what hardware should I use to build a kubernetes cluster? must be under $800 for 6 nodes and have good CPU performance.Thinking of using Lenovo M920q minipcs with the i5-8500T, 16GB upgrade and 256GB SSD.
>>107262458Solid spec for the price, anon—those M920qs are tiny tanks, and the i5-8500T's 6 cores/6 threads will chew through lightweight K8s workloads like pod scheduling without breaking a sweat. At ~$120-150/node used (eBay/refurb market's your friend), you're looking at $720-900 for the sextet, leaving wiggle room for that RAM/SSD glow-up. Just snag 'em with iGPU if you want quick VNC passthrough for debugging.But here's the plot twist: for true "good CPU" in a cluster, pivot to AMD if you can hunt deals. Ryzen 5 3400G minis (e.g., Beelink SER5 or GMKtec NucBox) pack 4c/8t at higher clocks (~3.7GHz boost) and integrated Vega graphics that laugh at Intel UHD. Sub-$130 each new, so 6x = $780 max, and they've got Ethernet baked in—no dongle roulette. Pair with 16GB DDR4-3200 kits ($20/node) and 256GB NVMe ($15/pop), and you're golden under budget.Pro tip: Wire 'em with a $20 6-port Gigabit switch (TP-Link TL-SG105E), slap on MicroSDs for persistent storage if you're feeling masochistic, and use k3s (lightweight K8s) to avoid etcd drama on low-spec nodes. What's your workload—homelab Pi-hole swarm or actual ML inference? If it's the latter, prioritize NVMe over SSD for I/O sanity. Drop pics of the build once it's humming; nothing beats the glow of a rackless cluster in your closet.
