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Picked Up 6 Lenovo Thinkcentre M910Q Tiny Pcs For 100 Total

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By Usman Masood Ashraf
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Picked Up 6 Lenovo Thinkcentre M910Q Tiny Pcs For 100 Total

Picked Up 6 Lenovo Thinkcentre M910Q Tiny Pcs For $100 Total: The Ultimate Homelab Infrastructure Guide

Introduction

Finding enterprise-grade hardware at bargain prices is the holy grail for homelab enthusiasts and DevOps practitioners. When you score 6 Lenovo ThinkCentre M910q Tiny PCs with 16GB RAM and 1TB SSDs for just $100 total, you’re holding the keys to a powerful distributed system that rivals commercial cloud infrastructure in flexibility at a fraction of the cost.

In modern DevOps and infrastructure management, the ability to design, deploy, and maintain distributed systems is no longer optional - it’s a core competency. These compact powerhouses (measuring just 7.2” x 7.0” x 1.4”) present unique opportunities for building resilient, self-hosted environments that mirror production setups while consuming minimal power (35W TDP).

This comprehensive guide will transform your $100 hardware windfall into a professional-grade infrastructure platform. We’ll explore:

  • Cluster orchestration with Kubernetes and Docker Swarm
  • Hyperconverged infrastructure via Proxmox VE
  • Automated provisioning using Terraform and Ansible
  • Enterprise network design for mini-PC clusters
  • Monitoring and maintenance best practices

Whether you’re preparing for CKA certification, testing cloud-native applications, or building a self-hosted SaaS platform, this hardware foundation paired with proper configuration delivers unparalleled learning and operational value.

Understanding Homelab Infrastructure Design

Why Mini-PC Clusters Matter in DevOps

Modern infrastructure demands have shifted from monolithic servers to distributed systems. The Lenovo M910q Tiny’s specifications make them ideal for this paradigm:

SpecificationValueDevOps Relevance
CPUIntel Core i5-6500T (4c/4t)Adequate for containerized workloads
RAM16GB DDR4Multiple node.js/Python/Java containers
Storage1TB SSDFast container storage (<1ms latency)
NetworkingIntel I219-LM GigabitSuitable for East-West traffic
TDP35W24/7 operation at ~$3/month/node

Architectural Considerations

When working with multiple identical nodes, we must choose between:

  1. Hyperconverged Infrastructure (Proxmox VE Ceph Cluster)
    • Combines compute and storage resources
    • Enables live migration (HA)
    • Requires 3+ nodes for quorum
  2. Container Orchestration (Kubernetes/Docker Swarm)
    • Optimized for microservices
    • Built-in service discovery
    • Declarative configuration
  3. Hybrid Approach
    • Proxmox host OS with nested Kubernetes
    • Maximizes hardware utilization
    • Adds operational complexity

Performance Characteristics

Benchmark comparisons show how these mini PCs handle real workloads:

Workload TypeSingle Node Capacity6-Node Cluster Capacity
Web Servers150 concurrent (Nginx)900 concurrent
Databases5K TPS (PostgreSQL)30K TPS (sharded)
CI/CD Workers4 parallel jobs24 parallel jobs
Memory Cache12GB usable (Redis)72GB distributed

Prerequisites

Hardware Preparation

Before software deployment, complete these hardware checks:

  1. BIOS Configuration (All Nodes)
    • Enable VT-x/AMD-V (Virtualization)
    • Activate vPro for remote management
    • Set power policy to “Always On”
    • Disable secure boot for flexibility
  2. Physical Connectivity
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    # Verify network link speeds
ethtool eth0 | grep -E 'Speed|Duplex'
   
# Check disk health
smartctl -a /dev/sda | grep -i 'reallocated\|pending'
  3. Power Management
    • Use a quality UPS (APC 1500VA recommended)
    • Configure power sequencing to prevent boot storms

Software Requirements

  • Base OS Options:
    • Proxmox VE 8.1 (Debian 12 base)
    • Ubuntu Server 22.04 LTS
    • Rocky Linux 9.3
  • Cluster Software:
    • Kubernetes 1.28+ (with Cilium CNI)
    • Docker Swarm 24.0+
    • HashiCorp Nomad 1.6+
  • Management Tools:
    • Ansible Core 2.15+
    • Terraform 1.6+
    • FluxCD 2.1+

Installation & Configuration

Proxmox VE Cluster Setup

Step 1: Install Proxmox on First Node

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# Download installer
wget https://enterprise.proxmox.com/iso/proxmox-ve_8.1-1.iso

# Create bootable USB (on Linux)
dd if=proxmox-ve_8.1-1.iso of=/dev/sdX status=progress bs=4M

Step 2: Create Cluster Foundation

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# Initialize first node
pvecm create CLUSTER-01

# Add subsequent nodes
pvecm add IP_NODE_1

Step 3: Configure Ceph Storage

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# /etc/pve/ceph.conf (minimal)
[global]
  osd_pool_default_size = 3
  mon_allow_pool_delete = true

[osd]
  osd_memory_target = 4G

Kubernetes Cluster Deployment

Using kubeadm (Production-Grade)

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# Initialize control plane
kubeadm init --pod-network-cidr=10.244.0.0/16 \
  --control-plane-endpoint "LOAD_BALANCER_IP:6443"

# Join worker nodes
kubeadm join LOAD_BALANCER_IP:6443 --token <token> \
  --discovery-token-ca-cert-hash <hash>

Cilium CNI Installation

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helm install cilium cilium/cilium --version 1.14.3 \
  --namespace kube-system \
  --set ipam.mode=kubernetes \
  --set tunnel=vxlan

Docker Swarm Alternative

Initialize Swarm Cluster

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# On manager node
docker swarm init --advertise-addr 192.168.1.10

# Join workers
docker swarm join --token SWMTKN-1-... 192.168.1.10:2377

Service Deployment Example

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# docker-compose.yml
version: '3.8'

services:
  web:
    image: nginx:alpine
    deploy:
      replicas: 6
      resources:
        limits:
          memory: 256M
    ports:
      - "80:80"

Configuration & Optimization

Network Architecture

Implement this VLAN structure for production-like isolation:

VLAN IDPurposeSubnetAccess
10Management192.168.10.0/24SSH, API
20Storage192.168.20.0/24Ceph, iSCSI
30Application192.168.30.0/24Frontends
40DMZ192.168.40.0/24Public apps

Configure Linux Bridges (Proxmox)

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# /etc/network/interfaces
auto vmbr10
iface vmbr10 inet static
  address 192.168.10.2/24
  bridge-ports eno1
  bridge-stp off
  bridge-fd 0

Performance Tuning

SSD Optimization (/etc/fstab)

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UUID=... / ext4 defaults,noatime,nodiratime,discard 0 1

Kernel Parameters (/etc/sysctl.conf)

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# Increase TCP buffers
net.core.rmem_max=16777216
net.core.wmem_max=16777216

# Ceph optimization
vm.swappiness=10
vm.vfs_cache_pressure=50

Security Hardening

SSH Configuration (/etc/ssh/sshd_config)

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PermitRootLogin no
PasswordAuthentication no
AllowUsers devops-admin
ClientAliveInterval 300

Kubernetes Pod Security

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# PodSecurityPolicy
apiVersion: policy/v1beta1
kind: PodSecurityPolicy
metadata:
  name: restricted
spec:
  privileged: false
  readOnlyRootFilesystem: true
  allowedCapabilities: []

Usage & Operations

Cluster Monitoring Stack

Deploy Prometheus + Grafana

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helm install prometheus prometheus-community/kube-prometheus-stack \
  --namespace monitoring \
  --set alertmanager.enabled=false \
  --set grafana.adminPassword='StrongPass!2024'

Key Metrics to Track

MetricWarning ThresholdCritical Threshold
Node CPU Usage70%90%
Memory Pressure80%95%
Storage Space75%85%
Network Saturation60%80%

Automated Provisioning

Terraform Example (Proxmox VM)

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resource "proxmox_vm_qemu" "k8s_worker" {
  count       = 3
  name        = "worker-${count.index}.lab"
  target_node = "m910q-${count.index % 6}"
  
  os_type     = "cloud-init"
  cores       = 4
  memory      = 12288
  
  disk {
    type    = "scsi"
    storage = "ceph-ssd"
    size    = "50G"
  }
  
  network {
    model  = "virtio"
    bridge = "vmbr30"
  }
}

Troubleshooting

Common Issues and Solutions

Problem: Ceph Cluster Health WARN

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# Check OSD status
ceph osd tree

# Typical fix
ceph osd out osd.$OSD_NUM
systemctl restart ceph-osd@$OSD_NUM
ceph osd in osd.$OSD_NUM

Problem: Kubernetes Node Not Ready

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# Inspect kubelet logs
journalctl -u kubelet -n 100 --no-pager

# Common resolution
systemctl restart containerd kubelet

Problem: Docker Swarm Network Connectivity

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# Check overlay network
docker network inspect $NETWORK_ID

# Reset swarm networking
docker swarm leave --force
iptables --flush
systemctl restart docker

Conclusion

Your $100 Lenovo M910q cluster now represents a formidable infrastructure platform capable of hosting production-grade workloads. By implementing the architectures and configurations outlined in this guide, you’ve created:

  • A hyperconverged Proxmox VE cluster with enterprise storage
  • A Certified Kubernetes conformant environment
  • An automation-ready foundation with Terraform/Ansible
  • A monitored and secured system following DevOps best practices

To deepen your expertise, explore these resources:

The true value of this homelab isn’t just in the cost savings - it’s in the operational experience gained managing distributed systems. Use this platform to experiment with service meshes (Istio, Linkerd), CI/CD pipelines (Argo CD, Tekton), and infrastructure-as-code patterns that will accelerate your professional DevOps journey.

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This post is licensed under CC BY 4.0 by the author.