This project is not affiliated with any of these companies, the logos are just for illustration. @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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14. If you go down the
    build route, the
    assembly is left as an
    exercise to the reader
    how to build a cloud?
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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16. so what is the industry-standard glue?
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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17. the imperative, fail-at-runtime glue:
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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18. the declarative, hardened glue:
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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19. let’s start from the beginning
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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20. Lucas Käldström
    @luxas
    @kubernetesonarm
    Emeritus Kubernetes SIG/WG co-lead
    CS Student, Aalto University
    Co-author of kubeadm, Weave Ignite & Racklet
    Dennis Marttinen
    @twelho
    @twelho
    Open Source Developer
    CS Student, Aalto University
    Co-author of Weave Ignite & Racklet
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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21. how to build a cloud (2015 edition)
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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22. lucas’ try, circa 2015
    luxas/kubernetes-on-arm
    luxas/kubeadm-workshop
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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23. Plexiglass
    & screws
    SBC SBC SBC SBC
    USB Hub
    Network Switch
    Internet
    Power grid
    SD SD SD SD
    230VAC → 12VDC
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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24. how to build a better cloud (2021 edition)
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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25. Plexiglass
    & screws
    SBC SBC SBC SBC
    USB Hub
    Network Switch
    Internet
    Power grid
    SD SD SD SD
    problem #1:
    Inflexible
    No hot-swapping
    Inflexible & limiting
    “Hand-made”, not reproducible
    230VAC → 12VDC
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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26. 3D printed
    case
    SBC SBC SBC SBC
    USB Hub
    Network Switch
    Internet
    Power grid
    SD SD SD SD
    Hot-swap support
    Reproducible
    Modular
    230VAC → 12VDC
    solution #1:
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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27. 3D printed
    case
    SBC SBC SBC SBC
    USB Hub
    Network Switch
    Internet
    Power grid
    SD SD SD SD
    230VAC → 12VDC
    problem #2:
    No standard :(
    Single point of failure (SPOF)
    Single point of failure,
    easily overloaded
    Different
    power in
    connectors
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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28. SBC HAT
    3D printed
    case
    SBC SBC SBC SBC
    Network Switch
    Internet
    Power grid
    SD SD SD SD
    230VAC → 12-20VDC
    HAT HAT HAT HAT
    SBC GPIO
    12-20V
    → 5V
    HAT standard
    Moved SPOF out of
    Rack, redundancy
    possible
    PWR IN
    Flexible input range
    solution #2:
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    Power monitoring
    

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29. 3D printed
    case
    SBC SBC SBC SBC
    Network Switch
    Internet
    Power grid
    SD SD SD SD
    230VAC → 12-20VDC
    HAT HAT HAT HAT
    problem #3:
    Tiresome to flash
    Breaks often
    Mutable infra
    SBC GPIO
    12-20V
    → 5V
    PWR IN
    SBC HAT
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    Hard to debug
    

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30. SBC HAT
    3D printed
    case
    SBC SBC SBC SBC
    Network Switch
    Internet
    Power grid
    SSD SSD SSD SSD
    230VAC → 12-20VDC
    HAT HAT HAT HAT
    OS Images Immutable infra
    Durable storage
    Secret for secure
    network booting
    Microcontroller helping
    with secure boot* and
    boot debugging
    solution #3:
    SBC GPIO
    12-20V
    → 5V
    PWR IN
    RP2040
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    *Not the UEFI standard, instead tools from Open Source Firmware.
    

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31. 3D printed
    case
    SBC SBC SBC SBC
    Network Switch
    Internet
    Power grid
    SSD SSD SSD SSD
    230VAC → 12-20VDC
    HAT HAT HAT HAT
    problem #4:
    Kubernetes is
    hard to set up
    and upgrade
    No declarative
    control over
    power state
    Cluster control is
    imperative, not
    declarative
    OS Images
    SBC HAT
    SBC GPIO
    12-20V
    → 5V
    PWR IN
    RP2040
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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32. 3D printed
    case
    SBC SBC SBC SBC
    Network Switch
    Internet
    Power grid
    SSD SSD SSD SSD
    230VAC → 12-20VDC
    HAT HAT HAT HAT
    Provide K8s-ready
    immutable OS
    images
    Git Declarative
    Infra Config
    Declarative
    GitOps for all
    infrastructure
    K8s-ready
    OS Images
    Declarative
    power state
    control
    solution #4:
    SBC HAT
    SBC GPIO
    12-20V
    → 5V
    PWR IN
    RP2040
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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33. is this realistic?
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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34. kind of, as a scale model
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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35. 3D printed
    case
    SBC SBC SBC SBC
    Network Switch
    Internet
    Power grid
    SSD SSD SSD SSD
    230VAC → 12-20VDC
    HAT HAT HAT HAT
    Immutable infra
    Git Declarative
    Infra Config
    Declarative “full-stack”
    GitOps
    K8s-ready
    OS Images
    similarities:
    Two-stage
    step-down
    “Busbar”
    TPM(-ish)
    Secure, zero-trust bootflow
    BMC
    Optimized
    casing
    End-to-end observability
    Hot-swappable
    compute
    SBC HAT
    SBC GPIO
    12-20V
    → 5V
    PWR IN
    RP2040
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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36. disclaimer:
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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37. values
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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38. 1. Security
    avoid common security pitfalls
    by using modern paradigms
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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39. 1. Security
    2. Interoperability
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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40. 1. Security
    2. Interoperability
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    declarative, API-driven system
    

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41. 1. Security
    2. Interoperability
    SPI
    Ethernet
    UART
    USB
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    cutting-edge protocols in the firmware
    

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42. 1. Security
    2. Interoperability
    3. Accessibility / Reproducibility
    100% Open Source Software and Hardware, all on GitHub
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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43. 1. Security
    2. Interoperability
    3. Accessibility / Reproducibility
    reproducible, 3D
    printed parts
    Note: This project is not affiliated with any 3D
    printer vendors, the logos are just for illustration. @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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44. 1. Security
    2. Interoperability
    3. Accessibility / Reproducibility
    Electronics?
    off-the-shelf components
    docs.racklet.io mdBook
    schematics in KiCad
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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45. 1. Security
    2. Interoperability
    3. Accessibility / Reproducibility
    4. Modularity / Compatibility
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    SBC-agnostic (ideally) multi-architecture
    use HAT design
    modular
    components
    

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46. 1. Security
    2. Interoperability
    3. Accessibility / Reproducibility
    4. Modularity / Compatibility
    5. Transparency power monitoring
    observability
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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47. 1. Security
    2. Interoperability
    3. Accessibility / Reproducibility
    4. Modularity / Compatibility
    5. Transparency
    6. Maintainability / Upgradability
    hot swappability upgradability → minimize e-waste
    auto-upgradability
    (e.g. A/B partitioning)
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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48. 1. Security
    2. Interoperability
    3. Accessibility / Reproducibility
    4. Modularity / Compatibility
    5. Transparency
    6. Maintainability / Upgradability
    7. Affordability
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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49. use cases
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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50. homelabs
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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51. education
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    heylagostechie on Unsplash
    

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52. research
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    Science in HD on Unsplash
    

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53. edge computing
    Darya Jumelya on Unsplash @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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54. ecosystem & community
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    

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55. @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    Turing Pi 1 by Turing Machines Inc.
    Raspberry Pi Server Mark III by Ivan Kuleshov
    CM4 Uptime Platform by Ivan Kuleshov
    

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56. 
    Baim Hanif on Unsplash
    your path to mastering cloud native?
    

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57. the journey begins
    join us on this journey!
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    Duy Pham on Unsplash
    

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58. racklet/racklet
    @kubernetesonarm & @twelho
    racklet.io Racklet on OSFW
    

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