How to run air gapped video surveillance with zero internet: what it takes, who needs it, and how Visylix delivers full AI, automation and copilot fully offline.
An air gapped system has no connection to the outside world at all. No internet, no wireless link, no cable leading out. For video surveillance, that means everything, from camera feeds to recording to the operator screen, must run entirely on its own. It can never call home to check a licence, fetch an update, download an AI model or send usage data.
It is the strongest network protection there is. Remote hacking, data theft and remote control attacks all need a way in or out, and an air gap removes it. For classified sites and critical infrastructure, it is often a firm requirement. Any VMS that needs the cloud for licensing, analytics or sign in simply cannot be used.
Defence comes first: military bases, weapons stores and classified research centres that ban any internet connected system inside the perimeter. Intelligence agencies, diplomatic missions and secure government buildings follow the same rule.
Critical infrastructure is close behind. Nuclear plants, water treatment works, power grid control centres and transport hubs are increasingly required to keep their operational networks off the internet. Prisons, secure data centres, pharmaceutical plants protecting their processes, and hospitals guarding sensitive patient areas choose air gapped surveillance so footage can never be reached remotely.
Everything has to arrive in the box. Streaming, recording, storage, AI, the user interface, the database and user sign in must all run locally, with no outside dependency at runtime. Even the clock must come from a local time source, certificates must be issued locally, and every AI model must be on board from the start.
Storage needs careful planning, because there is no cloud to overflow into and no offsite backup over a network. Sites typically use redundant local disks, a backup server inside the isolated network and a clear procedure for archiving to physical media. The VMS should enforce retention automatically and show storage capacity clearly so nothing fills up unnoticed.
Visylix was designed for air gapped sites from the start. It ships as one Docker image containing everything it needs: the native streaming engine, the database, all 22 AI analytics, Sudarshan automation and Radha, the AI copilot, on its own on premise language model, plus the web interface. Nothing in it depends on the cloud. There is no licence server to call, no usage data sent out and no outside service of any kind. The offline licence activates without any connection.
That means air gapped sites get the full product, not a cut down version. Radha answers questions and runs investigations offline. Sudarshan Rules raise alarms, trigger talkdown and push events to local SIEM and PSIM systems. Evidence exports as a sealed, self contained player that opens on any offline machine, and anyone can check the footage has not been touched.
Installation is simple. The image is carried into the isolated network on approved media, such as a security reviewed USB drive or a write once disc. The administrator loads it and starts Visylix. It finds ONVIF cameras on the local network, connects and starts streaming and recording, with no internet needed at any point.
Keeping software current is the hardest part of running an isolated site. Platforms that update themselves over the internet cannot reach it at all. Visylix uses complete, versioned update images built for this. Each one is downloaded on a connected machine, security scanned and checked, carried across on physical media and applied in a planned maintenance window.
AI improvements arrive the same way, inside the update image. Between updates, Visylix keeps getting sharper on its own, entirely on local footage. Each camera learns its own normal for motion, sound, crowds and tampering, and anomaly detection learns what is usual for that camera. When an operator marks a false alarm for PPE, object, fire or weapon detection, that camera's threshold tightens automatically, never below the limit the operator set. Nothing ever leaves the network.
A system with no connection to any outside network, including the internet: no cloud licence checks, no usage data, no model downloads, no outside time source. Visylix runs its whole platform, streaming, recording, database, all 22 AI analytics, Sudarshan automation, the Radha copilot and the web interface, from a single Docker image with no outbound connection at all.
Defence and military sites, intelligence agencies, diplomatic missions and classified research centres are the most common. Critical infrastructure such as nuclear plants, water works, grid control centres and transport hubs increasingly require it, and prisons, secure data centres, pharmaceutical plants and hospitals often choose it.
Quickly. The image is carried in on approved physical media, the administrator loads and starts it, and Visylix finds ONVIF cameras on the local network and begins streaming and recording. No internet connection is needed at any step, and the offline licence activates on site.
Updates arrive as complete images that are downloaded on a connected machine, security scanned, checked and carried across on physical media, then applied in a maintenance window. AI improvements come in the same image. Between updates, each camera keeps learning its own normal, and false alarm feedback tightens thresholds automatically within the limits operators set, all without the internet.