Built for Raspberry Pi CM5: a carrier board with a built-in switch, 2.5GbE uplink, NVMe and 2x SATA. Cruiser has 8 PoE+ ports, Cruiser Lite 4 PoE+ ports, Cruiser Keel 4 ports without PoE.
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NDAA Section 889 (self-attested)
Board only. CM5 sold separately.
| Compute module | Raspberry Pi CM5 or CM5 Lite (sold separately) |
|---|---|
| Switch | Cruiser: 8x Gigabit PoE+. Cruiser Lite: 4x Gigabit PoE+. Cruiser Keel: 4x Gigabit, no PoE |
| PoE | IEEE 802.3at (PoE+), 802.3af compatible. 120W budget: eight ports at 15W or four at 30W (firmware 1.1.2 or later) |
| Uplink | 2.5GbE WAN port (Realtek RTL8156BG) |
| Storage | M.2 Key-M (PCIe Gen 2 x1, 2230 to 2280), 2x SATA III, microSD |
| RAID | Hardware RAID 0, 1, Span or JBOD (DIP switch), or Linux software RAID |
| Wireless | ESP32-C6: 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) and Bluetooth LE, Zigbee coming soon. External antenna connector; antenna not included |
| Video | 2x HDMI 2.0, up to 4K at 60Hz, independent displays |
| USB | 3x USB 3 (5 Gbps), 4x USB 2.0 (2 stacked, 2 via header) |
| Expansion | 2x Qwiic/STEMMA QT, FFC connector for an Interceptor PoE Board (+8 ports at 10/100 Mbps) |
| Power input | DC barrel jack (5.5/2.1 mm). Cruiser and Cruiser Lite: 48 to 57V. Cruiser Keel: 13 to 57V, 24V or higher recommended, 48V when an Interceptor PoE Board is attached |
| Size | 170 x 120 mm, Mini-ITX compatible with standoff spacers |
| Operating temperature | 0 to 70 °C |
| Software | Raspberry Pi OS, Debian 12 Bookworm or 13 Trixie, Ubuntu 25.10 or 26.04 LTS (arm64) with Exaviz packages from apt.exaviz.com |
| Compliance | See our trade compliance statement for the board’s HTS code, ECCN and self-attested NDAA statements on its own components |
Cruiser puts an 8-port Gigabit PoE+ switch, a 2.5GbE uplink, NVMe and SATA storage, dual 4K HDMI and an ESP32-C6 radio on one 170 x 120 mm board. Power cameras, access points and other PoE devices straight from the board and run your recording software on the same CM5. The 120W PoE budget covers eight ports at 15W or four at 30W (firmware 1.1.2 or later).
Put an NVMe SSD or a Hailo-8 AI accelerator in the M.2 slot. Mirror or stripe two SATA drives with the hardware RAID DIP switch, or use Linux software RAID. Need more ports? An Interceptor PoE Board adds 8 more PoE ports over the onboard FFC connector, for 16 in total on Cruiser (12 on Cruiser Lite). Cruiser Keel takes one too and gains 8 PoE+ ports, with a 48V power supply instead of its usual lower voltage. The Cruiser powers it directly, so no power converter is needed, at 100 Mb/s, which is plenty for most IP cameras. A 16-port setup runs every port at 15W (802.3af), and the 120W budget is enforced across every port the board sees, so talk to us first. There is no stock case for the 16-port setup; if you want one, contact us or see custom boards.
The ESP32-C6 runs 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth LE, with Zigbee support coming soon. Exaviz packages from apt.exaviz.com add full hardware support to Raspberry Pi OS, Debian 12 Bookworm or 13 Trixie, or Ubuntu 25.10 or 26.04 LTS (arm64), so no custom OS image is needed.
| Version | Switch ports | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Cruiser | 8x Gigabit PoE+ | NVR, PoE switch |
| Cruiser Lite | 4x Gigabit PoE+ | Smaller installs |
| Cruiser Keel | 4x Gigabit, no PoE | Non-PoE builds |
All versions include the 2.5GbE WAN port, M.2 NVMe, 2x SATA, USB, dual HDMI, ESP32-C6 and Qwiic connectors.
Switch, recorder storage and compute on one board. Plug cameras into the PoE+ ports, record to SATA or NVMe and run the VMS you choose.
Read the post: The DeskPi 2U Case: A Purpose-Built Home for the Cruiser
Put a Hailo-8 accelerator in the M.2 slot and run detection next to the cameras, on a Raspberry Pi CM5, without sending video off site.
A PoE+ switch, 2.5GbE uplink and mirrored storage in one mini-rack slot, powered from a single 48V supply.
Read the post: The Cruiser and the Mini Rack: One Board to Run It All
Exaviz Management is coming soon, free with Cruiser. You'll be able to turn PoE ports on and off, group ports, pair boards into one fleet view and see how full storage is, with config drift alerts and an audit log of changes. It will run on your local network over HTTPS with no account and no cloud. Running Home Assistant or your own recorder? Keep it. Exaviz Management will manage the board, not your video: it won't record, store or stream video.
Exaviz Management won't collect any information about you or your network.
Coming soon. Want to hear when it's ready? Sign up for announcements.
Our free, open-source Home Assistant plugin puts every Cruiser PoE port in Home Assistant, ready for your dashboard. See live power draw per port, which ports have a device plugged in and powered, and the MAC address of what is connected, plus its maker when available. Switch ports on or off, or power-cycle a stuck camera or access point with one tap, and track processor temperature and total power draw next to the rest of your smart home. Install it from HACS (search for Exaviz) with Home Assistant running on the Cruiser itself. It needs the free Exaviz software packages on the board, then detects the Cruiser and its ports automatically, with no hardware settings to enter. Coming soon: Zigbee through Cruiser's built-in ESP32 radio, right in the plugin.
Steel desktop and mini-rack case for Cruiser, with room for two drives, two fans and a front USB port.
288W, 48V supply. The recommended choice for a full Cruiser using its whole 120W PoE budget.
192W, 48V supply for Cruiser Lite, or a full Cruiser running devices in 802.3af mode.
