This section explains why we need decentralized computing devices and the problems the Netrabrick resolves.

1980: Do we value design?

Open

2000: Do we value open-source?

Open

2020: Do we value decentralization?

Phase I: The atomization:

Phase II: Centralization

Phase III: Decentralization

This section describes the installation and configuration of the Netrabrick™.

A Netrabrick is a combination of the following technologies:

• Small form-factor PC (NUC)

• Out-of-band Management

• Ubuntu base instance

• IoT data collector

• backup NAS

• DappNode

• VPN

• home automation data

• Other web3 services

Small form-factor PC (NUC)

This is the initial NUC configuration: https://simplynuc.com/product/cbm1r5rb/

It may be overblown for the Netrabrick requirements:

Internally, the NUC has two USB 2.0 Headers and one serial header.

For audio:

• Up to 7.1 surround via HDMI

• Front audio: mic in / line out

This document contains the technical specifications, including header diagrams for internal USB, serial, and reset jumpers.

Open

Out-of-band management

The Netrabrick runs critical services. As such, insuring uptime is supreme. To enable remote monitoring and access to the Netrabrick, an additional NUC lid (Netrabrick lid) was designed to provide out-of-band management services.

Essentially, if the Netrabrick crashes, and nobody is physically near the device to reboot or repair, this out-of-band management facility allows us to access the netrabrick remotely, power-off and power-on, reinstall or reconfigure as if we were sitting at the keyboard in front of the Netrabrick.

This is accomplished by a combination of various technologies:

Raspberry Pi Zero 2W

A Raspberry Pi Zero 2W is hardwired to the Netrabrick device.

HDMI Adapter

Geekworm Raspberry Pi HDMI to CS1-2 C229 Adapter board.

PiKVM

PiKVM is the software that is installed on the Raspberry Pi.

PiSugar

The PiSugar 3 provides uninterrupted power (UPS) to the Netrabrick lid components. This way, even if the Netrabrick server loses power, or needs to be rebooted, the Netrabrick lid will remain online long enough to provide a power-outage notification.

Also, the PiSugar 3 functions as an external watchdog reset for the Raspberry Pi.

4G modem

If the Netrabrick lid loses communications with the internet, a 4G modem can be activated by the lid to notify about the communications failure.

Setup Steps

1. 3D print the Netrabrick lid cover.

2. Attach the lid components

3. Connect the headers cables to the PiSugar and Raspberry Pi.

4. Flash the PiKVM image onto a the Raspberry Pi Zero W 2.

5. Install the SD card in the Raspberry Pi

6. Attach the lid, and connect the HDMI - CS1 adapter cable

Printing the Netrabrick lid cover

Attaching the Netrabrick lid components

Open the Netrabrick by removing the four bottom screws:

Be careful to not disconnect or break the SATA drive cable connection:

Connecting the header cables to the PiSugar and RaspberryPi

Flashing the PiKVM image

1. Download the latest DIY PiKVM image for the HDMI-CSI bridge for the RaspberryPi Zero 2W and sha hash.

2. Validate the download image:

   PiKVM % shasum v2-hdmi-zero2w-latest.img.xz cdb1bb899a72351a2da924ceb0675130d01e46ed v2-hdmi-zero2w-latest.img.xz PiKVM % cat v2-hdmi-zero2w-latest.img.xz.sha1 cdb1bb899a72351a2da924ceb0675130d01e46ed%

3. Download the latest version of the DappNode ISO for Debian, attended, and note the sha1 hash.
   
   

4. Download and install the Raspberry Pi imager.

   1. Run RPi Imager:

   2. Press NO FILTERING then CHOOSE OS and select Use custom image at bottom of the list:

   3. After clicking on this item, select the image file for PiKVM that you downloaded earlier then click CHOOSE STORAGE:

   4. Insert the memory card into the card reader. Choose the card reader from this list. Be careful and choose the right device:

   5. After choosing the memory card, press the WRITE button. Confirm the operation when you are asked about it:
      
      

5. Mount the PiKVM memory card, and edit the filepikvm.txt. If you haven't enabled PiKVM yet, this file will contain a single line FIRST_BOOT=1.

Note that backslash in the password should be escaped: \ should be written as \\.

If there was a string FIRST_BOOT=1 in the file, do not remove it. This is the trigger needed to initialize the OS at the first boot. On the contrary, if the file pikvm.txt does not exist, you should not add this line.

6. Unmount partition and insert the memory card on the Raspberry Pi Zero 2W. Power on the Netrabrick.

7. Connect via ssh

   ssh -p 2001 root@192.168.0.86 root@192.168.0.86's password: _____ _ _ ____ ____ __ | __ (_)| |/ /\ \ / / \/ | | |__) | | ' / \ \ / /| \ / | | ___/ || < \ \/ / | |\/| | | | | || . \ \ / | | | | |_| |_||_|\_\ \/ |_| |_| Welcome to PiKVM - The Open Source KVM over IP on Raspberry Pi ____________________________________________________________________________ The root filesystem of PiKVM is mounted in the read-only mode by default. Use command "rw" to remount it in the RW-mode and "ro" to switch it back. If the filesystem is busy and doesn't switch to the RO-mode, use "reboot" to reboot the device, don't leave it in the RW-mode. Useful commands: * Preventing kernel messages in the console: dmesg -n 1 * Changing the Web UI password: kvmd-htpasswd set admin * Changing the root password: passwd Links: * Official website: https://pikvm.org * Documentation: https://docs.pikvm.org * Auth & 2FA: https://docs.pikvm.org/auth * Networking: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/systemd-networkd

    

8. Change the root password and web admin password
   
   

9.  

10. Activate 2FA authentication with your favorite authenticator app:

11. Connect via browser to the PiKVM address: 192.168.0.86. (Accept the unsecured connection, as we have not yet added a SSL certificate) using password

Install and configure Wireguard

1. Update the repo

2. Install wireguard

3. Create private and public keys

4. Create the config file
   Now you can configure the server, just add a new file called /etc/wireguard/wg0.conf. Insert the following configuration lines and replace the <server-private-key> placeholder with the previously generated private key.

6. Configure the wireguard client
   
   Now, we need to configure the client. Create a new file called /etc/wireguard/wg0.conf. Insert the following configuration lines and replace the <client-private-key> placeholder with the previously generated private key.

   Next, replace the <server-public-key> with the generated servers public key. And also replace <server-public-ip-address> with the IP address where the server listens for incoming connections.

    

7. Open ports (UDP) for wireguard on your router.

8. Start and test
   enable the wg0 interface with the following command

9. You can check the status of the connection with this command.

10. Configure auto-start

Install and configure Lets Encrypt Certificates for the PiKVM

By installing and configuring a Let’s Encrypt Certificate, we can enable validated SSL connections to the PiKVM web interface. To do this, we need a valid domain name. For this, we will register the following names:

Replacing (bodega) with the name of the winery…in this example Costaflores.

Currently, the registration of the DNS records for these domain entries is done manually, but eventually, the decentralized OpenVino Netrabricks will assume the DNS functions for the openvino.org domain and subdomains (and openvino.exchange).

1. Configure PST storage.

2. Enable ports 80 and 443 from the internet to PiKVM (192.168.0.86 in this example).

3. Request a new certificate

4. Deactive port mapping from the internet to PiVKM on :80 and :443

5. Test renewing certs
   
   

6. Automate cert renewal

Configuring PiSugar

Add a pisugar user to the PiKVM (Raspberry Pi):

1. Connect via ssh to the PiKVM device.

2. Add a pisugar user:

3. Add pisugar to /etc/sudoers

4. Download latest pisugar-archlinux_<version>_all.tar.gz from Releases · PiSugar/pisugar-power-manager-rs

5. Edit the PKBUILD to support the RPi Zero 2W:

    

Attaching the lid and connecting external cables

NUC - Netrabrick NUClid cabling

COM header

Use of this header is not really necessary, but it could be connected to the Raspberry Pi used by PiKVM to provide a serial terminal login access to the server.

NUC USB2.0 header

The USB2.0 header is essential for providing keyboard and mouse HID access from the PiKVM instance on the Raspberry Pi to the server. Also, this header provides power to the SugarPi3, which in turn, powers the PiKVM Raspberry Pi.

Notice that VCC (5v) is NOT provided to the MicroUSB connection on the Raspberry Pi. This is the equivalent of blocking the VCC pin, as described here.

NUC Front Panel header

Connecting the NUC Front Panel header to the Raspberry Pi is necessary if want ATX power control from PiKVM.

This is how ATX wiring between the server and Raspberry Pi are instrumented:

As described here:

With this part, you will be able to remotely turn on, turn off and restart your computer!

• x4 MOSFET relays OMRON G3VM-61A1 or OMRON G3VM-61AY1.
  Don't use random relay modules or random optocouplers! Some of these may not be sensitive enough for the Raspberry Pi, some others may be low-level controlled. Either use relays that are activated by a high logic level, or follow the design provided and buy an OMRON. See details here.

• x4 390 Ohm resistors (see here for alternatives).

• 2x 4.7 kOhm resistors.

• x10+ dupont wires male-male.

• x1 a breadboard.

• various wires for the breadboard.

USB connections

The lsusb command should report the different connected USB devices:

Dappnode base instance

This section describes the steps involved for installing the Dappnode Linux base instance (bare metal install).

backup NAS

Use the Netrabrick as a local backup device.

Time machine backup for MacOS devices

FOAM.space anchor node

Dappnode

From the dappnode documentation:

DAppNode connects the decentralized internet by allowing a user to conveniently host P2P clients in a truly decentralized way, and eliminates the reliance on third parties vulnerable to centralization. It also adds an extra layer of incentivization that helps spread adoption of the blockchain ecosystem and solves the problem of infrastructure centralization.

The Problem

Most nodes for public blockchains nowadays have a degree of architectural or/and political centralization. The first refers to the number of machines a system is made of, and the second concerns the ownership of such machines, Vitalik Buterin, 2017.

A first very common case is to host a node in a Virtual Private Server (VPS). This puts your node in the hands of a highly centralized company like Digital Ocean or Amazon, which could block and censor your access. Moreover, they could be hosting different nodes in the same machine, architecturally reducing decentralization too.

Another common case in the Ethereum blockchain is to connect through a node owned by Infura. While Infura's work on providing infrastructure for the network is a necessity at this stage, we can see how the ownership of a majority of nodes by the same company is a centralizing factor.

Installation

Install dappnode

Download the image from DAppNodeISO or build it from source, and configure as a flexVDI Media Storage image file.