Exaviz

03/07/2026

DeskPi built a 2U mini rack case for the Exaviz Cruiser -- and Jeff Geerling put it to work.

In his latest video, Jeff rebuilt his Frigate surveillance server around our Cruiser carrier board and DeskPi's new 2U enclosure. Compute Module 5, Hailo 8 AI accelerator, two 4TB NAS drives in R720-style sleds, three cameras running Frigate -- all in a 2U desktop rack footprint.

The results: under 5% CPU, sub-11ms object detection, and room to scale to 8+ cameras.

One board replacing a PoE switch, a Pi, and a storage server. One case to put it all in.

Watch Jeff's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LayXUxMjPU

Read our writeup: https://exa-pedia.com/blog/2026-03-07-deskpi-2u-mini-rack-case/

Pre-order the case ($69.99): https://deskpi.com/products/deskpi-2u-mini-rack-mount-case-pre-order-for-the-exaviz-cruiser-carrier-board

Description DeskPi 2U Mini Rack Mount Case (Pre-order) for the Exaviz Cruiser Carrier Board—an all-in-one NVR, smart home hub, and PoE switch for Raspberry Pi CM5. Designed for 2U racks and desktop mini rack setups, featuring a compact structure with well-planned cutouts for ports and ventilation....

03/04/2026

The Interceptor had RS-485. The Cruiser doesn't.

If that sounds like we removed a feature, keep reading.

RS-485 is a serial bus. It connects one class of device: industrial controllers, sensors with serial output, Modbus equipment. It requires custom wiring, termination resistors, and possibly an oscilloscope when things go wrong.

The Cruiser has two Qwiic ports instead.

Qwiic is a standardized I2C connector. A 4-pin JST plug shared by SparkFun Electronics, Inc., Adafruit Industries (STEMMA QT), and dozens of other manufacturers. No soldering, no termination, no wiring. Click it in. It works. And the ecosystem has hundreds of modules.

Here's the part some people may miss: because Qwiic carries I2C, it opens the door to I2C-to-UART bridge hardware that supports RS-485 signaling. The capability isn't gone. It's one adapter away instead of being hard-wired to a single protocol. And now you also get access to everything else.

What "everything else" looks like:

* A Qwiic Single Relay ($18, SparkFun). Switch a 240VAC / 5.5A circuit over I2C. Lighting, irrigation, garage doors, HVAC. Controllable from Home Assistant.

* An SCD-40 true CO2 sensor ($45, Adafruit). Server room or grow tent air quality monitoring with temperature and humidity. Automated alerts when ventilation fails.

* An MCP9601 thermocouple amplifier ($15, Adafruit). Read K, J, T, N, S, E, B, and R type thermocouples over I2C. 3D printer enclosures, kilns, HVAC ducts.

* A Qwiic Scale with NAU7802 ADC ($18.50, SparkFun). 24-bit load cell measurements. Propane tank level, beehive weight, package detection.

* A PA1010D GPS module ($30, Adafruit). Precision location and time over I2C. Asset tracking, NTP time source, geofencing.

* A 128x32 OLED display ($12.50, Adafruit). Mount it on your rack enclosure and show live PoE power draw per port, system uptime, IP address.

When we launched the Interceptor years ago , oe of the first things a hardware integrator asked us for was GPIO and I2C access. It would have required a custom add-on board. On the Cruiser, it's two Qwiic ports, built in. Voltage selectable between 3.3V and 5V. Daisy-chainable.

We didn't remove a feature. We replaced one protocol with an ecosystem.

Oh, and the Cruiser's Qwiic ports are also compatible with Adafruit's STEMMA QT connector. But that's a post for another day.

Full specs and pre-order at exaviz.com. Documentation at exa-pedia.com.



(Photo Courtesy of Jeff Geerling)

03/02/2026

A typical home lab rack looks something like this:

A Raspberry Pi running Home Assistant. A PoE switch next to it to power everything else. Two power supplies. A handful of cables. It works, but it's two devices doing a job one device could do.

The Exaviz Cruiser flips that around. The PoE switch is built into the board. You get 8 ports of PoE+ (expandable to 16), a CM5 running your stack, NVMe storage, and 2.5GbE WAN - all in one Mini-ITX form factor. There is no separate switch.

That means your PoE ports are free to do something useful:
* A Raspberry Pi running Pi-hole for network-wide ad blocking
* A JetKVM for remote keyboard/video/mouse access to other machines in the rack
* An ADS-B SDR receiver for aircraft tracking
* A PoE-powered GL-iNet router as a dedicated VPN gateway
* A second Pi as a Docker or Kubernetes worker node

Every one of those devices draws well under 15W. Standard 802.3af. The Cruiser's ports support up to 30W each, so you have headroom to spare. One cable per device - power and data together. No power bricks, no outlet hunting.

And for this kind of build, you can run the whole thing off our 48V 4A PSU. One small power brick, 192W of budget, powering the Cruiser and every device hanging off it. That's your entire rack on a single supply.

The mini rack community has been building toward this kind of setup for years. The Cruiser just removes the layer where you need a separate switch to make it work.

Full specs and pre-order at exaviz.com. Documentation at exa-pedia.com.



(Photo Courtesy of Jeff Geerling)

03/01/2026

Finding a quality 48V DC power supply is harder than it should be.

For the Exaviz Cruiser, we needed something specific: 48V DC at 4A or 6A, center-positive barrel jack, stable under sustained PoE+ load, and reliable enough for always-on NVR and home automation deployments. What you find on most sites is a mixed bag of unknown brands, no real test data, and certifications that may or may not hold up.

So we tested.

We evaluated multiple brands under real conditions - measuring voltage regulation, thermal performance, and idle efficiency under sustained load. The LYD units came out on top, and we have the numbers to back it up:
* Voltage drop at rated load: 2.0-2.1% (clean, stable output)
* Idle draw: under 9W (practical for 24/7 use)
* Temperature at full rated load after 30 min: 53°C (4A) and 42°C (6A)

That last one is worth noting. The 6A model runs cooler than the 4A despite its higher output. More headroom, less thermal stress, longer life.

Both carry UL Listed (cULus), FCC, CE, RoHS, and SAA certifications under the same UL file number (E336005).

We're not upselling accessories. We're selling something we use ourselves and stand behind with a 1-year warranty.

Full specs and test data at exa-pedia.com. Now available for pre-order at exaviz.com.

02/27/2026

Companies are coming around to the appeal of mini racks :)

Exaviz sent their new Cruiser board to test, and DeskPi sent over their prototype mini rack mount for it. My experience upgrading my open source Pi NVR here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LayXUxMjPU

02/26/2026

02/25/2026

Jeff Geerling is taking the new Cruiser Carrier Board for a spin with the DeskPi case!

Exaviz mini NAS/NVR CM5 board - includes 8x PoE, 2.5 Gbps uplink from Pi. Fits in a 10" mini rack, with an enclosure (not final version) from DeskPi. Testing it next week!

02/25/2026

Exciting update for our Exaviz community! 🚀

We've just released our Home Assistant PoE Plugin — a custom integration that lets you monitor and control PoE ports right from your Home Assistant dashboard.

What it does (super handy for both Interceptor and Cruiser users):
* See real-time status, power usage per port, connected devices (by MAC and manufacturer), board temps, total power draw, and more.
* Turn PoE ports on/off directly in HA — no extra apps needed.
* Zero-config setup: It auto-detects your board and PoE setup.
* Beautiful dashboard card with dark/light mode support.
* Works in 10 languages!

Interceptor owners: You can install and use it right now! Just add our new Debian packages (from the Exaviz repo), install via HACS, and you're good. (Requires a recent Home Assistant version, like 2024.12+ — container install recommended.)

Cruiser owners: Hang tight — the plugin is ready, but you'll need your board to arrive (shipping starts mid-April after today's launch). Once it does, same easy setup.

This ties everything together beautifully for Frigate NVR setups, smart cameras, or any PoE-powered gear in your home lab/smart home.

Check it out:
* Docs & setup guide: https://exa-pedia.com/docs/home-assistant/
* GitHub repo: https://github.com/exavizco/ha-poe-plugin

Install via HACS today (search "Exaviz") and let us know what you think!

What PoE device are you most excited to monitor/control? Drop a comment below. 😄

02/25/2026

Great news for everyone using our Interceptor board or waiting on their Cruiser board! 🎉

We've launched a new Debian repository that gives you way more freedom with your OS.

No more being stuck with only the images we release! Now you can run a standard Raspberry Pi OS (or any other Debian-based distro you like), install our packages on top, and update everything whenever you want.

Examples that should work great:

* Official Raspberry Pi OS (based on Debian Trixie)
* Plain Debian Trixie
* Ubuntu 25.10 (or similar recent versions)

Interceptor owners: You can jump in and update right now!
Cruiser folks: You'll need to order a board and wait for it to arrive in April!

Head to our docs for setup steps: https://exa-pedia.com

What OS are you planning to try first? Drop a comment! 😊

The Exaviz Encyclopedia - Your extensive guide to Exaviz hardware and software

02/25/2026

We just launched the Cruiser Carrier Board for Raspberry Pi CM5!

It's built for the kind of all-in-one setup people usually cobble together from separate hardware - an NVR, a PoE switch, and a smart home hub all on one board running on a single 48V DC supply.
* 8-port PoE+ built in (power your cameras directly from the board)
* 2.5GbE WAN for fast uplink
* M.2 Key M for NVMe or AI
* 2 SATA connectors for storage
* WiFi 6, Bluetooth, and Zigbee via onboard ESP32-C6 (great for Home Assistant builds)

Matching desktop case and 48V PSU available

Check it out at https://exa-pedia.com/docs/cruiser/ or shop at https://www.exaviz.com/category/cruiser-carrier-board

07/24/2025

Our name has changed, but not our mission!

Send a message to learn more

05/05/2025

🚀 We just released a new update for the Axzez Interceptor Board!

🛠️ Fixes several PoE-related bugs
⚡ Adds per-port power allowance control
✅ No kernel changes—just focused PoE enhancements

Download the latest OS now: https://www.axzez.com/software-downloads

Have questions? Join us in the Axzez Forum or email [email protected].