Cloud in a Box

While researching Ansible and how to use it for a project at work, I watched this video from Jeff Geerling and I had to build my own Raspberry Pi cluster.

Then I thought why not get the kids involved and make this one a family project instead.

Here’s my son helping assemble the cluster. The poor guy had fallen on the playground at school and broken his arm.

My kids with the assembled cluster before wiring.

Using some perf board and my soldering iron I put together some multi-colored leds to control via Ansible playbooks.

Leds installed.

No project should be without a case!

Key Features

• Stand Alone. Requires no internet connection once software is installed. Great for giving demos.
• Single power supply for the entire cluster including networking. Clutter is reduced.
• WiFi Client for using in demos and talks. (TP-Link WR702N)
• Easy to transport and store
• Can connect to the Internet when needed via Ethernet cable or Wifi.

Components

The items I used to build my cluster are mostly still available, here is the Amazon Wish List that I created when I was building mine.

Note: I did modify the power cables so that each USB power port powers 2 of the Raspberry Pi’s. (Y-cable)