Development

The cluster isn’t going to arrive until at least September. In the meantime, there are a few phases of development. This is a rough outline of how I think development will progress. The development stages will move forward based on when hardware arrives as well as when certain acceptance criteria are met.

Hardware states

Key:

Pi 4/X: Pi 4 with X GB of memory
CM4 X: Pi CM4 with X GB of memory (has eMMC, wifi, and bluetooth)
CM4 XL: Pi CM4 with X GB of memory, lite version (no eMMC, wifi, or bluetooth)
D35: Zymbit D35 Secure Edge Node

Current stage: 0

Stage 0: basic image validation

Status: basic validation complete.

This stage is basic validation that the packer process produces valid images. The goal is to get to a place where, with wired connectivity, the serial console isn’t needed.

This is being done on a CM4 8 at the moment with a carrier board.

Goals

Ensure packer produces valid images.
Ensure that images can be flash and installed without requiring serial console intervention.

Stage: PXEboot

The focus here will be on developing a PXE image and figuring out how to get the Pi to boot that. This is mostly to determine whether or not this approach will work.

Goals

Determine if PXE boot is a valid approach.
Automated build of a PXE image that can perform node Node Provisioning.

Stage: Automated TPM provisioning

Here, the goal is to have each node automatically provision and register its TPM on first boot.

Goals

Build out a TPM provisioning service.
Package a TPM provisioner into the boot image.

Stage: 5-node cluster

The next stage is to build out a cluster of 5 Raspberry Pi 4’s to develop basic node bring up and ansible configuration. This will be built on an UCTRONICS U6260 cabinet.

Goals

The 5-node cluster will focus on bringing up nodes automatically.

Stage: 6-node cluster

This stage will add a Zymbit D35 secure edge node in as the secure root of trust for the cluster - an HSM and identity management system.