* Chapter 1: Introduction :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: chapter-1-introduction :END: ** Abstract :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: abstract :END: This project focuses on creating a framework on running heavy tasks that a regular computer cannot run easily such as graphically demanding video games, rendering 3D animations , protein folding simulations. In this project the major focus will not be on the financial incentive part. A peer to peer network will be created to help run tasks decentrally, increasing bandwidth for running tasks. To ensure the tasks in the peer to peer network do not corrupt the server 0S (Operating System), they will be executed in a virtual environment in the server. The main aim of this project was to create a custom peer to peer network. The user acting as the client has total flexibility on how to batch the tasks and the user acting as the server has complete flexibility on tracking the container's usages and killing the containers at any point of time. ** Motivation :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: motivation :END: Many of the users rely on our PC / Laptop or servers that belong to a server farm to run heavy tasks and with the demand of high creativity requires higher computing power. Buying a powerful computer every few years to run a bunch of heavy tasks which are not executed as frequently to reap the benefits can be inefficient utilization of hardware. On the other end, renting servers to run these heavy tasks can be really useful. Ethically speaking this is leading to monopolisation of computing power similar to what is happening in the web server area. By using peer to peer principles it is possible to remove the monopolisation factor and increase the bandwidth between the client and server. * Installation :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: installation :END: Over here we will cover the basic steps to get the server and client side running. ** Latest release install :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: latest-release-install :END: https://github.com/Akilan1999/p2p-rendering-computation/releases ** Install from Github master branch :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: install-from-github-master-branch :END: *** Install Go lang :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: install-go-lang :END: The entire the implementation of this project is done using Go lang. Thus, we need go lang to compile to code to a binary file. [[https://golang.org/doc/install][Instructions to install Go lang]] *** Install Docker :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: install-docker :END: In this project the choice of virtualization is Docker due to it's wide usage in the developer community. In the server module we use the Docker Go API to create and interact with the containers. [[https://docs.docker.com/get-docker/][Instructions to install docker]] [[https://docs.nvidia.com/datacenter/cloud-native/container-toolkit/install-guide.html#docker][Instructions to install docker GPU]] #+begin_example // Do ensure that the docker command does not need sudo to run sudo chmod 666 /var/run/docker.sock #+end_example *** Build Project and install project :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: build-project-and-install-project :END: To set up the internal dependencies and build the entire go code into a single binary #+begin_example make install #+end_example **** For Windows :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: for-windows :END: To set up P2PRC on Windows, simply run this batch file. *Make sure you are not in admin mode when running this.* #+begin_example .\install.bat #+end_example *** Add appropriate paths to =.bashrc= :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: add-appropriate-paths-to-.bashrc :END: #+begin_example export P2PRC=//p2p-rendering-computation export PATH=//p2p-rendering-computation:${PATH} #+end_example *** Set up configuration file :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: set-up-configuration-file :END: #+begin_example make configfile #+end_example Open the config file =config.json= and add the IPv6 address if you have one. *** Test if binary works :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: test-if-binary-works :END: #+begin_example p2prc --help #+end_example **** Output: :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: output :END: #+begin_example NAME: p2p-rendering-computation - p2p cli application to create and access VMs in other servers USAGE: p2prc [global options] command [command options] [arguments...] VERSION: COMMANDS: help, h Shows a list of commands or help for one command GLOBAL OPTIONS: --Server, -s Starts server (default: false) [$SERVER] --UpdateServerList, --us Update List of Server available based on servers iptables (default: false) [$UPDATE_SERVER_LIST] --ListServers, --ls List servers which can render tasks (default: false) [$LIST_SERVERS] --AddServer value, --as value Adds server IP address to iptables [$ADD_SERVER] --ViewImages value, --vi value View images available on the server IP address [$VIEW_IMAGES] --CreateVM value, --touch value Creates Docker container on the selected server [$CREATE_VM] --ContainerName value, --cn value Specifying the container run on the server side [$CONTAINER_NAME] --RemoveVM value, --rm value Stop and Remove Docker container (IP:port) accompanied by container ID via --ID or --id [$REMOVE_VM] --ID value, --id value Docker Container ID [$ID] --Ports value, -p value Number of ports to open for the Docker Container [$NUM_PORTS] --GPU, --gpu Create Docker Containers to access GPU (default: false) [$USE_GPU] --Specification value, --specs value Specs of the server node [$SPECS] --SetDefaultConfig, --dc Sets a default configuration file (default: false) [$SET_DEFAULT_CONFIG] --NetworkInterfaces, --ni Shows the network interface in your computer (default: false) [$NETWORK_INTERFACE] --ViewPlugins, --vp Shows plugins available to be executed (default: false) [$VIEW_PLUGIN] --TrackedContainers, --tc View (currently running) containers which have been created from the client side (default: false) [$TRACKED_CONTAINERS] --ExecutePlugin value, --plugin value Plugin which needs to be executed [$EXECUTE_PLUGIN] --CreateGroup, --cgroup Creates a new group (default: false) [$CREATE_GROUP] --Group value, --group value group flag with argument group ID [$GROUP] --Groups, --groups View all groups (default: false) [$GROUPS] --RemoveContainerGroup, --rmcgroup Remove specific container in the group (default: false) [$REMOVE_CONTAINER_GROUP] --RemoveGroup value, --rmgroup value Removes the entire group [$REMOVE_GROUP] --Generate value, --gen value Generates a new copy of P2PRC which can be modified based on your needs [$GENERATE] --ModuleName value, --mod value New go project module name [$MODULENAME] --PullPlugin value, --pp value Pulls plugin from git repos [$PULLPLUGIN] --RemovePlugin value, --rp value Removes plugin [$REMOVEPLUGIN] --help, -h show help (default: false) --version, -v print the version (default: false) #+end_example -------------- * Using basic commands :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: using-basic-commands :END: *** Start as a server :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: start-as-a-server :END: Do ensure you have Docker installed for this #+begin_example p2prc -s #+end_example *** View server Specification :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: view-server-specification :END: #+begin_example p2prc --specs= #+end_example *** Run container :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: run-container :END: use the =--gpu= if you know the other machine has a gpu. #+begin_example p2prc --touch= -p --gpu #+end_example *** Remove container :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: remove-container :END: The docker id is present in the output where you create a container #+begin_example p2prc --rm= --id= #+end_example *** Adding servers to ip table :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: adding-servers-to-ip-table :END: #+begin_example p2prc --as= #+end_example *** Update ip table :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: update-ip-table :END: #+begin_example p2prc --us #+end_example *** List Servers :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: list-servers :END: #+begin_example p2prc --ls #+end_example *** View Network interfaces :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: view-network-interfaces :END: #+begin_example p2prc --ni #+end_example *** Viewing Containers created Client side :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: viewing-containers-created-client-side :END: #+begin_example p2prc --tc #+end_example [[file:ClientImplementation.md#tracking-containers][read more on tracking containers]] *** Running plugin :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: running-plugin :END: #+begin_example p2prc --plugin --id #+end_example *** Create group :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: create-group :END: #+begin_example p2prc --cgroup #+end_example *** Add container to group :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: add-container-to-group :END: #+begin_example p2prc --group --id #+end_example *** View groups :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: view-groups :END: #+begin_example p2prc --groups #+end_example *** View specific group :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: view-specific-group :END: #+begin_example p2prc --group #+end_example *** Delete container from group :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: delete-container-from-group :END: #+begin_example p2prc --rmcgroup --group --id #+end_example *** Delete entire group :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: delete-entire-group :END: #+begin_example p2prc --rmgroup #+end_example [[file:ClientImplementation.md#Grouping-Containers][read more on grouping containers]] ### Extending usecase of P2PRC (Requires a go compiler to run) #+begin_example p2prc --gen --mod #+end_example [[file:GenerateImplementation.md][read more about the generate module]] *** Pulling plugin from a remote repo :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: pulling-plugin-from-a-remote-repo :END: #+begin_example p2prc --pp #+end_example *** Deleting plugin from the plugin directory :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: deleting-plugin-from-the-plugin-directory :END: #+begin_example p2prc --rp #+end_example *** Added custom metadata about the current node :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: added-custom-metadata-about-the-current-node :END: #+begin_example p2prc --amd "custom metadata" #+end_example -------------- * Using Plugins :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: using-plugins :END: This feature is still Under Development: [[file:PluginImplementation.md][Read more on the implementation]] **** Dependencies :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: dependencies :END: - Ansible: - Debian/ubuntu: =sudo apt install ansible= - Others: [[https://ansible-tips-and-tricks.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ansible/install/][Installation link]] **** Run Test Cases :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: run-test-cases :END: - Generate Test Case Ansible file - =make testcases= - Enter inside plugin directory and run tests. #+begin_quote [!NOTE] That docker needs to installed and needs to run without sudo. Refer the section [[#install-docker][Install Docker]]. - =cd plugin= - =go test .= #+end_quote * P2P Module Implementation :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: p2p-module-implementation :END: The P2P module (i.e Peer to Peer Module) is responsible for storing the IP table and interacting with the IP table. In the following implementation of the P2P module ,the IP table stores information about servers available in the network. The other functionality the P2P module takes care of is doing the appropriate speed tests to the servers in the IP table. This is for informing the users about nodes which are close by and nodes which have quicker uploads and downloads speeds. The module is responsible to ensure that there are no duplicate server IPs in the IP table and to remove all server IPs which are not pingable. #+caption: UML diagram of P2P module [[file:images/p2pmoduleArch.png]] The peer to peer implementation was built from scratch. This is because other peer to peer libraries were on the implementation of the Distributed hash table. At the current moment all those heavy features are not needed because the objective is to search and list all possible servers available. The limitation being that to be a part of the network the user has to know at least 1 server. The advantage of building from scratch makes the module super light and possibility for custom functions and structs. The sub topics below will mention the implementations of each functionality in depth. ** IP Table :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: ip-table :END: The ip table file is a json as the format with a list of servers ip addresses, latencies, downloads and uploads speeds. The functions implemented include read file, write file and remove duplicate IP addresses. The remove duplicate IP address function exists because sometimes servers IP tables can have the same ip addresses as what the client has. The path of the IP table json file is received from the configuration module. #+begin_src json { "ip_address": [ { "ipv4": "", "latency": "", "download": "", "upload": "" "port no": "", } ] } #+end_src *** Latency :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: latency :END: The latency is measured in milliseconds. The route /server_info is called from the server and time it takes to provide a json response is recorded. ** NAT Traversal :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: nat-traversal :END: P2PRC currently supports TURN for NAT traversal. ** TURN :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: turn :END: The current TURN implementation used is FRP. The TURN server is also required when a P2PRC node is acting as a Server. The TURN server is determined based on the Node with the least amount of latency based on the Nodes available on the IPTable. Once a TURN server is determined there are 2 actions performed. The first one is =/FRPPort= to the TURN server to receive a port which is used to generate the external port from the TURN server. The flow below describes the workflow. *** Client mode :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: client-mode :END: - Call =/FRPPort= #+begin_example http://:/FRPport #+end_example - Call the TURN server in the following manner. The following is a sample code snippet below. #+begin_src go import ( "github.com/Akilan1999/p2p-rendering-computation/p2p/frp" ) func main() { serverPort, err := frp.GetFRPServerPort("http://" + + ":" + lowestLatencyIpAddress.ServerPort) if err != nil { return nil, err } // Create 1 second delay to allow FRP server to start time.Sleep(1 * time.Second) // Starts FRP as a client with proxyPort, err := frp.StartFRPClientForServer(, serverPort, ) if err != nil { return nil, err } } #+end_src * Language Bindings :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: language-bindings :END: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_binding][Language bindings]] refers to wrappers to bridge 2 programming languages. This is used in P2PRC to extend calling P2PRC functions in other programming languages. Currently this is done by generating =.so= and =.h= from the Go compiler. ** How to build shared object files :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: how-to-build-shared-object-files :END: **** The easier way :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: the-easier-way :END: #+begin_src sh # Run make sharedObjects #+end_src **** Or the direct way :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: or-the-direct-way :END: #+begin_src sh # Run cd Bindings && go build -buildmode=c-shared -o p2prc.so #+end_src **** If successfully built: :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: if-successfully-built :END: #+begin_src sh # Enter into the Bindings directory cd Bindings # List files ls # Find files p2prc.h p2prc.so #+end_src ** Workings under the hood :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: workings-under-the-hood :END: Below are a sample set of commands to open the bindings implementation. #+begin_example # run cd Bindings/ # list files ls # search for file Client.go #+end_example *** In Client go :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: in-client-go :END: There a few things to notice which are different from your standard Go programs: **** 1. We import "C" which means [[https://pkg.go.dev/cmd/cgo][Cgo]] is required. :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: we-import-c-which-means-cgo-is-required. :END: #+begin_src go import "C" #+end_src **** 2. All functions which are required to be called from other programming languages have comment such as. :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: all-functions-which-are-required-to-be-called-from-other-programming-languages-have-comment-such-as. :END: #+begin_src go //export // ------------ Example ---------------- // The function below allows to externally // to call the P2PRC function to start containers // in a specific node in the know list of nodes // in the p2p network. // Note: the comment "//export StartContainer". //export StartContainer func StartContainer(IP string) (output *C.char) { container, err := client.StartContainer(IP, 0, false, "", "") if err != nil { return C.CString(err.Error()) } return ConvertStructToJSONString(container) } #+end_src **** 3. While looking through the file (If 2 files are compared it is pretty trivial to notice a common structure). :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: while-looking-through-the-file-if-2-files-are-compared-it-is-pretty-trivial-to-notice-a-common-structure. :END: #+begin_src go // --------- Example ------------ //export StartContainer func StartContainer(IP string) (output *C.char) { container, err := client.StartContainer(IP, 0, false, "", "") if err != nil { return C.CString(err.Error()) } return ConvertStructToJSONString(container) } //export ViewPlugin func ViewPlugin() (output *C.char) { plugins, err := plugin.DetectPlugins() if err != nil { return C.CString(err.Error()) } return ConvertStructToJSONString(plugins) } #+end_src **** It is easy to notice that: :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: it-is-easy-to-notice-that :END: - =ConvertStructToJSONString()=: This is a helper function that convert a go object to JSON string initially and converts it to =CString=. - =(output *C.char)=: This is the return type for most of the functions. **** A Pseudo code to refer to the common function implementation shape could be represented as: :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: a-pseudo-code-to-refer-to-the-common-function-implementation-shape-could-be-represented-as :END: #+begin_example func (output *C.char) { , := () if != nil { return C.CString(.Error()) } return ConvertStructToJSONString() } #+end_example ** Current languages supported :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: current-languages-supported :END: - Python *** Build sample python program :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: build-sample-python-program :END: The easier way #+begin_src sh # Run make python # Expected ouput Output is in the Directory Bindings/python/export/ # Run cd Bindings/python/export/ # list files ls # Expected output SharedObjects/ p2prc.py #+end_src Above shows a generated folder which consists of a folder called "SharedObjects/" which consists of =p2prc.so= and =p2prc.h= files. =p2prc.py= refers to a sample python script calling P2PRC go functions. To start an any project to extend P2PRC with python, This generated folder can copied and created as a new git repo for P2PRC extensions scripted or used a reference point as proof of concept that P2PRC can be called from other programming languages. * Config Implementation :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: config-implementation :END: The configuration module is responsible to store basic information of absolute paths of files being called in the Go code. In a full-fledged Cli the configuration file can be found in the directory /etc/ and from there points to location such as where the IP table file is located. In the future implementation the config file will have information such as number of hops and other parameters to tweak and to improve the effectiveness of the peer to peer network. The configuration module was implemented using the library Viper. The Viper library automates features such as searching in default paths to find out if the configuration file is present. If the configuration file is not present in the default paths then it auto generates the configuration file. The configurations file can be in any format. In this project the configuration file was generated using JSON format. #+begin_src json { "MachineName": "pc-74-120.customer.ask4.lan", "IPTable": "/Users/akilan/Documents/p2p-rendering-computation/p2p/iptable/ip_table.json", "DockerContainers": "/Users/akilan/Documents/p2p-rendering-computation/server/docker/containers/", "DefaultDockerFile": "/Users/akilan/Documents/p2p-rendering-computation/server/docker/containers/docker-ubuntu-sshd/", "SpeedTestFile": "/Users/akilan/Documents/p2p-rendering-computation/p2p/50.bin", "IPV6Address": "", "PluginPath": "/Users/akilan/Documents/p2p-rendering-computation/plugin/deploy", "TrackContainersPath": "/Users/akilan/Documents/p2p-rendering-computation/client/trackcontainers/trackcontainers.json", "ServerPort": "8088", "GroupTrackContainersPath": "/Users/akilan/Documents/p2p-rendering-computation/client/trackcontainers/grouptrackcontainers.json", "FRPServerPort": "True", "BehindNAT": "True", "CustomConfig": null } #+end_src * Abstractions :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: abstractions :END: The Abstractions package consists of black-boxed functions for P2PRC. ** Functions :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: functions :END: - =Init()=: Initializes P2PRC with all the needed configurations. - =Start()=: Starts p2prc as a server and makes it possible to extend by adding other routes and functionality to P2PRC. - =MapPort()=: On the local machine the port you want to export to world. - =StartContainer()=: The machine on the p2p network where you want to spin up a docker container. - =RemoveContainer(,)=: Terminate container based on the IP address and container name. - =GetSpecs()=: Get specs of a machine on the network based on the IP address. - =ViewIPTable()=: View the IP table which about nodes in the network. - =UpdateIPTable()=: Force update IP table to learn about new nodes faster. * NAT Traversal :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: nat-traversal :END: P2PRC currently supports TURN for NAT traversal. ** TURN :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: turn :END: The current TURN implementation used is FRP. The TURN server is also required when a P2PRC node is acting as a Server. The TURN server is determined based on the Node with the least amount of latency based on the Nodes available on the IPTable. Once a TURN server is determined there are 2 actions performed. The first one is =/FRPPort= to the TURN server to receive a port which is used to generate the external port from the TURN server. The flow below describes the workflow. *** Client mode :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: client-mode :END: - Call =/FRPPort= #+begin_example http://:/FRPport #+end_example - Call the TURN server in the following manner. The following is a sample code snippet below. #+begin_src go import ( "github.com/Akilan1999/p2p-rendering-computation/p2p/frp" ) func main() { serverPort, err := frp.GetFRPServerPort("http://" + + ":" + lowestLatencyIpAddress.ServerPort) if err != nil { return nil, err } // Create 1 second delay to allow FRP server to start time.Sleep(1 * time.Second) // Starts FRP as a client with proxyPort, err := frp.StartFRPClientForServer(, serverPort, ) if err != nil { return nil, err } } #+end_src