High availability and resilience are crucial for companies relying on technology in today’s digital era. Network disruptions and downtime can lead to financial losses and harm a company’s reputation. We will discuss a theoretical project for a software firm with a web-based ERP system, showing how multihoming and a specialized core can improve network resilience.
Summary of key points
Our made-up organization runs 20 bare metal physical servers and 100 virtual machines in a data center. It is essential for the network to be resilient and designed to withstand possible failures. Even well-designed networks with redundancy can experience disruptions. To enhance resilience and reliability, we suggest implementing key improvements.
Proposals for Enhancements and Benefits
- Centralizing bare metal servers increases operational efficiency by consolidating all client servers into one rack. This simplifies maintenance, enhances resource management, offers better control over the IT environment, and facilitates connectivity with the new dedicated core.
- Creating a customer-dedicated network core with two stack switches enhances customer infrastructure independence and minimizes the risk of network failures and interruptions. The stack configuration ensures continuous network operation, even in the event of a switch failure.
- The dedicated core will be linked to the ISP partner connection through port aggregation (LACP), enabling the ISP link to stay operational in case one of the switches malfunctions. This setup ensures redundancy for internet output, guaranteeing continued service availability during main connection failures.
- Using two VMs with NGINX and VRRP as an internal load balancer distributes ERP traffic across servers, ensuring high availability and improved application performance, which is crucial for infrastructure resilience.
- Cloudflare integration ensures uninterrupted access to the application by automatically redirecting traffic to the partner ISP link in case of unavailability on the primary link.
Summary
Implementing multihoming and a specialized network core are crucial tactics for guaranteeing network resilience and availability. This project proposal showcases a hands-on method for enhancing the strength of IT systems by applying diverse methods and technologies to reduce the effects of potential failures.
Machines and networks, like the human body, can experience occasional failures. By carefully planning and designing network architecture, we can reduce the frequency and impact of these failures. Resilience involves more than just backups and redundancy; it also includes proactive strategies to ensure service continuity in the face of unexpected challenges.
This hypothetical project mirrors real-life scenarios encountered regularly. Numerous customers are already experiencing the advantages of comparable resilience solutions, demonstrating the efficacy of this approach in operational settings.
If you see yourself in this situation and think your business could gain from a comparable network setup, check out our Managed Hosting and Managed Resiliency services. Our team of specialists is prepared to assist you in deploying tailored solutions to meet your unique requirements. Join our contented customer community and enhance the resilience of your network.
