ODROID-MC1 : My Cluster One with 32 CPU Cores and 8GB DRAM

 

It consists of 4 stackable units, each with a specially designed Single Board Computer (SBC) based on the Samsung Exynos 5422 octa-core processor. The OS is compatible with the ODROID-XU4, and is mounted on an aluminum case. The cases (which also incorporates an integrated heatsink) are stacked with a 80mm USB-Fan attached on the back-end, to ensure adequate cooling. The ODROID-MC1 comes assembled and ready to use as a personal cluster for learning as well as for doing useful work.

This affordable 32-core cluster computer can run Docker Swarm, Build Farm and many other parallel computing applications

Key features
* 4 units are fully assembled with a cooling fan.
* Each unit has Samsung Exynos5422 big-LITTLE octa-core CPUS with 2GB RAM
* Each unit has Gigabit Ethernet port for clustering.
* USB 2.0 Host
* UHS-1 capable micro-SD card slot for boot media
* 92x92x25mm 5Volt/2000RPM low noise cooling fan with USB power cable.
* Screws : M3 x 8mm self tapping screw
* Size : 112 x 93 x 72 mm approx.
* Linux OS images based on modern Kernel 4.9 LTS and Kernel 4.14 LTS

 

Docker Swarm
The most tedious part in setting up the ODROID-MC1 cluster is to install an OS and software packages needed for running and managing the docker-swarm on each compute node.
To expedite the process, you can download an SD card image with everything almost ready to use at https://oph.mdrjr.net/MrDreamBot/.
There are still a few steps you have to do to make everything work. The SD card has logins ‘root’ and ‘odroid’ already set up.
The password for both logins is “odroid:. The Swarm we are building consists of 1 master and 3 worker nodes.
https://magazine.odroid.com/article/odroid-mc1-docker-swarmgetting-started-guide/https://wiki.odroid.com/odroid-xu4/application_note/software/creating_build_farm

 

Build Farm
A compile farm is a server farm, a collection of one or more servers, which has been set up to compile computer programs remotely for various reasons.
Here is an example guide to create your own build farm.
https://wiki.odroid.com/odroid-xu4/application_note/software/creating_build_farm

 

JAVA Parallel programming
An environment ready for experimenting with MPJ Express, a reference implementation of the mpiJava 1.2 API.
https://magazine.odroid.com/article/odroid-mc1-parallel-programming-getting-started/

 

Hadoop and Spark
Installing HADDOP and SPARK onto an ODROID-XU4 or MC1 cluster.
https://magazine.odroid.com/wp-content/uploads/ODROID-Magazine-201609.pdf#page=18

 

PXE remote booting setup
How to set the PXE environment (server and clients) using ODROID-XU4/HC1/MC1. Although the NFS is used for the root file system of PXE client in this page, the ramdisk is also useful if the image size of the root filesystem is compact.
https://wiki.odroid.com/odroid-xu4/application_note/software/pxe_boot

 

To set up the MC1 cluster, you need the following in addition to the MC1 hardware:

BASIC SETUP

1 x Gigabit switch with at least 5 ports
5 x Ethernet cables
4 x microSD cards (at least 8GB in capacity)
4 x 5V/4A power supply for the MC1 computers

INTERMEDIATE SETUP

1 x Gigabit switch with at least 5 ports
5 x Ethernet cables
4 x microSD cards (at least 8GB in capacity)
4 x DC Plug Cable Assembly 5.5mm for the MC1 computers
1 x 5V/20A power supply

ADVANCED SETUP

1 x Gigabit switch with at least 17 ports
17x Ethernet cables
16 x microSD cards (at least 8GB in capacity)
16 x DC Plug Cable Assembly 5.5mm for the MC1 computers
1 x 5V/60A power supply

 

Which power adaptor should I use?
We recommend 4pcs of 5V/4A adaptor. Inner diameter is 2.1mm, outer diameter is 5.5mm. Center is Positiver an Outer is Negative.

MC1x 4 units  consume around 60~70Watt.

 

CPU/RAM PERFORMANCE
We ran several benchmarks to measure the computing power on the MC1/XU4. The same tests were performed on the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B, ODROID-C1+, ODROID-C2 and ODROID-MC1/XU4.
The values of the test results were scaled uniformly for comparison purposes. The computing power of the MC1/XU4 was measured to be ~7 times faster than the latest Raspberry Pi 3 thanks to the 2Ghz Cortex-A15 cores and much higher 64bit-wide memory bandwidth. Using the MC1/XU4 as a computer provides a “professional server like” experience, unlike the sluggish performance of most single-board computers!
Particularly for developers, compiling code on the MC1/XU4 is super fast. The high-performance 2GB DDR3 RAM is an additional advantage allowing most programs to be compiled directly on the MC/1XU4.

Benchmarks (Index Score)	Raspberry Pi 3	ODROID-C1+	ODROID-C2	ODROID-XU4/MC1
Unixbench: Dhrystone-2	865.4	1571.6	2768.2	5941.4
Unixbench: Double-Precision Whetstone (x3)	1113	1887.3	3076.8	6186.3
Nbench 2.2.3: Integer (x40)	619.92	1173.6	1808.92	2430.52
Nbench 2.2.3: Floating-Point (x100)	781.8	1245.3	2300.3	3787.3
mbw100: Memory Bandwidth (MiB/s)	542.912	616.339	1472.856	2591.461

 

ETHERNET PERFORMANCE

The MC1/XU4 has an on-board Gigabit Ethernet controller. Our bi-directional streaming speed was measured at ~910 Mbps.
Thanks to the advanced technology of the RTL8153 controller, the MC1’s Ethernet controller easily outperforms the connectivity solutions of prior generations. 

Test command
Server mode : iperf -s
Client Mode : iperf -c [ip address] -P 10 -W 32k

Ethernet performance	XU3 On-board 100Mbps	XU3 External 1Gbps	MC1/XU4 On-board 1Gbps
iperf Server on SBC (Mbit/sec)	114.0	419	915.0
iperf Client on SBC (Mbit/sec)	114.0	625	911.0

 

SPECIFICATIONS

CPU	Samsung Exynos5422 ARM® Cortex™-A15 Quad 2.0GHz/Cortex™-A7 Quad 1.4GHz
DRAM Memory	2Gbyte LPDDR3 RAM PoP (750Mhz, 12GB/s memory bandwidth, 2x32bit bus)
GPU	Mali™-T628 MP6 OpenGL ES 3.1 / 3.0 / 2.0 / 1.1 and OpenCL 1.2 Full profile
Micro-SD Slot	UHS-1 compatible micro-SD slot upto 128GB/SDXC
USB2.0 Host	HighSpeed USB standard A type connector x 1 port
LEDs	Power, System-status
Gbit Ethernet LAN	10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet with RJ-45 Jack ( Auto-MDIX support)
Power Input	DC Barrel Jack Socket 5.5/21.mm for 4.8V~5.2 input  (5V/4A Power supply is recommended for each unit)
Size	112 x 93 x 72 mm