🧱 Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): Compute, Storage, Network — Landed Fast, Secured by Default, Proven Daily

IaaS gives you elastic compute, storage, and networking without buying hardware.
SolveForce delivers IaaS as a complete operating system for your business—public cloud, Virtual Data Centers (VDCs), and Private Cloud—with Zero-Trust access, policy-as-code guardrails, and evidence pipelines so the binder matches the build every single day.

Related foundations
• Cloud → /cloud • VDC → /virtual-data-centers • Private Cloud → /private-cloud
• Networking → /direct-connect/sd-wan • Fabric/DC → /networks-and-data-centers
• Security → /ztna/waf • Keys/Secrets → /key-management/secrets-management
• Data → /san/backup-immutability • DR → /draas
• Ops & Evidence → /siem-soar • Spend → /finops • Governance → /grc


🎯 Outcomes We Optimize

  • Speed with safety — new environments in minutes with guardrails (deny-public, CMEK-required, tags enforced) and drift watchers in prod.
  • Predictable performance — right family + right storage + right network = stable latency and throughput.
  • Zero-Trust by default — ZTNA for consoles/SSH/RDP, workload identity (no long-lived keys), WAF/API signing at the edges.
  • Evidence on demand — every config, change, approval, test, and drill flows to /siem-soar.
  • Cost that behaves — budgets, anomaly tickets, commitments (RIs/SPs/CUDs), and unit economics ($/env, $/1k req, $/TB scanned).

🧭 Reference Architecture (public cloud + VDC + private cloud)

Landing Zone & Guardrails

  • Organizations/tenants, accounts/subscriptions/projects; org policies (deny-public storage, CMEK-required, mandatory tags, region controls); log sinks.
    /cloud

Network & On-Ramps

  • VPC/VNet with hub-and-spoke or vWAN/Transit; Private Endpoints/Private Service Connect; Direct Connect/ExpressRoute/Interconnect for deterministic paths; SD-WAN breakouts.
    /direct-connect/sd-wan

Compute

  • VMs (general purpose, compute-optimized, memory-optimized), bare metal & GPU, autoscaling groups, images with SBOM/signing.
    /bare-metal-gpu

Storage

  • Block (ssd/hdd tiers), file/NAS, object for archives/analytics; snapshots, replication, NVMe-oF where needed.
    /san

Security & Access

  • SSO/MFA federation, PIM/JIT admin, workload identity (OIDC/IRSA) (no static keys), ZTNA to private consoles, WAF/Bot at public edges; keys in HSM/KMS, secrets in vault.
    /ztna/waf/key-management/secrets-management

Observability & Evidence

  • OpenTelemetry traces, logs/metrics, config diffs → SIEM; SOAR runs guarded playbooks (isolate/revoke/rekey/rollback/patch).
    /siem-soar

Continuity

  • Object-Lock/WORM backups, cross-region replicas, DRaaS, runbooks and drills with screenshots & checksums.
    /backup-immutability/draas

📦 IaaS Service Catalog (what we build & run)

1) Landing Zones (per cloud / per VDC / private cloud)

  • Org structure, policies, logging, identity federation, baseline networking & DNS, image/patch pipelines.

2) Compute & Images

  • VM catalogs (GP/CPU/MEM/Storage-optimized), GPU pools (training/inference/render), golden images with SBOM/signatures, CIS/STIG baselines, auto-heal groups.

3) Storage & Data Protection

  • Block (IOPS/throughput profiles), File (SMB/NFS), Object (lifecycle, versioning, retention/lock); snapshots/replicas; application-consistent backups.

4) Network & Security

  • VPC/VNet design, firewalls, Private Endpoints, WAF/API GW, DDoS stance, IPAM; ZTNA for admin/SSH/RDP, workload identity for apps.

5) Automation & Policy

  • Infrastructure-as-Code modules, policy-as-code gates, GitOps for environments; CI checks and drift detection. → /infrastructure-as-code

6) Observability & Runbooks

  • Logs/metrics/traces, SLO dashboards, synthetic tests; SOAR playbooks and on-call runbooks.

7) Continuity & DR

  • Immutability (Object-Lock), clean-point catalogs, DR tiers, quarterly failover drills with artifacts.

8) Compliance & Evidence

  • SOC2/ISO/NIST/HIPAA/PCI/FedRAMP overlays; POA&M tracking; exportable packs. → /grc

9) FinOps

  • Budgets/alerts, commitment strategy (RIs/SPs/CUDs/slots), anomaly tickets, unit economics & forecasts. → /finops

🔢 Quick Planning Tables

A) Compute Families (rule of thumb)

FamilyWhen to useNotes
General PurposeMixed web/app/DBBalanced vCPU/RAM; default fleet
Compute-OptimizedCPU-bound services, API gatewaysHigh clock; good for stateless scale
Memory-OptimizedIn-memory DBs, caches, analyticsCheck NUMA & huge pages
Storage-OptimizedHigh throughput, sequential IOIdeal for backup/media movers
GPUAI/ML/Render/TranscodeConsider MIG/partitioning; pair with NVMe scratch

B) Storage Choices

TypeLatencyWhen to useNotes
Block SSD (gp/io)LowVM disks, DB volumesTune IOPS/throughput; snapshots
File (SMB/NFS)Low-MedShared app storage, profilesWatch metadata perf
ObjectMedBackups, logs, analyticsVersioning + lifecycle + Object-Lock
NVMe-oFVery LowHigh-IOPS, AI/DB scratchFC or TCP; tune MTU/queues

C) Network Patterns

PatternUseNotes
Hub-and-SpokeMany spokes, centralized controlsShared services & inspection
Transit/Cloud WANMulti-region/multi-cloudRoute scale; policy hubs
Private EndpointsSensitive servicesNo public exposure
Anycast EdgesUC/API ingressHealth-gated withdraw

🔐 Security that Sticks (IaaS baseline)

  • Identity-first: SSO/MFA; PIM/JIT for admins; workload identity for apps; no long-lived keys.
  • Boundary: WAF/Bot/DDoS; API signing (JWT/HMAC/JWS); TLS 1.2+ with modern ciphers; email auth (SPF/DKIM/DMARC/BIMI) for tenants & ops.
  • Custody: CMKs in HSM/KMS, envelope encryption; vault secrets; rotation ceremonies recorded.
  • Policy-as-code: deny-public, CMEK-required, tag enforcement, region controls; CI checks + drift watchers.
  • Evidence: logs/configs/approvals/tests → SIEM; SOAR automations with approvals.

📐 SLO Guardrails (IaaS you can measure)

DomainKPI / SLO (p95 unless noted)Target (Recommended)
PolicyPolicy deploy → enforced≤ 60–120 s
IdentityIAM role/perm propagation≤ 60–120 s
ComputeAuto-heal/scale reaction≤ 60–180 s
StorageSnapshot RPO (Tier-1)≤ 15 min (or sync)
NetworkOn-ramp attach (metro→region)≤ 2–5 ms
EdgeWAF added latency≤ 5–20 ms
SecurityZTNA admin attach≤ 1–3 s
BackupsImmutability coverage (Tier-1)= 100%
DRRTO / RPO (Tier-1)≤ 5–60 min / ≤ 0–15 min
EvidenceLogs/artifacts → SIEM≤ 60–120 s
ChangeUnapproved prod changes= 0

Breaches open a case and trigger SOAR (rollback, re-key, reroute, scale, tighten policy), with artifacts attached.


🧪 Acceptance Tests & Artifacts (we keep the receipts)

  • Landing zone — org policy checks (deny-public, CMEK), tag coverage, logging sinks.
  • Network — Private Endpoint reachability, BGP route policy, latency/jitter to regions/edges; Anycast ingress tests.
  • Compute — image integrity (SBOM), auto-heal/scale exercises; kernel/driver posture.
  • Storage — snapshot/restore drills (screenshots & checksums), replica lag, NVMe-oF MTU/queues validated.
  • Security — ZTNA admits, WAF/Bot events, KMS/vault rotations, DMARC/TLS-RPT headers.
  • DR — documented failover/failback timings; clean-point catalog.
    Artifacts stream to /siem-soar and bundle into QBR/audit packs.

💸 IaaS FinOps (cost that behaves)

  • Govern: mandatory tags; budgets & anomaly alerts; policy stops on untagged assets.
  • Commit: RIs/SPs/CUDs/slots sized to utilization; savings scorecards per team/service.
  • Explain: unit economics ($/env, $/service, $/1k req, $/TB scanned, $/question for AI).
  • Optimize: rightsizing, lifecycle & archive, egress guardrails, cache/CDN, schedule-based scale-down.

🧰 Solution Bundles (choose your fit)

  • Foundation Pack — landing zone + identity federation + Private Endpoints + baseline WAF + SIEM/SOAR wiring + budgets.
  • Kubernetes Platform Pack — managed K8s, GitOps, admission policy, signed images/SBOM, autoscale, OTel.
  • Serverless/API Pack — API GW (quotas, schema validation, JWT/HMAC), Functions; idempotency/DLQs; “$/request” budgets.
  • Data & DR Pack — snapshot/replica policy, Object-Lock backups, DR runbooks & drills; warehouse integration.
  • Regulated Enclave Pack — PIM/JIT, HSM keys, no public ingress, Private Endpoints only, immutable logs & backups, assessor artifacts.

🧱 Design Notes & Best Practices

  • Start with guardrails, then compute: policy-as-code catches 80% of future mistakes.
  • Prefer workload identity over static keys; rotate everything else.
  • Keep L2 domains bounded; prefer routed VPC/VNet + Private Endpoints.
  • Use Anycast for UC/API ingress; health-gate withdraws.
  • For AI/ML, plan NVMe scratch + object backends and token/$ budgets.
  • Test restore and failover before shipping—then quarterly.

📝 IaaS Intake (copy-paste & fill)

  • Cloud(s)/VDC/private cloud; regions; on-ramp POPs; diversity needs
  • Workloads (web/app/DB/analytics/AI); SLOs; RTO/RPO targets
  • Compute (families, GPU needs, images/OS) • Storage (block/file/object, IOPS/throughput)
  • Network (VPC/VNet design, Private Endpoints, DNS/IPAM, WAF/API GW)
  • Identity/Security (SSO/MFA, PIM/JIT, ZTNA, KMS/HSM, vault, email auth)
  • Observability (logs/metrics/traces, drift watchers, SIEM destination)
  • Compliance (SOC2/ISO/NIST/HIPAA/PCI/FedRAMP), BAAs/DPAs needed
  • FinOps (budgets, commitments, unit economics), reporting cadence
  • Operations (managed vs co-managed, change windows, escalation matrix)
  • Timeline & budget, success metrics (cost, SLO attainment)

We’ll return a design-to-operate plan with architecture, provider options, SLO-mapped pricing, compliance overlays, and an evidence plan you can reuse in QBRs and audits.
Or jump straight to /customized-quotes.


📞 Launch or Level-Up Your IaaS — Securely, Efficiently, and With Proof

From public cloud to VDC to private cloud, we’ll assemble IaaS that performs, protects, and proves it—with guardrails, runbooks, and receipts.