Cluster Pi: Build a Raspberry Pi Beowulf cluster

Construct a simple supercomputer using the popular $35 Raspberry Pi.

4.10 (75 reviews)

Udemy

platform

English

language

Hardware

What you will learn

Build a Beowulf cluster from Raspberry Pi minicomputers

Why take this course?

Parallel computing - cheap!

As computer processors approach their limits in both size and speed, it has become apparent that further advances in computational power will require parallel programming, with many processors networked together and attacking large problems in chunks.

Although supercomputers are far outside of the price range of the normal hobbyist, cheaper minicomputers like the Raspberry Pi can be networked together in the same way to allow hobbyists and experimenters to learn about this powerful form of programming.

Contents of the course

This course takes you through the process of using some simple hardware and open-source software to construct a parallel-networked cluster, ready to attack larger computational problems. You'll learn:

The history of supercomputing
What parallel programming is
Common software used and how to install it on a Raspberry Pi
Connecting and testing the final cluster

It's a great introduction to parallel programming, and after only a few lectures you'll have a working Beowulf cluster, based on the inexpensive Raspberry Pi minicomputer. The lectures are entirely video-based, along with included PDFs, example configuration files, and parts lists.

When you're done with this course, you'll have a suite of new skills that can easily be applied to clusters constructed from more powerful machines. It's a great, inexpensive intro to parallel computing!

Content

Introduction

Introduction to the course

Intro to supercomputing

Ingredients

Hardware

Software

The build

Configuring and Installing MPICH

Installing mpi4py

Conclusion

Getting everything working

Resources and further study

Reviews

peter

July 18, 2020

Course covered all of the steps you will need to perform to get your cluster working. The instructor was very easy to understand. I thought his delivery of an advanced topic helped me understand an advanced subject.

Rex

December 1, 2019

Audio was a bit off. Expectations on what you can do could be expanded especially with the Raspberry Pi 4 B 4GB models that are now available. That said, it was still a nice intro into mpi4py.

Jake

November 16, 2019

Yes it seems to be good so far. Some of the items are a little out of date but will still work. Newer hardware is also cheaper on amazon. Great course so far.

Steven

July 20, 2018

I like that the instructor kept on target in a nice logical order. I used Raspberry Pi B+'s (4). OS was NOOBS v2_8_2 and I used mpi4py-2.0.0 instead of 1.3.1. Except that I forgot to install SSH, the whole thing went well with Win32DiskImager. When I saw that "helloworld" returned from all the Pi's, I was a happy man. Thank you for giving me the supercomputer I've been wanting.

Gerhard

June 19, 2018

Ich habe zu diesem Thema bereits einige Videos auf youtube gesehen, die aber leider entweder unter schlechter Aufnahme / zu kleine3r Darstellung / zu schnellem Bildwechsel litten. Was ich vermisse, sind etwas detailliertere Erklärungen für Benutzer, die keine tieferen Erfahrungen mit Raspbian / Linus haben ( Ich hätte das Ganze gerne unter Windows gemacht, aber die von Microsoft hierfür bereitgestellte Software ist viel zu umfangreich für den limitierten Speicher des Raspberry. Daher habe ich mich für Raspbian entschieden, bin aber jetzt kein erfahrener Linux User. Ich habe vor ca. 35 Jahren erste Erfahrungen mit Unix V gemacht uns das System seither gemieden wo ich konnte).

Raymond

May 9, 2017

The "course" is just a list of commands on white space which the "instructor" talks about, though with little explanation as to what one may be entering. If the commands were shown in a working terminal and adequately explained it may have earned a second star, but there is still nearly a complete lack of content.

Andrew

March 5, 2017

This "course" feels like and gives barely as much info as blog walk-through. I'm disappointed that I even paid the discounted amount.

Andrew

March 3, 2017

Straightforward, step by step instructions which helped me avoid at least one pitfall I'd have fallen into. Now to put it in action.

Sunny

May 24, 2016

I didn't expect simple presentation and lazy voice pronounce all that is shown on slide show. And this isn't the only cons on this (only f***ing 40 minutes ) course. If there weren't any alternatives, I think, it could be okey (3 start ) but in light of the fact that, indeed, there are alternatives even in the site, and moreover for the same price, I scored this ( so far ) "below average " ( 2 stars ). Hope, at the end of this nano course, it will become better and I with love to change my opinion.

Irene

January 14, 2016

As someone who still has a lot to learn about the Raspberry Pi and about clusters in general, I found the instructor's explanations clear and thorough. The material was presented in a straightforward manner, and I was able to follow along surprisingly easily. I look forward to more courses from this instructor!

Joe

January 4, 2016

Setting up a cluster can be a painful, awful experience, especially if you're flying by the seat of your pants. Wolf gives an incredibly easy-to-follow course that is chock full of information (and stuff I would have definitely had to learn the hard way, like "It would make the most sense to do action Y here, but if we do this bad things will happen because of X and Z and we'll have to reinstall the operating system." Yikes!) Overall I was able to complete the course in just under eight hours with five nodes from start to finish. I began with a pile of parts and ended with a cohesive system that I could already run tests on and prove that it worked. The information is easy to follow along with and the slides lay out each command with various pitfalls you may run into along the way; I didn't have a single unexpected surprise. I definitely recommend this as a great way to get launched head-first into everything, even if you've done it before! My background is designing, building, and running a 115 node cluster for my alma mater, but things have changed a bit since I had that pleasure. Now I have my own again to code for, and I look forward to learning more about making it tick!

Chris

January 2, 2016

The instructor does an excellent job of explaining how to build your own Cluster Pi. Like his other courses, he is well organized, clear and presents technical matter such that anyone can understand it. An excellent educational tool, highly recommended.

Charts

Price

Rating

Enrollment distribution

Cluster Pi: Build a Raspberry Pi Beowulf cluster - Distribution chart