AI Hardware Deployment Guide
The right AI iron for every size of business
Advanced AI doesn't require renting someone else's cloud forever. From a single RTX 5090 workstation to liquid-cooled Grace Blackwell racks, this guide lays out reference specifications, budgets, and the workloads each tier realistically supports — so your hardware investment matches your ambition.
Small Business — Local AI Workstations
2–25 staff · single team · first local deployment
One serious workstation runs private chat, RAG, and a small agent fleet.
Reference Specification
- GPUNVIDIA RTX 5080 16GB or RTX 5090 32GB (single card)
- CPURyzen 9 9950X / Core Ultra 9 — 16+ cores
- RAM64–128 GB DDR5
- Storage2–4 TB NVMe Gen5 (models + vector index)
- Cooling/PowerAir/AIO, 1000–1200W PSU, standard 15A circuit
What It Runs
- Local inference of 8B–32B open-weight models (quantized); 70B possible on the 5090 with CPU offload at reduced speed
- Private RAG over company documents — data never leaves the office
- Hosting 3–10 always-on task agents
- Light LoRA fine-tuning overnight
Start here if PIPEDA-sensitive data rules out cloud APIs. An edge mini-node (e.g., DGX Spark-class) is a strong compact alternative.
How BEARACH sizes hardware
Size to tokens, not hype
We model your real concurrent users, context lengths, and tokens/second before recommending silicon. Overbuying GPUs is the most common AI capex mistake we see in Ontario businesses.
Local hardware is a compliance tool
For PIPEDA/PHIPA-sensitive workloads, on-prem inference eliminates cross-border data-transfer questions entirely — the model comes to the data, not the reverse.
Plan power and cooling first
A quad-GPU node wants a dedicated 240V or 30A circuit; a GB300 NVL72 rack wants 100kW+ with liquid cooling. Electrical and facilities planning belongs in the first meeting, not the last.
Get a hardware plan sized to your actual workload
BEARACH delivers a spec-and-budget hardware roadmap — including Ontario supplier options, power/cooling requirements, and a growth path from your first workstation to rack scale.
Request a Hardware Assessment