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Network Architecture & Resilience

Case Study

Resilient Enterprise Network Architecture

A network analysis and redesign for a multi-site enterprise planning aggressive growth — replacing single points of failure with a highly available, segmented, SD-WAN backbone engineered for real-time traffic.

Role
Network consultant (engagement deliverable)
Timeframe
2025
Stack & Standards
OSI model analysis · SD-WAN · High-availability firewalls · Network segmentation

The Challenge

Where things stood

A multi-site energy company was preparing for a 50% increase in headcount and two new regional offices within two years. Its existing network carried a single point of failure at the primary office and across the inter-office WAN link, ran one site with no direct firewall protection, and had bandwidth bottlenecks that degraded VoIP, video conferencing, and SQL database access.

Single points of failure at the primary office and on the inter-office WAN link.

One regional site exposed with no direct firewall protection.

Bandwidth bottlenecks degrading latency-sensitive VoIP and video traffic.

No clear path to scale the architecture for a two-year growth plan.

The Approach

From analysis to a delivered solution

01

Mapped the current state to the OSI model

Decomposed applications and hardware layer-by-layer to locate exactly where failures, security gaps, and bottlenecks originated.

02

Isolated every single point of failure

Modeled the blast radius of a WAN-link or device outage at each site to prioritize the highest-impact fixes first.

03

Designed an HA, segmented SD-WAN backbone

Dual high-availability firewalls at every office removed security SPOFs; an application-aware SD-WAN backbone delivered QoS for real-time traffic.

04

Instrumented for continuous defense

Added a SIEM tier for continuous threat detection and specified failover behavior with measurable recovery targets.

The Outcome

What it delivered

<30s

Near-instantaneous failover

0

Security single points of failure

+50%

Headcount growth supported

QoS

Guaranteed for VoIP & video

Dual-firewall high-availability design at every site.

Application-aware SD-WAN backbone with prioritized real-time traffic.

SIEM-based continuous threat detection.

Growth-ready, segmented architecture for two new regional offices.

Stack & Standards

OSI model analysisSD-WANHigh-availability firewallsNetwork segmentationQoSSIEMVoIP / Video / SQL

Anonymized engagement deliverable. Organization details generalized; architecture and analysis are my own work.

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