Elastic On-Prem & Colo — Secure-by-Default, Cost-Smart, and Proven Daily
Private Cloud gives you public-cloud speed with on-prem/colo sovereignty—self-service compute, storage, and networking delivered through APIs, GitOps, and policy-as-code.
SolveForce designs and operates private cloud as a complete operating model—fabric (EVPN/VXLAN), platforms (HCI/OpenStack/Kubernetes), storage (SAN/NVMe-oF), Zero-Trust access, observability & evidence, chargeback/FinOps, and continuity—so the binder matches the build every single day.
Related pages
• Foundations → /private-cloud • Virtual DCs → /virtual-data-centers • DC Fabric → /networks-and-data-centers
• Optical & Interconnect → /wavelength • Cloud on-ramps → /direct-connect • Edge Sites → /edge-data-centers
• Security → /ztna • /waf • Keys/Secrets → /key-management • /secrets-management
• Storage & DR → /san • /backup-immutability • /draas
• Ops & Evidence → /siem-soar • Spend/Gov → /finops • /grc
🎯 Outcomes We Optimize
- Agility without surprise — environments in minutes via IaC/GitOps; guardrails (deny-public, CMEK-required, tags enforced) and drift watchers protect day-2.
- Deterministic performance — EVPN/VXLAN leaf/spine, right storage tiers (NVMe-oF/SSD/HDD), predictable latency for DB/VM/AI/VDI.
- Zero-Trust by default — ZTNA for consoles/SSH/RDP, workload identity (no long-lived keys), WAF/API signing on portals.
- Evidence on demand — configs/changes/approvals/tests/drills stream to /siem-soar for QBRs/audits.
- Cost that behaves — showback/chargeback, capacity boards, reservation plans; unit economics ($/VM, $/vCPU, $/GB, $/GPU-hr).
🧭 Reference Architecture (colo/on-prem + hybrid)
1) Fabric & Interconnect
- EVPN/VXLAN leaf/spine with Anycast gateways, QoS classes (EF/AF/BE), OOB network; MACsec on uplinks.
- Metro DCI with wavelength/ROADM where needed; Direct Connect/ExpressRoute/Interconnect to public cloud for hybrid.
→ /networks-and-data-centers • /wavelength • /direct-connect
2) Platform Choices
- HCI (VMware/Nutanix) for turnkey VM stacks; vSphere/vSAN/vDS or AHV equivalents.
- OpenStack for open IaaS (Nova/Neutron/Cinder/Glance/Keystone).
- Kubernetes as the universal runtime (on bare metal or atop HCI/OpenStack) with GitOps, admission policies, image signing/SBOM, NetworkPolicy default-deny.
→ /virtual-data-centers • /kubernetes
3) Storage
- SAN/NVMe-oF for DB/VM low-latency; file/NAS for shared repos; object for backups/analytics with Object-Lock (WORM).
- Metro replication (sync/async), snapshots, consistency groups; archives off-site or into cloud.
→ /san • /backup-immutability
4) Security & Access
- SSO/MFA federation, PIM/JIT admin, ZTNA to consoles & management jump boxes (no flat VPNs), WAF/Bot for portals/APIs.
- HSM/KMS CMKs, vault secrets; rotation ceremonies recorded; email trust (SPF/DKIM/DMARC/BIMI) for ops comms.
→ /ztna • /waf • /key-management • /secrets-management • /email-auth
5) Observability & Evidence
- Telemetry (logs/metrics/traces) + config diffs → SIEM/SOAR; SLO boards; synthetic tests; change CAB hooks; automated evidence packs.
→ /siem-soar
6) Continuity
- Immutable backups, cross-site replicas, DR runbooks with screenshots/checksums/timings; quarterly drills.
→ /draas
📦 Private-Cloud Service Catalog (what we build & run)
1) Landing Zone (Private)
- Tenants/projects, quotas, roles/profiles, image/patch pipelines, baseline networking/DNS, logging/retention.
2) Compute
- VM catalogs (GP/CPU/MEM/Storage-optimized), GPU pools (MIG/partitioning), autoscaling groups, golden images with SBOM/signatures, CIS/STIG baselines.
3) Storage & Data Protection
- Block/file/object tiers; snapshot/replication policy; NVMe scratch for AI/analytics; application-consistent backups with Object-Lock.
4) Network & Security
- EVPN/VXLAN leaf/spine, Private VLANs/VRFs, firewalls/inspection zones, ZTNA for management, WAF for portals, IPAM/DNS/DHCP hygiene.
5) Kubernetes Platform
- Cluster-as-code, GitOps, admission policy (OPA/Gatekeeper), NetworkPolicy default-deny, signed images/SBOM, autoscale, ingress + WAF, OpenTelemetry.
6) Automation & Policy
- Infrastructure-as-Code modules, policy-as-code gates (deny-public, CMEK-required, tags), CI lint/tests, drift detection.
→ /infrastructure-as-code
7) Observability & Runbooks
- Logs/metrics/traces, SLO dashboards; SOAR playbooks (isolate/revoke/rekey/rollback/patch) with approvals and artifacts.
8) Continuity & DR
- Snapshot/replica policy, immutable backups, DR tiers (pilot-light → hot), quarterly drills with artifacts; clean-point catalogs.
9) Compliance & GRC
- SOC2/ISO/NIST/HIPAA/PCI/FedRAMP-aligned controls; POA&M tracking; assessor exports.
→ /grc
10) Chargeback/FinOps
- Tags/labels enforcement, budgets/alerts, reservations, unit economics ($/vCPU, $/GB, $/GPU-hr), capacity forecasts, optimization backlogs.
→ /finops
🔢 Quick Planning Tables
A) Compute Profiles (rule of thumb)
| Profile | When to use | Tips |
|---|---|---|
| General Purpose VM | Mixed web/app/DB | Default fleet; scale horizontally |
| CPU-Optimized | API gateways, compression, small batch | High clock cores; NUMA awareness |
| Memory-Optimized | In-memory DB, caches, analytics | Huge pages; pinning; noisy-neighbor guards |
| Storage-Optimized | Backup/media movers, sequential IO | Use 10/25/100G uplinks; jumbo MTU |
| GPU | Training/inference/render | Plan NVMe scratch; consider MIG/partitioning |
B) Storage Choices
| Type | Latency | Best For | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVMe-oF (TCP/FC) | Very Low | High-IOPS DB/AI | Queue depth & MTU 9000 end-to-end |
| Block SSD/HDD | Low | VM/DB volumes | Snapshots & replication; IOPS sizing |
| File (SMB/NFS) | Low-Med | Shared repos, profiles | Metadata perf matters |
| Object | Med | Backups/logs/analytics | Versioning + lifecycle + Object-Lock |
C) Network Patterns
| Pattern | Use | Tips |
|---|---|---|
| Leaf/Spine EVPN | Scalable campus/DC | ECMP, Anycast gateways, QoS |
| Security Zones | Segmentation | VRFs, microseg allow-lists |
| Private On-Ramps | Hybrid | DX/ER/Interconnect + SD-WAN |
| Anycast Edges | UC/API ingress | Health-gated withdraws |
🔐 Security That Sticks (private baseline)
- Identity-first: SSO/MFA; PIM/JIT for admins; workload identity for apps; no long-lived keys.
- Boundary: WAF/Bot/DDoS for portals/APIs; token- & schema-validated calls; secure bastions behind ZTNA.
- Custody: CMKs in HSM/KMS; vault secrets; rotation ceremonies logged; S/MIME/DMARC for ops communications.
- Policy-as-code: deny-public, CMEK-required, tag enforcement, region & tenancy controls; CI checks + drift watchers.
- Evidence: logs/configs/approvals/tests to SIEM; SOAR automations with approvals.
📐 SLO Guardrails (private cloud you can measure)
| Domain | KPI / SLO (p95 unless noted) | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Fabric | Leaf↔leaf latency | ≤ 10–50 µs |
| Policy | Policy deploy → enforced | ≤ 60–120 s |
| Identity | Role/perm propagation | ≤ 60–120 s |
| Compute | Auto-heal/scale reaction | ≤ 60–180 s |
| Storage | p95 read/write latency | ≤ 0.5–1.5 ms / ≤ 1–3 ms (workload-dep.) |
| Network | On-ramp (colo→cloud edge) | ≤ 2–5 ms |
| Security | ZTNA admin attach | ≤ 1–3 s |
| Backups | Immutability coverage (Tier-1) | = 100% |
| DR | RTO / RPO (Tier-1) | ≤ 5–60 min / ≤ 0–15 min |
| Evidence | Logs/artifacts → SIEM | ≤ 60–120 s |
| Change | Unapproved prod changes | = 0 |
Breaches auto-open a case and trigger SOAR (rollback, re-key, reroute, scale, tighten policy) with artifacts attached.
🧪 Acceptance Tests & Artifacts (we keep the receipts)
- Fabric — EVPN/VXLAN validation, leaf/spine latency/jitter, QoS class tests, MACsec enablement; OTDR/light levels for inter-building links.
- Compute — image integrity (SBOM/signatures), auto-heal/scale exercises; kernel/driver posture.
- Storage — fio/VDbench (mixed read/write, sequential/random), snapshot/restore screenshots & checksums, replica lag; NVMe-oF queue/MTU checks.
- Security — ZTNA admits, WAF/Bot events, KMS/vault rotations, DMARC/TLS-RPT headers.
- DR — documented failover/failback timings; clean-point catalog; DR runbook screenshots.
Artifacts stream to /siem-soar and assemble into QBR/audit packs.
💸 Showback/Chargeback (Private-Cloud FinOps)
- Govern — mandatory tags/labels; budgets & alerts; policy stop on untagged resources.
- Account — meter vCPU/RAM/IOPS/GB/GPU-hr, network egress; publish unit costs per team/service.
- Optimize — rightsize VM flavors, storage tiering/lifecycle, consolidation & placement rules, reservation pools, energy-aware scheduling.
- Forecast — capacity curves for compute/RAM/IOPS/GPU; quarterly planning with lead time for optics/UPS/racks.
🧰 Solution Bundles (choose your fit)
- Foundation Pack (Private) — EVPN/VXLAN core, landing zone (tenants/quotas/roles), ZTNA/WAF, logging + SIEM/SOAR, chargeback basics.
- Kubernetes Platform Pack — on bare metal or HCI; GitOps; admission policy; signed images/SBOM; ingress + WAF; autoscale; OTel.
- Regulated Enclave Pack — no public ingress, Private Endpoints only, PIM/JIT, HSM keys, immutable logs/backups, assessor artifacts (SSP/POA&M).
- Hybrid Hub Pack — colo VDC with dual cloud on-ramps, Anycast edges, SD-WAN policy, replication/DR across metro.
- Edge Private Cloud Pack — rugged edge data centers, GPU nodes for vision/AI, brokers & time-series DB, ZTNA vendor access.
→ /edge-data-centers
🧱 Design Notes & Best Practices
- Guardrails first: policy-as-code + drift watchers catch most mistakes before production.
- Routed access > spanning tree: bound L2 domains; extend L2 only when justified.
- NVMe-oF on IP? Use MTU 9000 end-to-end; size buffers; keep ECMP balanced.
- Image discipline: SBOM & signatures; bake agents; refresh cadence.
- Anycast for UC/API ingress: health-gated withdraw; test periodically.
- Workload identity: replace static keys; rotate everything else with proof.
- Quarterly drills: backups restore, DR failover, ZTNA revoke, WAF rule rollback—with artifacts.
📝 Private Cloud Intake (copy-paste & fill)
- Sites/colo (addresses, power/cooling, rack space), on-ramp POPs, diversity needs
- Fabric (EVPN/VXLAN vs L3 core, QoS, MACsec scope, MTU)
- Platforms (HCI/OpenStack/K8s; VM/GPU needs; image OS/versions)
- Storage (SAN/NVMe-oF; block/file/object; IOPS/throughput; replication/tiers)
- Identity/Security (SSO/MFA, PIM/JIT, ZTNA, WAF, KMS/HSM, vault, email auth)
- Observability (logs/metrics/traces, drift watchers, SIEM destination)
- Continuity (snapshot/replica policy, Object-Lock, DR tiers & RTO/RPO)
- Compliance (SOC2/ISO/NIST/HIPAA/PCI/FedRAMP), BAAs/DPAs needed
- Chargeback (tags/labels, unit costs, budgets), reporting cadence
- Operations (managed vs co-managed, change windows, escalation matrix)
- Timeline & budget, success metrics (SLOs, cost & capacity goals)
We’ll return a design-to-operate plan with architecture, provider options, SLO-mapped pricing, compliance overlays, and an evidence plan for audits and QBRs.
Or go straight to /customized-quotes.
📞 Launch or Level-Up Your Private Cloud — Securely, Efficiently, and With Proof
- Call: (888) 765-8301
- Email: contact@solveforce.com
From HCI and OpenStack to Kubernetes and NVMe-oF, from EVPN cores to DR drills, we’ll deliver a private cloud you can operate, optimize, and prove.