Most production AI stacks have hidden network dependencies: telemetry, model registry, license check, embedding API, vector DB sync. Plugsky's air-gapped deployment removes every one of them.
What "air-gapped" means in practice
A truly air-gapped AI deployment has zero inbound and zero outbound network traffic at runtime. Specifically:
- No telemetry, no logs shipped to a vendor
- No model updates over the wire (signed bundles on physical media)
- No license or activation calls
- No third-party API calls (no OpenAI fallback, no Google embeddings, etc.)
- No email or notification webhooks
All updates — models, security patches, control plane — are delivered on approved physical media (encrypted SSD, signed USB) through a documented chain of custody.
Hardware and networking
Reference air-gapped deployment (sized for 18B model + 50 concurrent users):
- 2× NVIDIA H100 80GB (or 4× A100 40GB for budget builds)
- 2× AMD EPYC or Intel Xeon, 256GB RAM, 8TB NVMe
- Dual 25GbE for internal cluster fabric (no uplink)
- Hardware security module (YubiHSM, Thales Luna, or AWS CloudHSM) for key custody
- Optional: air-gapped UPS, diesel backup, Faraday-caged rack
Use the GPU capacity calculator to size for your workload.
Operations and updates
- Local admin console (web UI) for routine ops
- Local SSO integration (LDAP, SAML, OIDC) — no cloud IdP required
- Offline update bundles: model weights, security patches, control plane upgrades
- Hardware HSM-signed update manifests for chain-of-custody verification
- Local audit log retention (default 7 years for defense, configurable)
Security certifications
Air-gapped deployments support the certifications you actually need:
- Common Criteria EAL4+ for the hardware stack
- FIPS 140-2 Level 3 for crypto modules
- ISO 27001 + ISO 27017 + ISO 27018
- DoD IL5 (Impact Level 5) reference architecture
- NIST 800-53 Rev. 5 control mapping
- FedRAMP High (with on-prem appliance)
Frequently asked questions
How do you update an air-gapped LLM?
We ship signed update bundles on physical media (encrypted SSD or USB). Your security team verifies the manifest, then applies via the local admin console.
Can I run multiple air-gapped sites?
Yes. A central enclave can stage signed updates and distribute them to remote sites over a one-way diode or sneakernet.
How much does it cost?
Reference builds start at $250K first-year (hardware + integration), $30K-$80K/year for support and update bundles.
Does the model ever phone home?
No. Air-gapped deployments disable all outbound network calls. Telemetry is local-only. License checks happen offline against a hardware HSM.
Book an architecture call
Talk to a Plugsky solutions engineer about your air-gapped deployment requirements.
Book architecture call → See enterprise plans