What the devil is Hylan Pi?
Well, that is a good question, and one without a real answer just yet. Hylan Pi is an experimental project in cloud computing. I was interested in learning about cloud computing and decided there was no better way to learn than to do. So, I created Hylan Pi. The Pi portion of the name comes from the Raspberry Pi, a low cost single-board computer that is roughly the size of a credit card. Though small, the Raspberry Pi has enough power to function as a full-fledged desktop computer, and as it turns out, to function as a server for cloud applications.
Most cloud computing is done with a bunch (or cluster) of servers connected together and to the internet. Hylan Pi is no different in this respect. In this case, my servers are a stack of Raspberry Pis connected together in a cluster from which applications can be run and data can be served. The difference between Hylan Pi and other cloud servers (like AWS, or Azure, etc.) is one of scale more than anything else. Whereas they have hundreds or thousands of servers networked together, I only have 5. Nevertheless, this small system is enough to be able to experiment with and learn about all of the technologies associated with cloud computing. And believe me when I say I have learned a ton. I've had to learn everything from the basic level of how computers communicate over a local network to how that interfaces to the web, as well as how to put together multiple servers and how to get software running on the cluster that is accessible from the rest of the world in a way that is robust and fault tolerant.
So, back to the original question -- What is Hylan Pi. It is an ongoing experiment in cloud computing. And what is the point of this site? Well, that is the part I'm not sure of just yet. I may go one or several of many different directions with this site based on my interests, both in computing and in other facets of life on the Big Blue Marble. In the weeks and months to come, I expect I'll start fleshing this site out with content that interests me, and hopefully others as well.
Before closing, I want to give abundant thanks to Jeff Geerling (known in most places on the web as geerlingguy). Jeff's videos and books have been an invaluable resource in learning how to do what has been done so far. In fact, most of this site, and other applications running on this cluster were taken from his work. If you are interested in cloud computing, please check out his YouTube channel, it is very enlightening and a great jumping off point for whetever you may want to do with cloud computing.