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SBR600 Potential Projects

599 bytes added, 15:15, 16 January 2011
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== Koji Hub on ARM ==
The [http://arm.koji.fedoraproject.org [Fedora-ARM kojiKoji Buildsystem]] system uses [[CDOT_Development_Systems#Machine_names.2C_IPs.2C_and_Status|HongKong]], an x86_64 system, as the [[:fedora:Koji|Koji]] hub, along with a group of [[Fedora ARM Secondary Architecture/ARM hardware|ARM builders]].
Ideally, it would be nice to prove the ability of the Fedora-ARM project to be entirely self-hosting by using an ARM system as the Koji hub (this is sometimes called "Eating your own dogfood" in the industry). This project involves configuring the [http://www.globalscaletechnologies.com/t-openrdcdetails.aspx OpenRD-Client] system as Koji hub and determining if this is a viable configuration.
== Device Support and Testing: PandaBoard ==
Various ARM devices need different driver sets and/or kernels. This project will test the Fedora-ARM system on the [http://pandaboard.org/ PandaBoard], creating a kernel that works well with it, and figuring out how to use as many of the built-in peripherals as possible.
* Maximum number of students: 1
* Skills required: Linux system administration, kernel building, research, documentation writing
* Resources: a [http://pandaboard.org/ PandaBoard], notes from other [http://www.omappedia.com/wiki/PandaBoard PanadaBoard support projects],* Expected result: a kernel (or kernels) for use with the PanadaBoard and the Fedora 12 or Fedora 13 root filesystems; user documentation on how to set up the PandaBoard with Fedora; wiki notes on setting up other ARM devices
* Initial contacts: [[User:Chris Tyler|ctyler]], [[User:Paul.W|PaulW]]
== Add PandaBoards to the Fedora-ARM Build System ==
We have 15 [http://pandaboard.org/ PandaBoards ] on order for the [[Fedora ARM Koji Buildsystem|Fedora-ARM build farm]]. These machines need to be configured and added into the farm, and then optimized to build packages as quickly as possible.
* Maximum number of students: 2
* Resources: PandaBoard systems
* Expected result: a filesystem image and documented standard operating procedure for adding PanadaBoards to the build farm; new PandaBoards actively building
* Initial contacts: [[User:Chris Tyler|ctyler]], [[User:Paul.W|PaulW]]
== iSCSI/AoE Support ==
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISCSI iSCSI ] (SCSI over TCP/IP) and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATA_over_Ethernet AoE ] (ATA-over-ethernet) are different SAN protocols that can be used on a standard ethernet network. [[Fedora ARM Secondary Architecture/iSCSI|iSCSI did not work reliably in Fedora 12 on ARM systems]], but will be needed by future ARM server systems. AoE has not been well-tested on ARM systems.
Goals of this project:
* Maximium number of students: 2
* Skills required: Linux system administration, debugging and troubleshooting, C programming (?)kernel building, benchmarking, documentation writing
* Resources: an ARM system, CDOT PC systems
* Expected result: iSCSI on ARM fixed and tested, and changes pushed upstream; AoE tested on ARM; report comparing iSCSI and AoE performance on ARM; ARM buildsystem configured to use a high-performing iSCSI or AoE storage solution in place of the existing NFS system
== CreateRepo Performance Improvements ==
The [[Fedora ARM Koji Buildsystem|Fedora-ARM build farm ]] consists of the koji-hub/koji-web system (on [[CDOT_Development_Systems#Machine_names.2C_IPs.2C_and_Status|HongKong]], an x86_64machine) and a group of ARM builders. The HongKong host also handles the [[http://createrepo.baseurl.org/ CreateRepo ]] tasks, which heavily load that machine. It might make sense to move those tasks to another machine, but doing so makes the CreateRepo jobs take a lot longer (15 minutes on HongKong vs. 55 minutes on another x86_64 server). This is presumably due to the overhead of sharing files between HongKong and the other server over NFS on the 100 Mbps Seneca network.
This project involves figuring out how to run the CreateRepo jobs more quickly. Possible solutions include a 1 Gbps LAN, a redistribution of the file storage or a change to a different file storage technology, or optimizing the CreateRepo tasks on HongKong for best speed.
== RPM-based Kernels for Fedora ARM ==
On PC architecture systems (x86_64 and i386), Fedora manages and updates kernels as RPM packages, which modify ''[http://www.gnu.org/software/grub'' /grub-legacy.en.html grub] boot parameters and the initial ram disk ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initrd initrd], configured by ''[[:fedora:Dracut dracut'']]).
On Fedora-ARM systems, the kernel is not managed via RPMs, grub is not used, and the initrd system is rarely used.