theFlux Node
theFlux Node
AI tile for theFlux Capacitor
AI tile for theFlux Capacitor
FluxNodes are tiles in theFlux Capacitor AI
FluxNodes are tiles in theFlux Capacitor AI
fluxNode/3
Tri-Pole Distributed Edge Compute Cluster
Product Specification — Revision A
Document class: Hardware reference design
Prepared for: theFlux.ca — Flux Capacitor programme
Date: July 2026
Status: Draft for engineering review
This document defines the reference hardware, radio, power, and resilience specification for fluxNode/3, the minimum-quorum three-pole configuration of the Flux Capacitor distributed compute mesh. It is intended for engineering review, procurement planning, and regulatory pre-consultation. It is not a construction drawing set.
fluxNode/3 is a community-scale sovereign compute node composed of three fluxPoles arranged as a full-mesh radio triangle with edge lengths up to 2 km. Each fluxPole is a self-contained pole-mounted unit combining an edge compute triad, dual-path wide-area connectivity, solar generation, and battery storage. The three-pole configuration is the minimum deployment that provides pole-level quorum: the cluster remains connected, quorate, and in service through the loss of any single inter-pole link, any single backhaul path, or any single complete pole.
The design intent follows the Flux Capacitor architecture: commodity, off-the-shelf hardware; community ownership of the physical substrate; separation of secure-side identity from open-side services; and graceful degradation under power, backhaul, or equipment failure.
Attribute
Value
Configuration
3 fluxPoles, full-mesh triangle, edges ≤ 2 km line of sight
Compute
9 × Apple Mac Mini M4 Pro (3 per pole)
Aggregate CPU / GPU
126 CPU cores / 180 GPU cores
Aggregate memory
432 GB unified memory (48 GB per unit)
Aggregate storage
18 TB NVMe raw; ≈ 12 TB usable under 6+3 erasure coding
Cluster power
≈ 1.25 kW continuous; ≈ 30 kWh/day
Generation
5.4 kW solar (1.8 kW per pole)
Storage (energy)
30.7 kWh LiFePO4 (10.24 kWh per pole)
Autonomy
≈ 20 h full load per pole; > 48 h in shed mode
Backhaul
3 × independent 5G cellular links (dual-carrier recommended)
Mesh interior
≈ 1.7 km² at 2 km edge length
Quorum model
2-of-3 poles; 2-of-3 compute units within each pole
The nine compute units form a two-level consensus hierarchy. Within a pole, the three Mac Minis run a local replica group (2-of-3). Across the cluster, the three poles form the node-level quorum (2-of-3). The cluster therefore tolerates the simultaneous loss of one entire pole and one compute unit at a surviving pole without loss of service or data availability.
Item
Specification
Unit
Apple Mac Mini, M4 Pro
CPU / GPU
14-core CPU / 20-core GPU per unit
Memory
48 GB unified memory per unit (144 GB per pole)
Storage
2 TB NVMe per unit (6 TB per pole)
Networking
10 Gb Ethernet (built-in) per unit
Power draw
≈ 4 W idle / ≈ 100 W sustained design point / 140 W peak per unit
Duty
Continuous 24/7; N+1 within pole (any one unit may fail)
Workload envelope
≈ 70B-class quantized model sharded across triad, or 3 independent 30B-class services, plus L0–L6 monitoring stack
Item
Specification
Intra-pole fabric
Fanless managed switch, ≥ 4 × 10GbE (RJ45/SFP+), ≈ 20 W
Mesh radios
2 × 5 GHz PtP links per pole (one per triangle edge), 500 Mbps–1 Gbps each at 2 km LoS, ≈ 15 W each
Mesh fallback
Optional 900 MHz radio for non-line-of-sight terrain, ≈ 8 W
Cellular backhaul
5G/LTE modem-router with pole-top directional donor antenna to serving cell tower, ≈ 12 W
Local access
Wi-Fi 6E / 5G LAN cell radio head for registered thin-client devices (secure side)
Timing
GPS-disciplined clock at pole crown
Item
Specification
Bus architecture
48 V DC bus; AC service via rectifier (primary); solar via MPPT; battery float
Inverter
600 W pure sine (compute units are AC-input), ≈ 92% efficiency
Continuous load
≈ 415 W per pole (incl. second PtP radio and conversion losses)
Daily energy
≈ 10 kWh per pole
Solar array
4 × 450 W bifacial pole-top petals = 1.8 kW; ≈ 3.9 kWh/day coastal BC annual average (≈ 1.5 kWh/day December)
Battery
2 × 48 V / 100 Ah LiFePO4 = 10.24 kWh; 8.2 kWh usable at 80% DoD
Autonomy
≈ 20 h at full load; > 48 h shed to one compute unit plus radios (≈ 150 W)
Cold option
Third battery module for winter island deployments
Item
Specification
Structure
10.7 m (35 ft) steel monopole, engineered foundation
Compute cabinet
NEMA 4X insulated enclosure, mid-mounted ≈ 3 m AGL; filtered forced-air cooling; thermostat heater strip
Battery cabinet
Separate ground-level ballast cabinet (≈ 70 kg per module)
Crown equipment
Solar petals, 5G donor antenna, 2 × PtP dishes, GPS
Sensor ring
Cameras, RF spectrum monitor, environmental sensors at cabinet collar (feeds L0 monitoring)
Operating envelope
–30 °C to +45 °C
Security
Tamper-switched cabinets; biometric-gated service access; terms-of-service ROM per pole
The three poles are sited at the vertices of a triangle with edge lengths up to 2 km, subject to line of sight for the 5 GHz links. Each edge is a dedicated point-to-point link terminated on its own radio at each end, giving six radios across the cluster and eliminating shared-medium contention. Any single link failure leaves the mesh connected through the remaining two edges; any single pole failure leaves the surviving two poles directly linked.
Edge capacity: 500 Mbps–1 Gbps per link at 2 km with clear Fresnel zone; reduce spacing or substitute 900 MHz on treed terrain.
Backhaul diversity: three independent 5G donor links; split across at least two carriers where coverage permits. Cluster-level WAN survives any single carrier or tower outage.
Routing: mesh-aware routing at layer 3; backhaul is load-shared in normal operation and fully re-routable through any surviving pole.
Coverage: the ≈ 1.7 km² triangle interior plus per-pole local-access radius defines the initial fluxResident service area.
Failure event
Cluster behaviour
One compute unit fails
Pole degrades to 2-of-3 local replica group; no service impact
One mesh link fails
Traffic reroutes via remaining two edges; no service impact
One 5G backhaul fails
WAN traffic reroutes through surviving backhaul links
One complete pole fails
Cluster remains quorate at 2-of-3; data available via erasure coding; capacity reduced ≈ 33%
Grid outage, all poles
≈ 20 h full service on battery; shed mode extends past 48 h; solar extends further in season
Pole loss + unit loss elsewhere
Service maintained; minimum surviving set is one full replica group plus quorum partner
Data placement uses 6+3 erasure coding across the nine units, yielding approximately 12 TB usable from 18 TB raw while tolerating any three simultaneous device losses, including the correlated loss of one pole's three devices.
Parts-level estimates at July 2026 Canadian retail/distribution pricing; excludes taxes, freight, and spectrum/licensing fees. Site work varies materially by terrain and jurisdiction.
Line item
Unit (CAD)
Qty/pole
Per pole (CAD)
Mac Mini M4 Pro 14c/20c, 48 GB, 2 TB, 10GbE
3,100
3
9,300
Managed 10GbE switch (fanless)
600
1
600
5G router + directional donor antenna
900
1
900
5 GHz PtP radio pair share (2 radios)
600
2
1,200
Inverter / rectifier / MPPT / bus hardware
1,500
1
1,500
Solar petals, 4 × 450 W bifacial + mounts
1,800
1
1,800
LiFePO4 modules, 48 V 100 Ah
2,200
2
4,400
Cabinets (NEMA 4X compute + battery ballast)
2,000
1
2,000
Sensors, L0 controller, cabling, misc.
1,000
1
1,000
Electronics subtotal
22,700
Monopole, foundation, installation (range)
8,000–12,000
Per-pole installed (range)
30,700–34,700
Cluster roll-up
CAD
fluxNode/3 electronics (3 poles)
68,100
fluxNode/3 installed (3 poles, range)
92,100–104,100
Indicative with engineering, permits, contingency (15%)
≈ 106,000–120,000
5 GHz PtP links operate under ISED licence-exempt RSS-247 rules (band and EIRP limits apply; U-NII-3 preferred for PtP).
Pole siting on Islands Trust lands engages local trust committee land-use processes; ISED antenna-siting procedures (CPC-2-0-03) apply to new structures.
5G backhaul is carrier-subscribed service; dual-carrier SIM provisioning recommended.
Structural, electrical, and battery-storage installations to applicable BC Building Code, CSA, and local permitting.
Deployments on First Nations territory proceed under OCAP principles and community agreement, consistent with the Flux Capacitor governance framework (CAMA).
Option
Description
fluxNode/3-W (winter)
Third battery module per pole; 15.4 kWh; ≈ 30 h full-load autonomy
fluxNode/3-NLOS
900 MHz mesh radios substituted or added for treed/obstructed terrain
fluxNode/3-G
Grid-independent variant: 5 kW ground-mount array per pole in lieu of pole-top petals
M5 Pro forward option
Drop-in compute upgrade; near-identical power envelope; no power-system change
fluxNode/5 growth path
Two additional poles federate the triangle into the five-node reference mesh
Rev
Date
Notes
A
2026-07-02
Initial release: tri-pole topology, M4 Pro triad per pole, power and BOM baselines