MicroFaaS

FaaS on small, embedded-system-like compute nodes

MicroFaaS with Custom Orchestrator (First Iteration)

Worker Nodes

• To setup the worker nodes for MicroFaaS, follow the instructions starting from Requirements.
• Busybox filesystem for the worker nodes can be found here. This repo does not need to be cloned by the user but can be done by running a bash script as instructed in the following sections.
• Optimized Linux Kernel for MicroFaaS can be found here. This repo does not need to be cloned by the user but can be done by running a bash script as instructed in the following sections.

Orchestrator Node

• The following folder shows all the scripts used to run the custom orchestrator.

MicroFaaS with OpenFaaS (Second Iteration)

Worker Nodes

• To setup the worker nodes for MicroFaaS, follow the instructions starting from Requirements.
• Busybox filesystem for the worker nodes can be found here. This repo does not need to be cloned by the user but can be done by running a bash script as instructed in the following sections.
• Optimized Linux Kernel for MicroFaaS can be found here. This repo does not need to be cloned by the user but can be done by running a bash script as instructed in the following sections.

Orchestrator Node

• The following repo provides all the necessary scripts to run MicroFaaS using the OpenFaaS API.

Requirements

• Python 3.7+
  • Adafruit_BBIO

Hardware Setup

1. Set up a managed switch with gateway address set to a machine with a DHCP server running with the 192.168.1.x IP range.
2. Connect all 'worker' Beaglebones into the switch. Connect an 'orchestrator' Beaglebone.

Connect the orchestrator to the worker nodes using the following pins:

P9_9 Worker 0 -> P9_12 Orchestrator
P9_9 Worker 1 -> P9_15 Orchestrator
P9_9 Worker 2 -> P9_23 Orchestrator
P9_9 Worker 3 -> P9_25 Orchestrator
P9_9 Worker 4 -> P9_27 Orchestrator
P9_9 Worker 5 -> P9_8 Orchestrator
P9_9 Worker 6 -> P9_10 Orchestrator
P9_9 Worker 7 -> P9_11 Orchestrator
P9_9 Worker 8 -> P9_14 Orchestrator
P9_9 Worker 9 -> P9_26 Orchestrator

3. To measure power consumption, plug managed switch and all Beaglebones into a powerstrip. Connect the powerstrip into a power logging device like the WattsUp Pro.

Setting up the MicroFaaS environment

# clone latest repo
cd MicroFaaS/scripts
bash setupenvironment.sh

This will move your current MicroFaaS directory into a larger project folder with the 5.11.22 Linux OS and initramfs

Patching Linux OS for Optimized Boot Time

# For ARM based BeagleBoneBlack:
cd projectName/MicroFaaS/scripts/patch-scripts/
bash bbb-arm.sh

# For X86 based Rack Server:
cd projectName/MicroFaaS/scripts/patch-scripts/
bash x86.sh

Building the x86 kernel and running it in QEMU

After running the x86.sh script, build a bzImage from the new linux kernel configuration by running

cd projectName/linux-minimal
make -j[numCores] bzImage

The new bzImage will be outputted to linux-minimal/arch/x86/boot/bzImage. Copy the bzImage to the home directory of the x86 server of the user running the Netcat server. Additionally, make a directory called bin and place the ifup.sh and ifdown.sh scripts from MicroFaaS/scripts/vm-scripts. To test if VMs are working, configure the settings.py on the orchestrator to include the relevent workers and run the following script from your local computer.

bash microfaas-start-experiment.sh --vm

Building and Flashing Minimal Linux OS on Beaglebone Black Worker

cd projectName/MicroFaaS/scripts/
bash bobthebuilder.sh

Run option 1 to compile the kernel and start the process for flashing on to the Beaglebone Black. The script will prompt for a microSD card. If the microSD card does not contain a bootable kernel, the script will install one and copy the compiled kernel image to the rootfs. Unmount and insert the microSD card into a powered-off Beaglebone. Connect the Beaglebone using a serial cable (USB-to-TTL), find the device port (typically /dev/ttyUSB0 or /dev/ttyUSB1), then connect via a serial console (i.e. picocom). To boot into the OS installed on the microSD, press and hold the button next to the microSD card port while plugging in the Beaglebone. At the login prompt, return to the script and press Enter to continue which will flash the optimized kernel containing the initramfs onto the onboard eMMC. The script will shutdown the Beaglebone. Power it back on by pressing the power button and hit the spacebar to stop at the kernel command line. Enter the worker id to be used in the local network. Continue by pressing enter, and the script will set up the UBoot falcon mode and reboot. Make sure the Beaglebone is connected to the switch or it will hang during the boot process as kernel space networking will not be able to connect.