Deployment guidePlanning an
air-gapped AI assistant.
Air-gapped means isolated from external networks. For banks, government agencies and critical infrastructure, that can be the only acceptable way to use AI on sensitive documents. This guide covers what has to run locally, what you give up, and what to check before you start.
Everything runs
inside your walls.
In an air-gapped AI deployment, the core services run on your own infrastructure with no connection to the internet: file processing, search, the database, the AI models and the answers. Nothing is sent to a cloud AI provider.
That is different from a private cloud or on-premise setup that still calls a hosted AI model or an external connector. Those setups keep the application private, but data can still leave the network. Review each endpoint and action before you decide.
iKB supports fully air-gapped deployment with local AI models. Core knowledge search and answering run locally. Features that need live external sources or hosted services, such as live web research or cloud connectors, are unavailable in that setup.
What works,
and what does not.
| Air-gapped | Why | |
|---|---|---|
| Document search and answers | Available | Runs on local services and local models |
| Source references | Available | Built from your local documents |
| Access rules and Decision Records | Available | Stored and applied locally |
| Local AI models | Required | No hosted model can be reached |
| Live web research | Unavailable | Needs external network access |
| Cloud connectors (for example Google Drive) | Unavailable | Need the external service |
Seven things to plan
before you start.
- 01
Hardware for local models
AI models run on your servers, so plan compute (usually GPUs) for the number of users and the models you choose. Size it with your vendor.
- 02
Model choice
Pick local models that fit your hardware, languages and quality needs. Test them on your own questions before committing.
- 03
Getting documents in
Decide how approved files reach the isolated network, and who checks them. Connectors that need external services will not work.
- 04
Updates and patches
Agree how software and model updates are brought in safely, and how often.
- 05
Access and identity
Decide who can use which topics, and how accounts are managed inside the network.
- 06
Monitoring and recovery
Plan health checks, backups and recovery on your own infrastructure. iKB provides a command-line interface and health probes for operators.
- 07
Audit and retention
Decide how long Decision Records are kept, who can export them, and how evidence leaves the network if auditors need it.
Air-gap questions, answered.
Is air-gapped the same as on-premise?
Can an air-gapped assistant still give good answers?
Can we start in the cloud and move to air-gapped later?
Planning an offline AI deployment?
Talk to our team about your network, hardware and security requirements. We will map what runs locally.