Our self-hosted AI deployment for Denver follows a methodology that addresses hardware selection, model optimization, security configuration, and operational sustainability. Phase 1 — Requirements and Assessment (2-3 weeks): defining what you need: security and compliance requirements (documenting: the specific security, regulatory, and: compliance requirements that: drive: self-hosting — for ITAR: identifying: the specific technical data categories, access control requirements, and: facility clearance levels — for cannabis: identifying: the data types requiring: sovereignty and: the regulatory framework governing: data handling — for energy: NERC CIP requirements, real-time latency requirements, and: availability targets — for government: security classification, FedRAMP authorization boundary, and: FISMA requirements), workload characterization (understanding: the AI workloads that: will run on: the self-hosted infrastructure — model sizes (7B, 13B, 70B+ parameters), inference volume (queries per minute/hour/day), latency requirements (sub-second for: real-time operations, seconds acceptable for: document analysis), batch processing needs (overnight model training, bulk document processing), and: concurrency (how many: simultaneous users or: automated processes will: access the AI system)), existing infrastructure assessment (evaluating: the organization's current on-premises infrastructure — server capacity, GPU availability, network architecture, storage systems, cooling capacity, and: power availability — identifying: what can be: reused vs. what must be: procured — for many Denver aerospace companies: existing classified computing infrastructure can: host AI workloads with: GPU upgrades rather than: requiring: entirely new infrastructure), and model selection (selecting: the AI models appropriate for: each workload — for general-purpose language AI: Llama 3, Mistral, or: similar open-source models that: can be: deployed without: vendor API dependencies — for specialized tasks: domain-specific models or: fine-tuned versions of: open-source models — for real-time operations: smaller, faster models optimized for: inference speed — the model selection balances: capability (larger models are: generally more capable) with: infrastructure requirements (larger models require: more GPU memory and: compute)))). Phase 2 — Infrastructure Design (2-3 weeks): designing the deployment: hardware specification (specifying: the GPU servers, networking, storage, and: supporting infrastructure for: the AI deployment — for typical Denver deployments: NVIDIA A100 or: H100 GPUs for: large model inference, NVMe storage for: model weights and: vector databases, high-bandwidth networking for: multi-GPU inference, and: adequate cooling for: GPU thermal loads — sizing: based on: the workload characterization from: Phase 1), network architecture (designing: the network configuration that: meets: security requirements — for ITAR: isolated network segment with: no path to: the internet, access controlled by: physical and: logical controls — for energy SCADA: integration with: the existing OT (operational technology) network following: NERC CIP segmentation requirements — for government classified: network configuration meeting: the applicable security classification requirements — for cannabis: private network or: VPN connecting: dispensary locations to: the central AI server without: internet exposure of: data), high availability (designing: redundancy for: AI systems that: must be: continuously available — for energy grid AI: redundant GPU servers with: automatic failover, UPS and: generator backup, and: degraded-mode operation (simpler models on: CPU) if: GPU hardware fails — for aerospace production: redundant systems ensuring: manufacturing AI is: available during: all production shifts), and model deployment architecture (containerized model serving (using: vLLM, TGI, or: similar high-performance inference servers), model versioning and: rollback capability, A/B testing infrastructure for: model updates, and: monitoring for: model performance and: resource utilization)). Phase 3 — Deployment and Configuration (3-6 weeks): installing and configuring the system: hardware installation (physically installing: GPU servers, configuring: networking, connecting: storage, and: verifying: cooling and: power capacity — for some Denver aerospace facilities: this involves: working within: classified facility construction and: TEMPEST requirements — for energy edge deployments: installing: ruggedized hardware in: substation environments with: temperature extremes and: electrical interference), model deployment (installing: and: configuring: the AI models on: the self-hosted infrastructure — model weight loading, inference server configuration, performance tuning (batch size, quantization level, context length), and: benchmarking (measuring: actual inference speed and: throughput on: the deployed hardware to: verify: that performance meets: requirements)), security configuration (configuring: the security controls appropriate for: the deployment — access controls (who: can query the AI, who: can update models, who: can access logs), encryption (data at rest and: in transit, even within: the secure network), audit logging (every query, every response, every model update logged: for compliance and: security review), and: vulnerability management (patching: the AI serving software, GPU drivers, and: operating system without: internet access — maintaining: an offline patch management process)), and integration (connecting: the self-hosted AI to: the organization's applications and: workflows — for aerospace: integrating with: PLM (Product Lifecycle Management), MES (Manufacturing Execution System), and: quality management systems — for cannabis: integrating with: POS, inventory management, and: Metrc reporting — for energy: integrating with: SCADA, EMS (Energy Management System), and: trading platforms — for government: integrating with: document management, case management, and: workflow systems)). Phase 4 — Operations and Optimization (ongoing): running the system long-term: model updates (updating: AI models as: better open-source models become: available — Llama and: Mistral release: improved models regularly — each: update requires: testing (verifying: that the new model performs: at least as: well on: domain-specific tasks), security review (ensuring: the new model does not: introduce: vulnerabilities), and: staged deployment (rolling: updates through: test, staging, and: production environments)), performance monitoring (tracking: inference latency, throughput, GPU utilization, and: model accuracy over: time — identifying: performance degradation that: might indicate: hardware issues, model drift, or: capacity constraints — for real-time energy systems: sub-millisecond monitoring of: inference latency with: alerting when: latency exceeds: acceptable thresholds), capacity planning (as: usage grows: planning: hardware expansion — adding: GPU servers, increasing: storage, or: upgrading: networking — based on: usage trends and: projected growth — for seasonal workloads (energy trading peaks in: summer and: winter, cannabis sales peak around: holidays): ensuring: capacity for: peak demand without: over-provisioning for: average load), and SB 24-205 compliance maintenance (maintaining: the logging, transparency, and: audit capabilities required by: SB 24-205 — self-hosted deployment gives: you complete control over: compliance infrastructure — but: you are: also completely responsible for: maintaining: it — regular compliance reviews, audit trail verification, and: documentation updates ensure: ongoing compliance)).