🎓 Education

Secure, Reliable, Future-Proof Infrastructure for K-12 & Higher-Ed

Schools and universities run on uptime, safety, and equity of access.
SolveForce designs education networks, security, cloud, and data platforms that are Zero-Trust by default, classroom-ready, and auditable—so instruction, research, testing, and student services run smoothly and prove compliance.

Connective tissue:
🛡️ Security → /cybersecurity • 🧠 AI → /solveforce-ai
🖧 Fabric → /networks-and-data-centers • 🌐 Access → /connectivity
☁️ Cloud → /cloud • 🔀 SD-WAN → /sd-wan • 🚪 NAC → /nac • 🔐 ZTNA → /ztna • 🛡️ SASE → /sase
💾 Continuity → /cloud-backup • /backup-immutability • /draas
🧮 Data → /data-warehouse • /etl-elt • /vector-databases

🎯 Outcomes (Why SolveForce for Education)

  • Instruction first — classroom Wi-Fi, LMS, SIS, video, and testing with measurable SLOs.
  • Student safety — Zero-Trust controls, content filtering, and device posture without breaking learning.
  • Equity & reach — resilient WAN, mobile/back-up paths, and distance-learning ready architectures.
  • Provable compliance — FERPA, CIPA, COPPA, GLBA (financial aid), HIPAA (clinic/health), NIST 800-171 (CUI in research).
  • Operate with evidence — dashboards, alerts, and audit packs via SIEM/SOAR.

🧭 Who We Serve

  • K-12 districts & schools (classroom, testing, student devices, safety)
  • Higher-education (campus networks, residence halls, research/academics, HPC/AI)

🧱 Core Capabilities (Spelled Out)

  • Campus & District Fabric — LAN/CAN/MAN, Wi-Fi 6/6E/7, Anycast gateways, DCI for multi-site; SD-WAN for app-aware routing. → /lan • /man • /wan • /sd-wan
  • Secure Access — 802.1X/NAC with device posture; role-based segmentation; ZTNA for faculty/staff/vendors; SASE for web/SaaS controls. → /nac • /ztna • /sase
  • Content & Safety — DNS/SWG filtering (CIPA), DLP for sensitive records, WAF/Bot for portals, DDoS stance. → /dlp • /waf • /ddos
  • Cloud & On-Ramps — private interconnects to cloud LMS/analytics; policy-as-code; key custody in HSM/KMS. → /direct-connect • /key-management
  • Data & AI — SIS/LMS/HR/finance pipelines → warehouse; privacy-preserving analytics; vector search with “cite-or-refuse.” → /etl-elt • /data-warehouse • /vector-databases
  • Continuity — immutable backups, DRaaS runbooks, and quarterly drills with artifacts. → /cloud-backup • /backup-immutability • /draas

🧩 Use-Case Patterns (Pick Your Fit)

A) K-12 Zero-Trust District

  • 802.1X/NAC on every port; student/teacher/IoT/guest segmented; SASE content filtering & DNS control (CIPA); ZTNA for staff apps; SD-WAN for dual-path school WAN.

B) Higher-Ed Campus & Research

  • High-density Wi-Fi; federated campus Wi-Fi (identity-based) and guest onboarding; research DCI over wavelength/lit fiber; microseg enclaves for labs handling CUI/PHI. → /wavelength • /microsegmentation

C) Residence Halls & Large Venues

  • Multigig access with PoE, per-resident bandwidth fairness, captive portal + 802.1X for devices; IoT isolation.

D) Distance Learning & Hybrid Classrooms

E) Student Information & Records (FERPA)

  • Access-by-role (registrar, counseling, financial aid); DLP tokenization; immutable audit; key custody in HSM/KMS. → /dlp • /key-management

📐 SLO Guardrails (Education Workloads)

Service / KPI (p95 unless noted)Target (Recommended)
Wi-Fi assoc + DHCP (classroom)≤ 2–4 s
Roam time (same SSID)≤ 50–150 ms (voice/video safe)
LMS page load (in-region)≤ 1.5–3.0 s
Video class start → first frame≤ 2–4 s
District WAN availability (dual-path)≥ 99.95%
ZTNA attach (faculty/staff)≤ 1–3 s
Content filter added latency≤ 5–20 ms at edge
Evidence completeness (audits/IR)= 100%

SLO breaches open tickets and trigger SOAR actions (reroute, scale, rollback). → /siem-soar

🔒 Compliance & Safety

  • FERPA — access control, audit logs, least privilege for student records.
  • CIPA/COPPA — DNS/SWG filtering, safe search, age-appropriate policies; parent/guardian controls.
  • GLBA (financial aid) • HIPAA (student health/clinics) • NIST 800-171 (research CUI).
  • Zero-Trust across users/devices/workloads: SSO/MFA, MDM/UEM + EDR posture, ZTNA; vault-managed secrets and HSM keys. → /iam • /mdm • /mdr-xdr • /secrets-management

🛠️ Architecture Building Blocks

  • Fabric — EVPN/VXLAN leaf/spine; QoS lanes; Anycast gateways; OOB management network. → /networks-and-data-centers
  • Uplinks & DCI — lit/wavelength/dark fiber with MACsec/L1 encryption; SD-WAN over DIA/MPLS/LTE/5G. → /lit-fiber • /dark-fiber
  • Testing seasons — capacity headroom, content whitelist caching, synthetic SLO monitors, change freezes.
  • Labs & Makerspaces — IoT/OT isolation, device profiling, microseg; NAC with restricted policies.

📊 Observability & Evidence

  • SLO boards for Wi-Fi, LMS, video, WAN; NAC decisions, ZTNA attaches, WAF/DLP hits; backup/DR artifacts.
  • Monthly executive & board reports; auditor-ready exports with WORM options. → /siem-soar

🛠️ Implementation Blueprint (No-Surprise Rollout)

1) Protect surface — SIS/LMS/HR/finance, portals, labs, testing tools; data classes & tags.
2) Identity & posture — SSO/MFA groups; device certs; MDM/UEM + EDR baselines; PAM for admins. → /iam • /mdm • /mdr-xdr • /pam
3) Access edge — NAC 802.1X on wired/Wi-Fi; guest & contractor isolation; dynamic ACL/SGT. → /nac
4) Per-app access — ZTNA/SASE; retire broad user VPNs; SD-WAN policy by app SLOs. → /ztna • /sase • /sd-wan
5) Cloud & on-ramps — regional hubs; private interconnects; policy-as-code; BGP communities. → /direct-connect
6) Data & AI — ETL/ELT → warehouse; vector DB with citations; privacy-preserving analytics. → /etl-elt • /data-warehouse • /vector-databases
7) Continuity — immutable backups; DR tiers; test-restore cadence; clean-point catalog. → /backup-immutability • /draas
8) Evidence — SIEM dashboards; SOAR playbooks; quarterly posture & safety reviews. → /siem-soar

✅ Pre-Engagement Checklist

  • 🧩 In-scope systems (SIS/LMS/HR/finance/portals/testing).
  • 🔐 Identity posture (SSO/MFA); device posture (MDM/UEM + EDR); vendor access model.
  • 🧭 Network map (NAC, SD-WAN, DCI, on-ramps); BGP policy.
  • 🧒 CIPA/COPPA controls; content/DNS filtering footprint.
  • 💾 Backup/DR tiers; Object-Lock scope; drill cadence.
  • 🧮 Data flows: ETL/ELT, warehouse, analytics, vector search; lineage/citations.
  • 📊 SIEM/SOAR destinations; SLO targets; audit/report cadence; safety committee stakeholders.

🔄 Where Education Fits (Recursive View)

1) Grammar — learning traffic rides /connectivity & /networks-and-data-centers.
2) Syntax — delivered via /cloud, campus WAN, and secure edges.
3) Semantics — /cybersecurity preserves truth; keys/logs/backups prove control.
4) Pragmatics — /solveforce-ai predicts load/safety risks and suggests safe changes.
5) Foundation — coherent terms via /primacy-of-language.
6) Map — indexed in the /solveforce-codex & /knowledge-hub.

📞 Modernize Education Infrastructure—Securely, Equitably, and with Proof