A datacenter-class lab that sips power and fits on your desk.
Pre-provisioned zero-trust networks for home labs: full bare-metal access, modular cartridge swapping, self-hosted cloud alternatives, and a community behind it — all on silent, energy-efficient 10-inch hardware.
- Access
- Full bare-metal, root, SSH
- Power draw
- 35–70 W · 10-inch rack
- Expansion
- Hot-swap cartridge layer
- Support
- Community + PortGuard docs
Built for people who like to open the box
Pre-provisioned when you want it easy, bare-metal when you want to tinker.
Real bare-metal access
This is your hardware. Root on the appliance, SSH into every service, direct console when you want it. No locked-down firmware — it's a proper lab platform.
It sips power
A full-size 19-inch rack of standard servers draws 150–600 W around the clock. A 10-inch SBC rack draws 35–70 W — roughly one old light bulb — so it can run 24/7 without dominating your power bill.
Modular cartridge swapping
Firewall, DHCP, access monitoring, self-hosted apps — each runs as a swappable cartridge on the PortGuard appliance. Experiment, upgrade, or roll back a layer without rebuilding the whole lab.
Self-hosted cloud alternatives
Run your own file sync, media, home automation, git, and VPN endpoints on ARM single-board computers — the same architecture enterprises right-size with, scaled to a desk.
Community support
Join other PortGuard lab builders: shared cartridge configs, documented builds, and a community that answers. Escalate to PortGuard engineering only when you want to.
Zero-trust by default
The same OpenZiti overlay that protects our small-business deployments ships on every lab appliance — reach your services by identity from anywhere without exposing a single open port.
From box to managed network in three steps
No cabinet build-out, no commissioning project. The appliance arrives pre-provisioned and enrolls itself.
Select & Ship
Order a pre-configured PortGuard Micro Appliance tailored to your organization's footprint — desk, wall, or 10-inch rack.
Plug & Activate
Connect via a single PoE line. The appliance securely phones home to the PortGuard centralized cloud orchestration plane.
Continuous Management
Our team actively monitors security logs, patch updates, and system health while providing access via a unified control center dashboard.
Build it your way.
Configure an appliance from chassis to service tier, then take the build to portguard.store — or bring questions to the guided inquiry and talk to an engineer.