Project N.O.M.A.D. is a Raspberry Pi-based offline server that hosts maps, Wikipedia dumps, medical references, and survival PDFs on a local Wi-Fi network — no internet required once the content is loaded.
Written by Mike, a union electrical lineman with 21+ years on the job and mutual aid deployments after Sandy, California wildfires, Texas winter storms, and Gulf Coast hurricanes.
A Raspberry Pi 4 with 8GB RAM can serve gigabytes of offline reference material to multiple devices simultaneously on a local network. — Raspberry Pi Foundation hardware specifications
Project N.O.M.A.D. (Network Offline Media Access Device) is a Raspberry Pi offline server that hosts maps, Wikipedia, medical references, and survival documents on a local network — useful when cell towers and internet are down.
A Raspberry Pi 4 with 4–8GB RAM is the practical minimum for serving large ZIM files and multiple connected devices. Pair it with a high-endurance microSD card or USB SSD for storage reliability.
Yes — once content is loaded, the server runs entirely offline. You only need internet temporarily to download Kiwix ZIM files, maps, and PDFs during initial setup and periodic content updates.
Budget 128GB minimum on a USB SSD — English Wikipedia alone is roughly 90GB compressed via Kiwix, plus 10–30GB for regional offline maps and PDFs. A 256GB SSD gives room to grow without re-flashing the Pi every time you add a medical or field manual library.