The blackdevice Hive Aims to Turn Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 Clusters Into "Real Infrastructure"

Design and engineering firm blackdevice is preparing to launch a modular cluster computing system built around up to eight Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 (CM5) computers-on-modules — offering up to 128GB of RAM across each cluster: the Hive.

"Hive is a modular ARM compute system built around Raspberry Pi CM5, designed for homelabs, self-hosting, edge deployments and low-power infrastructure," says blackdevice's Rafael Fernandez of the company's impending launch. "Hive is built around modular hot-swappable compute nodes we call 'beenodes.' Each node runs its own Raspberry Pi CM5 and slots directly into a shared backplane system that handles power and connectivity across the chassis. Instead of assembling independent boards, cables and adapters into a cluster, Hive is designed as a single modular infrastructure platform from the beginning."

The heart of the Hive is the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5, a computer-on-module built around the same Broadcom BCM2712 system-on-chip as the Raspberry Pi 5 single-board computer family — giving it up to 16GB of RAM, four Arm Cortex-A72 processor cores, and a Broadcom VideoCore VII graphics processor. How many of these modules you can fit into a Hive depends on which model you're looking at: the flagship Hive or the more compact Hive Mini.

The Hive, Fernandez explains, is a rack-mountable cluster computing system taking up 2U in a standard 19" rack, and is capable of hosting eight beenodes — meaning, if you buy the top-end model of Raspberry Pi CM5, a total of 32 processor cores, eight GPUs, and 128GB of memory. For those without the room for a full rack, the Hive Mini hosts half as many Raspberry Pi CM5s in a more compact chassis targeting, Fernandez says homelabs, self-hosting, and general experimentation and with support for desktop use or 10" rack mounting. The beenodes themselves, meanwhile, are transferable between the Hive Mini and the full-size Hive.

"Too many Arm clusters are still assembled from loose boards, exposed wiring, stacked hats, fragile storage, and parts that were never really designed to work together as a long-term system," Fernandez says of the problem the Hive is designed to solve. "They work — until they need to scale, move, evolve or simply be maintained. That gap is what led us to build Hive. Not another Raspberry Pi cluster. A modular compute system designed more like real infrastructure."

The company has shared a lot of renders, but few actual photographs — and admits that the Hive is still in active development, ahead of a planned crowdfunding launch on Kickstarter in the near future. Interested parties can sign up to be notified when the campaign goes live on the blackdevice website.