Building a Briefcase/Pelican workstation/cloning rack?

[ChainedHope]

tl;dr
-Need an SBC that has gigabit ethernet and 1 sata port for less than $50
-Need help with a crazy compact layout.

Summary
So I have a very specific work load during the summers when I am not at school where I work for a LAN center to help them with general eSports-Cafe workloads (a lot of linux and database work), Web Dev, Game Modding (location specific plugins for various games), and the large stage events (usually held at conventions). The problem is my Laptop isn't powerful enough to use and the dedicated machine I get to use is an outdated Alienware R4 (i7-920, 12GB of DDR3, 4tb 5400rpm drive, GTX960). Of course it works but repackaging and compiling in Linux takes a long time (hours) and I often run out of memory when I am multitasking between web dev and game modifications as they have a bit of downtime between compiling and database updating and I like to be doing something during that downtime instead of sitting on my thumbs. The other issue is that during the large events every machine (200+) needs to be cloned with an always-updated image of windows with all of our client software.

What I would like to do is to use a somewhat beefy briefcase or pelican case (or custom case) that can hold a mATX/mITX based workstation (probably going AM4 with the 1700) and another that can hold a few SBCs (think raspberry pis). If its possible to combine these then that would be a blessing in disguise.

Workstation Build
I know what to do for this one. Just need to find a case that can hold all the components with adequate cooling and attach a monitor into the lid of the case. Boom done. No problem. Think the COTS system that was built on this forum.

Cloning Rack
This is where it gets tricky. My current setup uses 15 seperate pcs (1 master + 14 slaves) that use a network clone to do everything. But it takes up an entire room in the store and kills it off to the public meaning less people can play. The idea is to minimize it by using SBCs (single board computers) that have gigabit+ networking and a sata port combined with a series of hard drive cages and a gigabit router to create my own mini-cloning system. The problem im having now is finding a board that has gigabit networking+sata and doesnt cost more than $100. For this to be reasonably priced, the board need to be less than $50 each or it wont be worth my time and money (this will be coming out of pocket, and depending on how it works I will be reimbursed).

The Tricky Part
The hard part is getting these both down to reasonable sizing and price. I have about $2k for the workstation and $1k for the cloning system (budget isnt set in stone). Having 2 briefcases is doable for this, but if at all possible I would love to be able to combine the two. I am thinking about layering the two in a double thick case. The bottom layer would house the workstation (I dont need access to it) and the top layer would have the cloning rack. Layout wise the workstation is pretty damn simple to setup so I wont go too much on that. The cloning rack is a bit trickier. I need to essentially fit 14-15 SBCs on the layer (14 if i use the workstation to do the masters job, 15 if not) and also setup 14-15 hard drives that can be easily replaced in the system. This is a hell of a lot of parts to fit into an easily bearable case. Any help is appreciated.

 

[Soul_Est]

For the SBCs, you can go for either the ODROID-C2 or ODROID-XU4 from HardKernel. At $46.95 or $61.95 respectively from AmeriDroid, you could get the fifteen you need for $ 704.25 or $929.25 respectively before shipping and tax.

 

[jtd871]

Not knowing anything about what you really need, it sounds to me that you need gobs of RAM, lots of cores and lots of SATA/Ethernet. Wonder if you could get all that in a X99 mATX with SATA and ethernet cards? Then put it in one of these: http://www.acmeportable.com/portable-computers

 

[ChainedHope]

Not knowing anything about what you really need, it sounds to me that you need gobs of RAM, lots of cores and lots of SATA/Ethernet. Wonder if you could get all that in a X99 mATX with SATA and ethernet cards? Then put it in one of these: http://www.acmeportable.com/portable-computers

Wow. I didnt know about these I'll need to look into it.

Essentially I need something that is heavily multithreaded with atleast 32GB (64GB would probably last longer) of ram for the workstation. The cloning system is going to be based on a seperate setup using single board computers to clone over a local network (all housed inside of the case). Still think AM4 with the 1700 is the way to go (looking at Linux benchmarks) in terms of price.

For the SBCs, you can go for either the ODROID-C2 or ODROID-XU4 from HardKernel. At $46.95 or $61.95 respectively from AmeriDroid, you could get the fifteen you need for $ 704.25 or $929.25 respectively before shipping and tax.

Neither of the boards have sata III tho, off the top of my head I cant remember if USB 3.0 is fast enough but I know USB 2.0 is not.

I've been looking at the Banana Pi boards, but I have no experience with them and they only have Sata II, so its questionable at best. They simply have to meet 3 requirements. Gigabit Ethernet, Sata III, and run Linux. They do not have to be particularly powerful as they will only be transfering data from the network to the HDD that it is connected to.

 

[jtd871]

Do you really need SBCs or could you virtualize with a Xeon in one chassis?

 

[henrygrins]

I'm actually working on a similar-sounding build (albeit one with gnarly discrete graphics needs), which you can see here.

I'd say +1 to the virtualization option, with a relatively low TDP Xeon proc and an OS-agnostic KVM such as unRAID (or even vSphere). Then you could spin up as many instances of your desired linux kernel as you want in lieu of the SBCs, SSL'ing or remoting into each instance.

In terms of the physical case design, you could build it into a 1U or 2U server barebones (or design it yourself) and rack it in something like this.

Just my two cents...

 

[ChainedHope]

Do you really need SBCs or could you virtualize with a Xeon in one chassis?

I'm actually working on a similar-sounding build (albeit one with gnarly discrete graphics needs), which you can see here.

I'd say +1 to the virtualization option, with a relatively low TDP Xeon proc and an OS-agnostic KVM such as unRAID (or even vSphere). Then you could spin up as many instances of your desired linux kernel as you want in lieu of the SBCs, SSL'ing or remoting into each instance.

In terms of the physical case design, you could build it into a 1U or 2U server barebones (or design it yourself) and rack it in something like this.

Just my two cents...

I see the confusion. The SBCs are only meant for the cloning operation.

The issue is that I plan to use a network mass clone through linux to send 1 masters data to 14 slave drives. You cannot do this over sata/pci as you will saturate it to the point that it would take days to complete. I can give you some examples below from actual testing:

Network Mass Clone over Gigabit: 1->14, 320GB drives. Approximately 1h30m
Internal Sata Clone: 1->1, 320GB drives. Approximately 1h30m.
Internal Sata Clone: 1->3, 320GB drives. Approximately 4h45m.

Right now we have 2 ways to do this efficiently. The first way is a hassle. It requires setting up the entire lan (anywhere between 200 and 300 pcs depending on the size) and then going and doing clones starting on 1 machine and doubling output each time. A.k.a after 1 clone finishes you use both dirves as a master now and start up a 2->4, then 4->8, then 8->16 and so on. This takes working approximately 3 20hr days to setup the entire LAN and clone all the drives. The other way is to connect 10-20 pcs and use a network mass clone over a gigabit router. This can do 1->19 and takes about ~3h00m whereas a sata clone described from above would take around ~6h00m. We found that 1->14 is the best in terms of time per drive and space. As each pc is a 22lbs ~40L alienware pc, these take ALOT of room. The idea is to save space by making a compact build using SBCs instead that can handle the task.

 

[henrygrins]

I see the confusion. The SBCs are only meant for the cloning operation.

The issue is that I plan to use a network mass clone through linux to send 1 masters data to 14 slave drives. You cannot do this over sata/pci as you will saturate it to the point that it would take days to complete. I can give you some examples below from actual testing:

Network Mass Clone over Gigabit: 1->14, 320GB drives. Approximately 1h30m
Internal Sata Clone: 1->1, 320GB drives. Approximately 1h30m.
Internal Sata Clone: 1->3, 320GB drives. Approximately 4h45m.

Woof, yeah I see the dilemma. A little bit of Googling led me here: http://www.bigboardlist.com and http://linuxgizmos.com/ringing-in-2017-with-90-hacker-friendly-single-board-computers/. BananaPi, Orange Pi, and pcDuino3 are the winners there. Admittedly, I'm nowhere near an expert on the subject of SBCs.

 

[HeroXLazer]

Paging @Ceros_X
He/She may be able to help.

 

[jtd871]

I still think that if you can create virtual slaves on the PC, dedicating 1 core, 1 ethernet port and maybe 1 real HDD to these slave VMs (when active), you come out money ahead by not having to buy the SBCs in the first place.

My knowledge of mass cloning is limited to the clonezilla video I just watched, but it seems that you would still need a physical ethernet connection from each slave to a switch that connects all the machines that you are targeting with the image. So even accounting for 5 slaves and wanting to have another dedicated port for your own use connecting via wired connection, you could make it work with a 2-port motherboard and a 4-port PCIe expansion card.

 

[Ceros_X]

Paging @Ceros_X
He/She may be able to help.

Thanks for the page.

I saw the thread earlier and I can help with the Pelican Case part, but I think right now @ChainedHope is still working on the cloning part that will dictate the rest of his build.

 

[ChainedHope]

Thanks for the page.

I saw the thread earlier and I can help with the Pelican Case part, but I think right now @ChainedHope is still working on the cloning part that will dictate the rest of his build.

I may have figured it out, someone is sending me a couple of dev SBCs because of this post to test and see if it works out. The actual commercial version wont be out for another 3 months (which fits into my timeline), but if it works at the size and price they quoted me then it will definitely be a steal.

Im only allowed to give a tiny amount of information on the dev boards, but they are based on the same chip in the Pi 3 with gigabit ethernet and a sata III connector in a smaller package. You are missing out on the GPIO and a USB port (has a micro OTG port) however but they should sell for around ~$40.