Turing Pi 2 | Hacker News Reader

Turing Pi 2

turingpi.com

65 pointsnsky-world34 comments

We are more than excited to announce the launch of the Turing Pi 2 on Kickstarter on May 11, 2022

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The idea of setting up my own cluster seems really cool, but it always seems that I'm paying more money for less compute vs. just buying a single more powerful computer. I suppose this is worth it for people who'd like to physically own a cluster where they can test their cluster code with a real network layer before deploying that code to a data center?

The MSRP for Nvidia's Jetson Xavier NX 16GB module is USD500. So 4 Xaviers + board is USD2200 for a combined 64GB of LPDDR4 memory and 84TOPs of Compute.

On the other hand, I can buy an Nvidia RTX3080 with 10GB of memory on the card and 238 INT8 TOPS for ~USD1000, 64GB of DDR4 for USD250 and the last USD1000 on whatever other parts I need to get something working.

The only counterexample I can think of is that the cluster could potentially be easier to upgrade/purchase in pieces, which would be more ideal if you're broke and would like to get started on a budget. And of course, there are probably some use cases where the topology of the Jetson Cluster leverages its hardware more effectively than the single GPU.

Can someone help this make sense for me?

It's handy for me (with a Turing Pi 1) because it's one power (in a flat with distressingly few power outlets) and one ethernet for up to 8 computers. Like a mini-rack, if you will.

> On the other hand, I can buy an Nvidia RTX3080

Good luck with that in the UK. I know someone who ordered on launch date, still hasn't got one, and has been told there's no more coming from that brand...

[edit: to clarify that I have a TPi 1]

Very true on the note of supply. My only counterpoint is that all of Nvidia's products have been supply-constrained, their Jetson line included. The Jetson Xavier NX has a 10 week lead time on Mouser. So it seems that if you're interested in setting up a compute-heavy cluster with Nvidia products, you're just SOL.

Honestly, I've recently gotten a surprise financial windfall, and I could see myself lining up to buy the TPi 2 along with with some 16GB Jetson Orin SoMs if the TPi 2 supports them.

Yeah it’s been tough. I went to a bestbuy in the states and they happened to have several 3080 and 3080ti available… while in the store I checked to see if they listed the inventory online and they did not…

Archive.org link since they've been hugged to death.

http://web.archive.org/web/20220505200012/https://turingpi.c...

Hehe excellent to see they’re working on a software platform for self-hosted software. We’re probably their only competitor with our PiBox hardware (https://pibox.io) and software (https://KubeSail.com).

It’s fantastic to see another company try to put together the full self-hosting vision into a product. It’s a strange emotion to work on something for 3 years and then see a competitor finally emerge! Best of luck and I’ll be buying one asap…

That is a pretty shameless plug. I wouldn't put a SATA breakout board in a fancy case in the same category as an actual cluster backplane. That is like saying you are a Cisco competitor because you got a crossover cable working between two PCs.

It seems that they are doing much more than that, those templates are quite cool for example https://kubesail.com/templates

Nice Work!

What I dont see that I'd be looking for is a case where it can be mounted on a surface and held in place like this image shows https://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/answer_media/media/i...

Its also quite chucky, stacking 2 SSD and PI will see a lot of heat in the case, have you considered laying them out side by side as seen here. https://vinc.gumlet.io/gallery/blog/beginner-card-magic-thre...

The reason for this, is I could use it a media/gaming/Home automation/cctv server and mount it on a wall behind my wall mounted tv, so its not visible. HDMI has ethernet capabilities and some TV's let you develop your own app to run on the tv which can interact with network services.

So having the option to get a case where a ssd is either side of the pi would be something new because everything stacks and its just chunky and not flat or slimline, with the exception for pi ports but a slim line case could curve around the ports imo and be the only raised part of it.

I dont know how popular that would be, but Hacker news isnt always representative of a wide audience.

This looks to be some electronics and housing to seat other RPi modules into it:

""" It essentially runs up to four computers interconnected by a network ...

The Turing Pi 2 is equipped with a 1Gbps managed switch, 2x Ethernet ports, 2x SATA3 ports, 4x USB3 ports, DSI and HDMI port, SIM card slot, and two mini PCIe slots ... with a variety of mini PCI-e extension cards. ... """

Price looks to be in the $200 range ("early bird" price estimate at bottom of page).

How are the SATA storage shared between the four computers?

This HN post is the first I'm hearing about it but looking at a video the a reviewer put up, it looks like (at least in an earlier version) there are SATA lines dedicated to particular slots. [0] [1]

[0] https://turingpi.com/turing-pi-v2-first-review/

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUPYpZBfsMU&t=540s

EDIT: looks like the reviewer is not the creator, my apologies. Fixed the above

I can't see the site due to database issues, but is this using Compute Modules from Raspberry Pi? If so, these are extremely difficult (or impossible) to procure at the moment.

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From the email I got earlier (I've got a Turing Pi), yeah, sounds like it can take compute modules (they mention an adapter but also say they're going to source CM4s directly from RPi foundation for early supporters.)

> If so, these are extremely difficult (or impossible) to procure at the moment.

I ordered 4 8GB CM3s in June 2021 and the last update I got (28/04/22) was a new estimated delivery date of 30/04/22 (they did not get delivered then.)

Looks really cool! Especially interested in their own RK3588 SBC.

But is this low-power / small scale clustering really worth it? I run my stuff at home on a rpi4+ssd via usb and it works well enough. On the software side I just use Docker compose with prebuilt images and manifests for most stuff. Sure, when I upgrade the distro and reboot I have some downtime, but so what?

If I were to upgrade I would go for some mini x86 pc just for some extra horsepower and better connection for the ssd.

Doing a whole hardware cluster would be cool and fun, but probably not useful, especially for those matching this description:

> Additionally to that, you would need skills in server and network administration to set up Linux, and software such as Kubernetes and constantly manage the infrastructure running your applications. Sounds complicated? Well, there is another solution which is called Turing Pi 2.

I bought a pi1 last year and haven’t been able to use it as no pi’s we’re available for it

Same boat, it sits on a shelf doing nothing. Can't find compute modules anywhere.

Self-hosted aficionados are our preppers.

Or they could just be computer geeks who enjoy working on things like this as a hobby and get to be in control of their own data.

I have 12 laptops, 4 desktops, countless Rasperry PIs, all of them purchased with the idea to control my own data, do my own stuff.

Did I move to my own cloud ? No, I have a 500 usd/month bill for SaaS. :)

This will be fun to play with, even if I'm not entirely convinced of its practicality.

It does make me wonder, if I will receive the Turing Pi2 or 4x compute modules first.

Any idea what the price on a fully populated board will be? I'm having trouble finding it on the website.

"We are more than excited to announce the launch of the Turing Pi 2 on Kickstarter on May 11, 2022, 9 AM PT. The board price tag starts at $199 for super early birds, plus $10 for each Raspberry Pi compute module adapter. Become the first to start utilizing the immense potential of the Turing Pi 2. Hop down a rabbit hole of the self-hosted revolution."

"plus $10 for each Raspberry Pi compute module adapter." which I assume means you are also on the hook for finding and paying for however many Compute Modules you want to populate this board with.

From the email I got earlier: "Additionally, we are in the process of sourcing compute modules directly from the Raspberry Pi foundation, which means that we will do our best to deliver Raspberry Pi CM4 to all supporters who need them."

Paying, yes; finding, no?

At this rate it's almost worth buying this just collective bargain to get the CM4 modules alone.

Depends heavily on what you want to populate it with. The existing alternative to this on the market today is this board: https://www.seeedstudio.com/Jetson-Mate-Cluster-Advanced-wit... which appears to run at ~USD2,200 when fully populated with the most expensive modules available.

Is it just me or does anyone else find it quite inappropriate to showcase this product with software mostly associated with downloading pirated content?

I’d like to think there are better projects we could advertise.

Pirated content what do you mean?

Sonarr, Radarr… aren’t those mostly used to download shows and movies from Torrent sites or Usenet? The whole media section looks like someone’s “cord cutting solution”.

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Haven’t seen this one posted yet :)

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That means the database is very overloaded (to the point where it cannot respond) most likely.

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