Quality Assurance
Engineered with care and tested for performance, the Vault is built for endless solutions.
Overview
Vaults are mini-PCs engineered to be versatile, reliable platforms that support endless solutions. From home labs to complex, security-focused business deployments, Vaults support a wide range of applications.
Every Protectli Vault is engineered with precision and care to meet our strict standards of reliability, compatibility, and security.
From design drafts and component selection to final assembly and testing, quality assurance is at the core of everything we do. Whether you’re securing your network, powering infrastructure, or hosting local services, Vaults are a reliable platform built to support endless solutions.
Our Journey
Vaults are designed and built by our teams across the US, Germany, and Canada. We produce fully custom designs, with thorough validation and quality checks at every stage.
We collaborate with trusted contract manufacturers to produce hardware to our strict specifications, following intensive design and testing cycles before final production. Our close partnerships give us full control over form, fit, and function. From strict specifications and board layout to chassis design. Consistency in production is key, and we continually incorporate field data to refine future designs you can rely on.
From our global offices, we complete the final assembly, firmware flashing, custom configurations, and full burn-in testing before shipping out Vaults to you.
Vaults support coreboot, an open-source firmware alternative developed and maintained in-house in collaboration with 3mdeb. We take pride in investing in software designed for security-focused users who value transparency and full system control.
Protectli Canada
📍 1127 15th Street W,
North Vancouver, BC V7P 1M7,
Canada
Protectli USA (HQ)
📍 1315 Hot Spring Way #107,
Vista, CA 92081,
USA
Protectli Europe
📍Margarete-Steiff-Str. 13 Unit A1-A2
Rossdorf,
Germany
Hardware Testing
Protectli has developed 3 variations of coreboot with Vault-specific feature sets to protect your systems.
1. DESIGN
- Every Vault is designed in-house in collaboration with our trusted manufacturers with specifications we define based on our customers’ needs
- CPU, NIC layout, I/O ports, and board components are all carefully selected based on customer feedback and use cases
- Prototypes undergo extended stress testing, voltage analysis, and performance benchmarking before production
- During design validation, features may be added or removed, and iterations are made until the device is stable under 24/7 real-world conditions
2. BUILD
- BIOS development: through our partnership with 3mdeb on coreboot, or in collaboration with our Contract Manufacturer (CM)
- Our 3 global teams across the US, Germany, and Canada assemble Vaults to our specifications and to custom configurations
- Vaults are assembled in anti-static environments with appropriate safety protocols
- We install fully-qualified and tested RAM, SSDs, Wi-Fi/Bluetooth modules, and peripherals
3. TEST
- Every Vault purchased directly from Protectli goes through the same QA process which includes using inhouse developed Linux-based tools and test scripts to verify:
- CPU thermal and performance behavior under max load
- RAM integrity checks
- SSD health via read/write benchmarking
- HDMI/DP output verification
- Ethernet NIC functionality (full-duplex, full-speed, all ports)
- Voltage and signal stability across key motherboard headers
- Each Vault is then updated before getting shipped to you:
- Flashed with either AMI or coreboot firmware (latest stable version)
- Optionally installed with a verified OS image via SHA256-validated installers
- Configured for “plug-and-play” boot, eliminating first-boot confusion for customers
- OS options available via our product configurator are all pre-qualified and tested for compatibility
coreboot
- Protectli offers coreboot as a secure, purpose-built, open-source firmware alternative to traditional AMI BIOS/UEFI.
- We partner with 3mdeb, the team behind Dasharo, to optimize coreboot specifically for Vaults. This delivers reliable performance, ongoing security updates, and compatibility with a wide range of operating systems for our hardware.
- Community-driven and designed for efficiency, coreboot focuses on a customizable and minimalist codebase that reduces the attack surface. For users who prioritize control, transparency, and security, coreboot is a trusted choice for your platform.
- We regularly roll out coreboot updates to bring new features and support the needs of our community. You can learn more about the work that goes into it on our coreboot Knowledge Base article.
Software Qualification
Why do we test?
We test a wide variety of open source and proprietary operating systems across applications including firewalls, virtualization, and workstations on our Vaults. Here are some examples:
- Firmware: AMI, coreboot
- Firewall OS: OPNsense®
- Hypervisors: Proxmox, ESXi, XCP-ng
- Workstations: Ubuntu, Debian, various other Linux operating systems, Windows
- Other OSs: Find out more in our Knowledge Base Software List
What do we test?
OS compatibility is critical to make sure your Vault performs efficiently and is reliably stable, especially for open-source platforms where drivers and hardware support vary.
We validate that each OS boots, installs, and operates as expected on both AMI and coreboot firmware as we provide the choice of both as pre-installed BIOS options.
How do we test?
OS compatibility testing is tailored to each Vault and use case. Common tests in this process include the following:
- Multiple popular Operating Systems are installed on all current Vault platforms using both AMI and coreboot firmware options
- Install is verified across multiple storage mediums (NVMe, SATA, eMMC, etc)
- Serial output validated for applicable operating systems
- Verifying manual OS updates are successful if available
- Testing and verifying compatibility with Protectli-offered components like WiFi cards and modems
- Devices run continuously under load for days or weeks to expose hidden issues, including stability tests:
- For firewall configurations: NIC traffic stress tests and VPN throughput validation
- For workstation configurations: driver/firmware verification for all internal components and iGPU, full stress benchmarking with s-tui, Prime95, and PassMark
- For hypervisor configurations: VM creation, PCI passthrough, and stability testing when running multiple VMs at a time
- Ensure CPU temperatures are maintained at a reasonable level during normal use cases
- Each OS is installed on all current Vault platforms using both firmware options (AMI and coreboot)
- Install verified across multiple storage mediums
- Stability tests over days or weeks under load:
- For firewalls: NIC traffic stress tests, VPN throughput retesting
- For workstations: GUI driver verification for all internal components and GPU, full stress benchmarking (s-tui, Prime95, PassMark)
- For hypervisors: VMs created, PCI passthrough attempted, stability tested
- Serial output is validated for OSs that use it
- Devices run continuously under load to expose hidden issues
Support and Resources
Customer Support
We’re with you every step of the way, offering expert support and quick answers, just a call or email away.
Knowledge Base
Our Knowledge Base website is an extensive library of technical articles and tutorials.
Partnerships
Unlock opportunities to scale with tailored support and benefits for Protectli partners.
FAQs
We test a wide range of popular operating systems including OPNsense, pfSense®, Proxmox, and Windows. Some OS options are available for pre-installation, while others have been tested and validated to be run reliably by the user.
Please see our Knowledge Base for the most up-to-date compatibility list.
All Vaults ship with your choice of AMI BIOS or coreboot firmware, and we flash the latest version before shipping. coreboot is an open-source firmware option optimized by Protectli specifically for Vaults, offering greater security, transparency, and control. For most users, this is the ideal firmware for getting the most out of their Vault!
Vaults go through a detailed inspection, component verification, and stress testing process. We check everything from CPU performance to SSD health and NIC throughput. Vaults with pre-installed OSs are also tested for proper boot and stability.
Vaults are designed by Protectli in the US and manufactured to our specifications by our trusted partners in China. Final assembly and testing for every Vault purchased directly from Protectli are handled in our US, Germany, and Canada offices. This process allows us to control and test the quality of our Vaults at every stage before shipping to your hands.
All Vaults come with a standard 2-year warranty covering hardware defects. Extended warranties are also optionally available for that extra peace of mind. If a Vault fails under normal use, then we’ll repair or replace it. We stand behind the reliability of our hardware.
All defects are thoroughly investigated and resolved. We address issues through manual inspection and fixes, which may include part replacement, repairs, or firmware updates.
In cases of critical or systemic issues, we may halt distribution entirely, as we prioritize the quality of our Vaults.
Built for Endless Solutions
Whether it’s optimizing PCIe lane distribution, validating accessory compatibility, or making layout decisions based on real deployment scenarios, the result is a compact, efficient, and reliable platform that adapts to your environment and meets your needs.
We test extensively with common operating systems and workloads to simulate real-world conditions, going beyond simple boot checks to validate real-world stability under VPN throughput, IDS/IPS performance, and advanced routing.
Network
Security
Firewalls, VPN gateways, intrusion detection and prevention.
Virtualization
Hypervisors, virtual test environments.
Hosting Locally
Homelabs, media servers, DNS, self-hosted applications.
Network Infrastructure
Routers, switches, network controllers.
Select Your Vault
A variety of designs and configurations depending on your needs: Up to 6 Ports, 10GbE NICs, 96GB RAM, and more.
2 Port Vaults
Small but mighty: Best for home users with few network connections.
Intel Dual / Quad-Core
Up to 2.5GbE NICs
Up to 48GB RAM
M.2 NVMe
– coreboot supported –
Starts at $149
4 Port Vaults
More ways to customize: Ideal for small teams & companies.
Intel Quad-Core
Up to 2.5GbE NICs
Up to 64GB RAM
M.2 NVMe / 2.5″ SSD
– coreboot supported –
Starts at $209
6 Port Vaults
More ports, more power: Use in medium to large teams/companies.
Intel Celeron / i3 / i5 / i7
Up to 10GbE SFP+ NICs
Up to 96GB RAM
M.2 NVMe / 2.5″ SSD
– coreboot supported –
Starts at $239