Briefing

Simple on the surface. Engineered underneath.

Reference architectures our solution architects use as starting points for critical applications. Explore the layers, or break something and watch it recover.

These are vendor-neutral starting points, not a client's environment. Every design is tailored, and if a simpler one does the job, we'll say so.

Multi-cloud, always on

A revenue-critical platform built to survive a zone failure, a region failure and a cloud-provider outage.

Explore a layer
Simulate a failure
Multi-cloud reference architectureUsers reach a global traffic manager that routes to two active regions in Cloud A and a warm standby region in Cloud B. Each region has a load balancer, application servers in two zones and a database, with replication between regions. Security and operations layers span everything.Customers and partnersGlobal traffic manager, WAF and DDoS protectionHealth-checked DNS and anycast edge, independent of both cloudsRegional load balancer + WAFZone 1App + APIZone 2App + APIDatabase primaryzone-redundant, synchronousImmutable backupsCloud A, region 1ActiveRegional load balancer + WAFZone 1App + APIZone 2App + APIDatabase replicaasync, promotableImmutable backupsCloud A, region 2ActiveRegional load balancer + WAFZone 1scaled downZone 2scaled downStandby replicaasync copyImmutable backupsCloud BWarm standbyasyncasyncSecurity and governanceZero Trust identity, policy as code, customer-managed keys, SIEM with a 24/7 SOCOperationsObservability, FinOps governance, SLA and OLA scorecards, quarterly DR drillsDownDownDown

Swipe sideways to see the whole diagram.

How much resilience do you need?

More isn't always better. Each step up adds cost and complexity, and most applications don't need the last row. We'll tell you which one fits.

PatternSurvivesTypical recovery targetsRelative costFits when
Single region, multiple zonesA zone failureRegion loss means restoring from backup, typically hours$Internal and non-critical apps
Two regions, active-passiveZone and region failuresRecovery under an hour; under 15 minutes of data at risk$$Most business-critical apps
Two regions, active-activeZone and region failures, with no planned downtimeRecovery under 15 minutes; under 5 minutes of data at risk$$$Revenue-critical, customer-facing apps
Add a second cloud on warm standbyAll of the above, plus a cloud-provider outageRecovery in 1 to 2 hours from a provider outage$$$$Regulated services that must never go fully dark

Typical design targets. Real numbers depend on the application, data volumes and how often recovery is tested.

More reference designs

The same discipline applied to ERP, security and networks.

SAP S/4HANA with high availability and DR

For ERP that can't stop at month-end close.

  • SAP HANA system replication, synchronous across zones in the primary region
  • Clustered SAP central services (ASCS and ERS), so one server failure doesn't stop SAP
  • Asynchronous replication to a second region for disaster recovery
  • Immutable backups and a recovery runbook tested twice a year

Survives: a server or zone failure with near-zero data loss, and a region failure with recovery proven in DR tests.

Zero Trust access for a hybrid workforce

For people working anywhere, on any device, without a VPN bottleneck.

  • Phishing-resistant MFA and conditional access
  • Device compliance checks before any app opens
  • SASE with zero-trust network access replacing the VPN
  • EDR and identity threat detection feeding a SIEM with a 24/7 SOC
  • Least-privilege, just-in-time admin access

Survives: a stolen password, a lost laptop or a compromised account, without letting an attacker move sideways.

Multi-site network with cloud on-ramps

For dozens of sites that all depend on cloud apps and voice.

  • Dual-carrier SD-WAN at every site: fiber plus 5G backup
  • A security service edge so every site gets the same protection
  • Private connections into AWS, Azure and Google Cloud
  • One monitoring view across carriers, with an OLA per carrier

Survives: a carrier outage or a cut fiber line, with the cause traced to the right carrier.

Want your design pressure-tested?

Bring your current architecture to a free discovery call. We'll tell you where it's strong and where it would break. General inquiries: [email protected]