refurbished cluster parts

Guide for refurbished cluster parts

Refurbished Cluster Parts List

Target: High CCU (100k+) Backend Compute on a Budget Strategy: "Compute is cheap, State is hard". Offload DB to cloud, run stateless backend on cheap powerful refurb hardware.

1. Compute Nodes (The Workers)

Quantity: Start with 3, scale to 10+ as needed.
ComponentRecommendationSpecification NotesApprox Price (Used)
ModelLenovo ThinkCentre M710q / M910qTiny/Micro form factor. Very power efficient.$80 - $120
AlternativeDell Optiplex 3050/5050 MicroHP ProDesk 600 G3 Mini
CPUIntel Core i5-6500T or i5-7500T4 Cores / 4 Threads. 'T' series for low power/heat.Included
RAM16GB DDR4 SO-DIMMMinimum for handling many concurrent connections. Upgradable to 32GB.+$20 if upgrading
Storage256GB NVMe SSDFast boot/loading. Doesn't need to be huge as data is in Cloud DB.Included
Why this hardware?
  • Density: You can fit 10 of these in the space of a shoebox.
  • Power: Idle at <10W each. Full load <35W.
  • Cost/Perf: drastically cheaper than equivalent AWS EC2 vCPUs.

2. Networking

Goal: Low latency, high throughput for 100k connections.
ComponentRecommendationNotesPrice (New)
SwitchTP-Link TL-SG108E (8-Port)"Easy Smart" / Managed. Allows VLANs if you want to separate traffic later.~$25
CablesCAT6 Patch Cables (1ft)Short cables for neat "cluster" stacking.~$10 (pack)

3. Power & Accessories

ComponentRecommendationNotesPrice
Power Strip10-12 Outlet Surge ProtectorThese flexible power bricks take up space. Get a wide strip.~$20
CoolingSmall USB Desk FanIf stacking them densely, airflow helps prevent throttling.~$10

4. Total Initial Investment (3 Node Cluster)

  • Compute: 3 x $100 = $300
  • Network/Misc: ~$55
  • Total: ~$355

5. Deployment Role

  • Node 1: game-server-central + archival-worker (Master)
  • Node 2: game-server-forest + game-server-mines
  • Node 3: game-server-banks + promtail (Logging)