I need a dedicated server with either two 64-core CPUs or one 128-core CPU. Most rental providers I've found require at least a month, but this would only be needed for a few days. Are there providers offering this level of hardware with hourly or daily billing? A cloud instance could work if it provides comparable CPU and storage performance.
4 Answers
If you don’t specifically need a physically separate server, look at lower-cost compute providers such as DigitalOcean, Akamai, or comparable VM services. They may have high-core configurations with hourly billing and can be substantially cheaper than the largest cloud platforms, depending on region and availability.
Short-term bare-metal rentals are much less common. Dedicated-server companies usually require a monthly commitment because provisioning and removing the hardware costs them money. It may be worth checking providers such as Chery Server or dedicated-server marketplaces, but confirm the exact CPU model, whether the cores are physical or virtual, storage limits, and whether hourly billing is available in your location.
Hetzner and similar dedicated-server providers are worth checking for high-core hardware, but they generally focus on longer rental periods. If the workload can be split across multiple machines, several smaller hourly instances may be easier to obtain and could finish the job for less than a single 128-core system.
Whether that works depends on the software. Some workloads scale well across multiple servers, while others need a large shared-memory machine and cannot simply be distributed.
The most practical option is probably a large cloud instance from AWS, Azure, or a similar provider. They bill by the second or hour, so you can use the machine only for the time required. For example, an AWS instance in the C6a family with 128 vCPUs and 256 GB of RAM is around $4.90 per hour, or roughly $235 for 48 hours. Just keep in mind that vCPUs are not always equivalent to 128 physical cores.
Some dedicated-server providers do offer hourly rentals, but the high-core machines tend to be limited inventory rather than standard configurations. Contacting their sales or provisioning team is usually necessary to confirm availability.