Hardware

General purpose compute tuned for your specific needs

Readily available industrial servers and edge computers from multiple vendors, pre-loaded with an open stack plus the software you require. Configured and validated with receipts.

Example architecture

The power of the quorum

True redundancy via three or more nodes. The diagram shows a typical configuration, with redundant networking and software defined storage. Need more capacity? Simply add more nodes.

node 1node 2node 3 Workloads move between nodes
SCADA & HMI operator screens
Historian high-availability database
Dashboards & APIs reporting, integrations
Platform spans every node
Kubernetes · VM cluster live migration, auto-healing
Storage spans every node
Software-defined storage Ceph, LINSTOR, or Storage Spaces Direct, replicated across every node
Hardware
CPU · NVMe ECC, redundant power
CPU · NVMe ECC, redundant power
CPU · NVMe ECC, redundant power
Network
Switch fabric redundant paths, no single switch
Handoff
Plant network your existing VLANs and controls network
Every layer is replicated across every node. No split brain. No single point of failure.
What it costs

Common example deployments

Ranges from actual experience, complete: hardware, licensing, and the configuration services that turn a pile of metal into a validated system. Every cluster is quoted to order, but the bands below give you an idea of what to expect.

Common cluster pricing

  • Edge

    1 - 3 small nodes

    $ 12,000 to $ 22,000

    A single node, standard or server class. The bottom of the band is a compact standard-class machine, a panel PC or DIN-rail IPC. The top is a server-class node wired so nodes two and three can drop in later without a rebuild.

  • Plant

    3 - 5 nodes

    $ 65,000 to $ 135,000

    No single points of faiure. The spread is node class and operating system licensing, with our labor staying relatively constant. The bottom of the band is a three-node standard-class Linux/Ceph cluster; the top is a three-node server-class Windows S2D cluster.

  • Enterprise

    5+ nodes

    Quoted

    Many nodes, many sites, or complex deployments.

What affects pricing

  • Hardware is the main cost driver The band is wide because the hardware can be a compact standard-class node or a server-class node. The labor to configure and validate the cluster is relatively constant across the band, so the hardware choice dominates the price.
  • Node class A desktop-class mini PC against a rackmount server with ECC memory, redundant power, and a 3-year warranty. Roughly 3x on hardware per node, and the single biggest swing in any quote.
  • Operating system licensing Windows Server Datacenter runs about $ 5,900 per node, and the Linux stack we prefer costs nothing to license. We also do Windows guests on Linux hosts.
  • Storage How many NVMe drives per node, how much you need to keep and whether your workload is write-intensive. Endurance is priced as well as capacity.
  • Network fabric Shared 10G uplinks, or a dedicated 25G mesh carrying storage replication.
  • Platform scope Do you need virtualization, a database, directory services, or monitoring and alerting? Each adds a fixed cost on top of the cluster, but we only configure what you need.

Configuration Options

  • Kubernetes platform, $ 6,000 to $ 10,000 Kubernetes with replicated storage and a high-availability database operator, ready for containerized workloads. The lower end is a single node; the upper end is highly available across the cluster.
  • Commercial database, $ 19,000 to $ 25,000 SQL Server licensing plus a deployed and configured database platform, when the application requires it. Licensing is per core and can rival the hardware. The upper end adds a second replica for failover.
  • Directory and platform services, $ 7,500 Active Directory, DNS, DHCP, update management, and a group policy baseline, deployed on the cluster.
  • Windows Server licensing, $ 5,900 / node Windows Server Datacenter, when the platform is Windows or guests need it. One license per node covers unlimited Windows Server virtual machines on that node. A line item rather than a kind of cluster, because a Linux host running Windows guests is a normal build.
  • Monitoring and alerting, $ 10,000 Prometheus, Grafana, and Alertmanager with dashboards, alert routing, and a runbook behind every alert. Prerequisite for Proactive Operations.

Terms

  • Each cluster is individually quoted based on the hardware and software you need.
  • If the scope grows mid-project, we price the change and get your approval before doing the work. No surprise invoices.
  • All hardware and software is billed up front. Configuration services are 60% up front and 40% on delivery with operations guide and validation documentation.
Every cluster

Documented & validated with receipts

The industry norm is a system configured by hand and verified informally, with no verification that the system will survive a failure. We build infrastructure the way we build software, automatically tested with result documentation so you can be confident it will operate as expected when it counts.

  • A scripted, repeatable node build, so you can reinstall a failed node or add one without us
  • A failure-injection test plan and its results, run before the system ships
  • As-built and network design documentation, plus a credential inventory
  • An operations guide written so anyone can operate the system, not just the engineer who built it
Example operations guide (PDF) Example failure testing report (PDF)

Sanitized examples from a delivered four-node cluster.

Long-term support

Hardware support rates

Priority Response commits to a 4-business-hour answer; Proactive Operations means we watch and act. Priced per machine, split by class. A three-node cluster is three machines.

Machine classPriority ResponseProactive Operations
Standard hardwareMini PCs, DIN-rail IPCs, panel PCs$ 100 / machine / mo$ 200 / machine / mo
Server classECC memory, redundant power, or out-of-band management$ 250 / machine / mo$ 500 / machine / mo

Support is $ 350/hr with a 2-hour minimum and a 5 business day response time when you have no plan. Commitments are business hours; after-hours work bills at the overtime rate. Stackable coverage is below.

Stackable coverage

Add-ons for hardware

Optional, per covered deployment, on any response tier.

  • Extended Stabilization, from $ 3,500 / yr. For systems you operate yourself: drift away from your as-built configuration is corrected at no charge for the covered year. Included in Proactive Operations, where staying at as-built is our job.
  • Annual Re-Validation, $ 5,000 / yr. We re-run the full failure-injection test campaign each year and deliver a written report. Included in Proactive Operations.
  • Annual Stack Upgrade, from $ 8,000 / yr. One major-version upgrade a year across the platform layer, tested and cut over in a maintenance window. Included in Proactive Operations.
  • Monitoring & Alerting Enablement, $ 10,000 one-time. Prometheus, Grafana, and Alertmanager deployed with dashboards, alert routing, and runbook links. Prerequisite for Proactive Operations.
Third party

Licenses and hardware we procure

Provided under any project at cost plus a 20% margin, itemized as its own line, the same way our bills of materials show it. The margin is identical whoever we buy from, so nothing about what we specify depends on which vendor discounts hardest. We pick on fit.

Applies to anything on a bill of materials, from PLC hardware to SCADA licenses.

Request a quote

Tell us about your plant

No cart, no list price: clusters are configured and quoted to your requirements. Send the details and we'll follow up.