[Tech] Partimus & Raspberry Pi 3 Model Bs

[Christian Einfeldt]

Oops, I responded to this same content in another email.  Did everyone get
it?

On Sun, Sep 25, 2016 at 5:35 PM, <partimus at boldandbusted.com> wrote:

> Hey Christian & Partimus folks,
>
> Sorry I haven't been getting you and Partimus much progress. I've been
> thinking about a few things, however, in relation to what I think are
> the goals here. I'm thinking about how to mass-deploy things better, or
> at least in a more flexible and less labor-intensive manner.
>
> You have a lot of giant old computers stored at various spots. These
> machines are of varying states of health, and need a lot of space to be
> stored, in mainly extremely dusty environments. Hazardous for the
> machines, and for people.
>
> I propose that we put a bit of money on the table, and replace all the
> computers, and their power-hungry motherboards, with Raspberry Pi 3s,
> and have a steady reserve of 3 or 4 to replace the Pis taken out for
> maintenance, or stolen, or otherwise destroyed. There are some issues to
> consider, however.
>
> * How do we secure computers that are as small as two decks of cards?
> * How do we keep them up-to-date?
> * Do these offer more or less flexibility for future projects than the
> 'traditional' desktop PCs we've used?
> * Are these as resilient as the old monster-sized PCs? (Do keep in mind
> that the Pis are fanless!)
>
> There is a monetary cost involved (unless we score a donation of
> equipment). While the Pis are about $35, the case is another $12-25. An
> outlet-sized usb-equipped surge suppressor is another $8-$12. Any
> monitor will have to support HDMI inputs, or be compatible with an HDMI
> converter of some sort.
>
> I think that the drastically reduced space used, the lack of fans, and
> easy swap-in replacement (without carting giant PCs across some of the
> most dangerous intersections and streets of the City), seems like a good
> idea.
>
> Also, Lubuntu is apparently available specifically for the R Pi 3,
> should we want to stick with that for the "guest" lockdown features:
>
> https://ubuntu-pi-flavour-maker.org/blog/ubuntu-pi-
> flavours-for-raspberry-pi-3/
>
> I believe it will be easier to roll out upgrades via the microSD cards
> the Pi 3 uses, rather than having to custom partition random drives in
> random branded computers. Standardization can help us knock out problems
> across the fleet more quickly and with greater assurance of the
> 'stickyness' of the fixes. Since I would need to do a new rollout of a
> "base image" with the logging, alerting, and configuration management
> setup, I figured this would be a good time to make this sort of move.
>
> I'm travelling to Mexico City for two weeks starting Monday. I'd like to
> know what you-all think! :) Is this feasible? Are there dealbreakers? Is
> this appropriate for the environments we're in?
>
> Cheers,
>
> Jesse Adelman
> (415) 794-5718 (cell/text)
> San Francisco, CA
>



-- 
Christian Einfeldt
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