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Commodity single board computer clusters and their applications

Commodity single board computer clusters and their applications
Commodity single board computer clusters and their applications
Current commodity Single Board Computers (SBCs) are sufficiently powerful to run mainstream operating systems and workloads. Many of these boards may be linked together, to create small, low-cost clusters that replicate some features of
large data center clusters. The Raspberry Pi Foundation produces a series of
SBCs with a price/performance ratio that makes SBC clusters viable, perhaps even expendable. These clusters are an enabler for Edge/Fog Compute, where processing is pushed out towards data sources, reducing bandwidth requirements and decentralising the architecture. In this paper we investigate use cases driving the growth of SBC clusters, we examine the trends in future hardware developments, and discuss the potential of SBC clusters as a disruptive
technology. Compared to traditional clusters, SBC clusters have a reduced footprint, are low-cost, and have low power requirements. This enables different models of deployment -- particularly outside traditional data center environments. We discuss the applicability of existing software and management infrastructure to support exotic deployment scenarios and anticipate the next generation of SBC.

We conclude that the SBC cluster is a new and distinct computational deployment
paradigm, which is applicable to a wider range of scenarios than current clusters. It facilitates Internet of Things and Smart City systems and is potentially a game changer in pushing application logic out towards the network edge.
Raspberry Pi, Edge Computing;, Networks Cloud computing, Centralization / decentralization, Distributed computing methodologies; Multicore architectures; Emerging architectures
0167-739X
201-212
Johnston, Steven
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Basford, Philip
efd8fbec-4a5f-4914-bf29-885b7f4677a7
Perkins, Colin
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Herry, Herry
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Tso, Fung Po
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Pezaros, Demitrios
acf617d1-41b6-4820-bbdf-cf0f6dcfce7a
Mullins, Robert D
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Yoneki, Eiko
731a844a-747d-4fd3-ad9a-81c25d6fed3b
Cox, Simon
0e62aaed-24ad-4a74-b996-f606e40e5c55
Singer, Jeremy
bdf8307f-a727-433c-9e3d-a18911aded41
Johnston, Steven
6b903ec2-7bae-4a56-9c21-eea0a70bfa2b
Basford, Philip
efd8fbec-4a5f-4914-bf29-885b7f4677a7
Perkins, Colin
802a5e9e-bf60-4ad3-a541-f6b20583c60d
Herry, Herry
c73387f0-b699-4fae-9f94-e05c7cd1873f
Tso, Fung Po
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Pezaros, Demitrios
acf617d1-41b6-4820-bbdf-cf0f6dcfce7a
Mullins, Robert D
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Yoneki, Eiko
731a844a-747d-4fd3-ad9a-81c25d6fed3b
Cox, Simon
0e62aaed-24ad-4a74-b996-f606e40e5c55
Singer, Jeremy
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Johnston, Steven, Basford, Philip, Perkins, Colin, Herry, Herry, Tso, Fung Po, Pezaros, Demitrios, Mullins, Robert D, Yoneki, Eiko, Cox, Simon and Singer, Jeremy (2018) Commodity single board computer clusters and their applications. Future Generation Computer Systems, 89, 201-212. (doi:10.1016/j.future.2018.06.048).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Current commodity Single Board Computers (SBCs) are sufficiently powerful to run mainstream operating systems and workloads. Many of these boards may be linked together, to create small, low-cost clusters that replicate some features of
large data center clusters. The Raspberry Pi Foundation produces a series of
SBCs with a price/performance ratio that makes SBC clusters viable, perhaps even expendable. These clusters are an enabler for Edge/Fog Compute, where processing is pushed out towards data sources, reducing bandwidth requirements and decentralising the architecture. In this paper we investigate use cases driving the growth of SBC clusters, we examine the trends in future hardware developments, and discuss the potential of SBC clusters as a disruptive
technology. Compared to traditional clusters, SBC clusters have a reduced footprint, are low-cost, and have low power requirements. This enables different models of deployment -- particularly outside traditional data center environments. We discuss the applicability of existing software and management infrastructure to support exotic deployment scenarios and anticipate the next generation of SBC.

We conclude that the SBC cluster is a new and distinct computational deployment
paradigm, which is applicable to a wider range of scenarios than current clusters. It facilitates Internet of Things and Smart City systems and is potentially a game changer in pushing application logic out towards the network edge.

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More information

Submitted date: 26 January 2018
Accepted/In Press date: 25 June 2018
e-pub ahead of print date: 30 June 2018
Published date: December 2018
Keywords: Raspberry Pi, Edge Computing;, Networks Cloud computing, Centralization / decentralization, Distributed computing methodologies; Multicore architectures; Emerging architectures

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 421861
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/421861
ISSN: 0167-739X
PURE UUID: 773e939f-6622-4c9f-a937-f7748b343e2b
ORCID for Steven Johnston: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-3864-7072
ORCID for Philip Basford: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-6058-8270

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 03 Jul 2018 16:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 06:48

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Contributors

Author: Steven Johnston ORCID iD
Author: Philip Basford ORCID iD
Author: Colin Perkins
Author: Herry Herry
Author: Fung Po Tso
Author: Demitrios Pezaros
Author: Robert D Mullins
Author: Eiko Yoneki
Author: Simon Cox
Author: Jeremy Singer

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