While we work to open testing of Grid 3.0 to our community, questions are coming in around how to get started testing the Grid today. Here, I’ll outline what’s currently available to test on Grid 2.
VDC
The Virtual Data Center is a proof of concept cloud solution, which provides a package of compute and storage resources along with prepackaged applications that can be deployed in a few clicks. There’s also low level access to the provided Kubernetes clusters and the ability to launch VMs.
Find all information and resources on the VDC in our Cloud Wiki.
Launch a VM
You can now deploy Ubuntu VMs within a VDC, providing the most popular Linux environment for both serious work and serious play. See this video for details, or just look for the VM tab within your VDC.
Deploy Applications
On the VDC Marketplace page, find a collection of open source solutions that can be deployed with a few clicks, in a private and secure environment. Discover tools for communication, productivity, as well as decentralized network and blockchain nodes.
Kubernetes
For power users, there’s raw access to the Kubernetes cluster enabling the VDC. Migrate existing Kubernetes deployments, scale up the cluster, and enjoy both Helm and Kubeapps built in.
Just download the kubeconfig file from the Compute Nodes page of the VDC and use with kubectl or your favorite front end.
Quantum Safe Storage
Test ThreeFold’s flagship unbreakable storage solution, by launching the Minio solution from Marketplace for an S3 interface, or download the configuration file to plug into the provided backend storage from any system.
Check here for details, though note that QSS is under heavy development, so documents may not be up to date.
3Bot & SDK
If you want to go even a layer deeper, the 3Bot and underlying SDK provide low level access to deploying Grid primitives. In addition to a more flexible approach to VMs, Kubernetes, and QSS than is provided by VDC, the SDK is also the gateway to ThreeFold’s bespoke container system based on our highly efficient Flist technology. That said, getting started can be rather seamless, by deploying your existing Docker containers or choosing from millions available in open source collections, as shown in this video.
Endless Possibilities
For those wanting to be developing novel solutions at the bleeding edge of technology, this is the place to be. ThreeFold’s architecture and open source code is truly a playground for developers of all kinds who want to take a firm step into the future.