Reddit reviews D-Link Ethernet Switch, 8 Port Gigabit Unmanaged Metal Fanless Desktop or Wall Mount Design (DGS-108)

So setting up my cluster I purchased 3 Raspberry Pis on amazon, a network switch, and a 6 port usb charger all found below:

• Raspberry Pis: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LPLPBS8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
• SD Cards for Raspberry Pis: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073JWXGNT/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
• Network Switch: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BCC0LO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
• Network Cables: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E5I7T9I/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
• USB Hub: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00P936188/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
• USB Cable Pack: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079FPQSH6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
• Plastic Standoffs: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NQB8YU8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  To get started with this setup you'll need to flash Raspberrian os to each sd card. You can script this pretty easy if there are multiple systems your deploying and it is honestly a good starting point for batch scripting etc. Depending on your experience with Linux systems, you'll either want the full os for Raspberrian or the Lite. I prefer Lite since it's just command line interface and has faster deployment/setup time.
  
  Once you have your pi's flashed with a linux based os, you'll need to start installing kubectl onto each node and kubeadm onto your master in your cluster. There are several articles such as this one that provide easy to follow setups for raspberry pi k8s clusters.
  
  Once you've gotten your cluster setup, I would try deploying a web api to your cluster and exposing it within your network to learn most of the basics of kubernetes/docker deployments. Most examples online use NodeJs applications as examples. They also usually deploy using docker images as well. Docker and K8s go hand in hand for most of your apps in your cluster. For my setup, the K8s repo had/has a lot of already made scripts and setups for your needs. All of my stuff I used came from their repo or multiple Medium articles.
  
  Here's some useful links for getting started. I'd also check out the r/kubernetes subreddit. Most of the articles are a few years old, but generally the top hits on google for kubernetes raspberry pi are enough to get you going and setup. It took be about 2 months of on off working to get mine up, stable, and secure with RBAC permissions before I moved my own apps into my cluster from GCP kubernetes cluster (Google Cloud Platform). My hassles also came from trying to much at once but that's just my nature:)
  
  ​
  
  
• K8s github: https://github.com/kubernetes
  
• K8s Homepage: https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/overview/what-is-kubernetes/
  
• Helpful deployment articles:
  
  • https://medium.com/nycdev/k8s-on-pi-9cc14843d43
    
  • https://blog.sicara.com/build-own-cloud-kubernetes-raspberry-pi-9e5a98741b49
    
  • https://kubecloud.io/setting-up-a-kubernetes-1-11-raspberry-pi-cluster-using-kubeadm-952bbda329c8

Buy a network switch

Hmm, didn't think of that. I do have a newer (to me) switch on the network ... this one

D-Link 8 Port Gigabit Unmanaged Metal Desktop Switch (DGS-108)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BCC0LO

Thanks for the tip on the Wireshark filter .. looking into it

You can get these little D-Link 8 port switches for $30. I have a couple and haven't needed to touch them since I put them in.

The ER-4 is roughly 9" x 6.5".

This switch is 6.5" x 4", so could sit on top of the ER-4, with no problems. Just look for a switch that has the right number of ports and see how big the options are.

https://www.amazon.com/D-Link-Gigabit-Unmanaged-Desktop-DGS-108/dp/B000BCC0LO/

This will work well. 5 and 8 ports options.

good investigating. looks like there's a damaged pair in that run, causing the link to negotiate to 10/100 rather than gigabit.

I'd be careful with that switch though... there are plenty of good cheap switches, I've never heard anything, neither good nor bad about the Netis brand, and when you work with as much equipment as I do, that's a red flag.

The cheap unmanaged switch I usually recommend is the D-Link series of black-box switches (DGS-105/DGS-108); I've used them in simple networks and they've worked reliably for years with relatively high throughput requirements. Pretty impressive for such a cheap switch.

Amazon link:

8 Port: https://www.amazon.ca/D-Link-8-Port-Gigabit-Switch-DGS-108/dp/B000BCC0LO

5 Port: https://www.amazon.ca/D-Link-5-Port-Gigabit-Switch-DGS-105/dp/B000BC7QMM

Can always add more wireless access points (APs) if the house is already wired. The other option is to put a switch in the basement and put the router in a central location.

Just a basic d-link 8 port switch

https://www.amazon.ca/D-Link-8-Port-Gigabit-Switch-DGS-108/dp/B000BCC0LO/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1485789031&sr=1-1&keywords=dlink+8+port