Build Fast, Stay Safe, Control Cost — And Prove It
Public cloud should make you faster without making you riskier or poorer.
SolveForce delivers public cloud as a complete operating model—landing zones & on-ramps, platforms (Kubernetes/serverless/VMs), Zero-Trust security, data & AI, observability & evidence, FinOps, and continuity—so the binder matches the build every day.
Related pages
• Suite → /suite-of-cloud-services • Foundations → /cloud
• Platforms → /kubernetes • /serverless • Virtual DCs → /virtual-data-centers
• On-ramps → /direct-connect • Overlays → /sd-wan
• Security → /ztna • /waf • /key-management • /secrets-management • /email-auth
• Data & AI → /etl-elt • /data-warehouse • /vector-databases • /solveforce-ai
• Evidence & DR → /siem-soar • /backup-immutability • /draas
• Governance → /finops • /grc • Compliance → /nist • /hipaa • /pci-dss • /fedramp
🎯 Outcomes We Optimize
- Speed with safety — environments in minutes via IaC, with guardrails (deny-public, CMEK-required, tags enforced) and drift watchers.
- Predictable performance — right instance families, correct storage classes, Private Endpoints, and network layout for stable latency/throughput.
- Zero-Trust by default — ZTNA for consoles/SSH/RDP, workload identity (no long-lived keys), WAF/API signing at edges.
- Evidence on demand — logs/configs/approvals/tests to /siem-soar; the binder = build.
- Cost that behaves — tags/budgets/alerts, commitments (RIs/Savings Plans/CUDs/slots), unit economics ($/env, $/1k req, $/TB scanned).
🧭 Reference Architecture (AWS / Azure / GCP / IBM)
1) Landing Zones & Guardrails
- Org structure (tenants/accounts/subscriptions/projects), folders/OUs, delegated guardrails.
- Policies-as-code: deny-public storage, CMEK required, mandatory tags/labels, region controls, image baselines, logging sinks.
- Identity federation (SSO/MFA) and PIM/JIT for admin; workload identity (OIDC/IRSA) for apps (replace static keys).
→ Start at /cloud
2) Network & On-Ramps
- VPC/VNet hub-and-spoke or vWAN/Transit; Private Endpoints/Private Service Connect for sensitive services; split-horizon DNS.
- Direct Connect / ExpressRoute / Interconnect for deterministic paths; SD-WAN breaks out SaaS, pins private apps.
→ /direct-connect • /sd-wan
3) Platforms
- VMs/Scale Sets for lifts & special drivers.
- Kubernetes (GKE/EKS/AKS): GitOps, admission policy (OPA/Gatekeeper), image signing + SBOM, NetworkPolicy default-deny. → /kubernetes
- Serverless (Cloud Run/Lambda/Functions): API Gateway with quotas/signing, idempotency & DLQs, step-function sagas; “$/request” budgets. → /serverless
4) Security & Edges
- WAF/Bot/DDoS at public edges; API schemas & JWT/HMAC/JWS signing; rate limits and threat feeds.
- ZTNA for private consoles & app access; device posture checks.
- Keys & secrets: HSM/KMS CMKs, vault secrets, rotations/quorum ceremonies recorded.
→ /waf • /ztna • /key-management • /secrets-management
5) Data & AI
- ELT/CDC into warehouse/lakehouse with contracts, lineage & DQ checks.
- Vector DBs + guarded RAG: assistants must cite or refuse; retrieval pre-filters by labels/ACLs.
→ /etl-elt • /data-warehouse • /vector-databases • /solveforce-ai
6) Observability & Evidence
- OpenTelemetry traces + cloud logs/metrics + config diffs → /siem-soar; playbooks for isolate/revoke/rekey/rollback/patch.
- SLO dashboards, ConMon, and exportable QBR packs.
7) Continuity
- Object-Lock/WORM backups, cross-region replicas, DRaaS; runbooks and drills with screenshots/checksums.
→ /backup-immutability • /draas
📦 Service Catalog (what we build & operate)
1) Foundation (per cloud) — org/tenant design, policies, logging, DNS, baseline networking, identity federation, PIM/JIT.
2) Compute — instance family catalogs (GP/CPU/MEM/Storage-optimized), GPU pools (training/inference/render), auto-healing groups and images with SBOM/signing.
3) Storage — block (IOPS/throughput profiles), file (SMB/NFS), object (lifecycle/versioning/lock); snapshots/replicas; app-consistent backups.
4) Network — hub-and-spoke/vWAN, Private Endpoints/PSC, inspection hubs, IPAM; BGP policy for on-ramps.
5) Security — ZTNA, WAF/Bot/DDoS, email trust (SPF/DKIM/DMARC/BIMI), keys/secret custody, drift watchers.
6) Platforms — Kubernetes/serverless patterns, GitOps, admission policies, autoscale, canary/blue-green.
7) Data & AI — CDC/ELT, warehouse/lake, vector DB, RAG assistants, eval sets, token budgets.
8) Observability & Evidence — SIEM pipelines, SLO boards, synthetic tests; SOAR playbooks and runbooks.
9) Continuity & DR — snapshot/replica policy, immutable backups, DR tiers & drills.
10) Compliance & GRC — SOC2/ISO/NIST/HIPAA/PCI/FedRAMP overlays; POA&M tracking; assessor exports.
11) FinOps — tags/budgets/alerts, commitment planning, anomaly tickets, unit economics & forecasts.
🔢 Quick Planning Tables
A) Instance Family Cheatsheet
| Family | Use | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| General Purpose | Web/app/services | Balanced vCPU/RAM; baseline |
| Compute-Optimized | API gateways, CPU-bound | High clock; great for stateless sets |
| Memory-Optimized | In-memory DB/analytics | NUMA/huge pages; check EBS/PD limits |
| Storage-Optimized | Sequential movers/backup | High throughput; consider placement |
| GPU | AI/ML/Render/Transcode | Consider MIG/partitioning and NVMe scratch |
B) Storage Choices
| Type | Latency | Best For | Tips |
|---|---|---|---|
| Block SSD | Low | VM disks, DB volumes | Tune IOPS/throughput; snapshots |
| File (SMB/NFS) | Low-Med | Shared app repos | Metadata perf matters |
| Object | Med | Backups/logs/analytics | Version + lifecycle + Object-Lock |
| NVMe-oF | Very Low | AI/DB scratch | TCP/FC; jumbo MTU & queue tuning |
C) Network Patterns
| Pattern | Use | Tips |
|---|---|---|
| Hub-and-Spoke | Many spokes, shared services | Central inspection & egress |
| vWAN/Transit | Multi-region/multi-cloud | Route scale; policy hubs |
| Private Endpoints | Sensitive services | No public IPs/exposure |
| Anycast Edges | UC/API ingress | Health-gated withdraws |
🔐 Security That Sticks (baseline)
- Identity-first: SSO/MFA, PIM/JIT for admin; workload identity for apps; no long-lived keys.
- Boundary: WAF/Bot/DDoS; API signing & schema validation; email auth (DMARC→p=reject) for comms.
- Custody: KMS/HSM CMKs; vault secrets; rotation ceremonies recorded and auditable.
- Policy-as-code: deny-public, CMEK-required, tag enforcement, region controls; CI gates + drift watchers.
- Evidence: logs/configs/tests → SIEM; SOAR actions with approvals.
📐 SLO Guardrails (public cloud you can measure)
| Domain | KPI / SLO (p95 unless noted) | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Policy | Policy deploy → enforced | ≤ 60–120 s |
| Identity | Role/permission propagation | ≤ 60–120 s |
| K8s | Node join (GKE/EKS/AKS) | ≤ 3–6 min |
| Network | On-ramp attach (metro→region) | ≤ 2–5 ms |
| Edge | WAF added latency | ≤ 5–20 ms |
| Security | ZTNA admin attach | ≤ 1–3 s |
| Data/AI | RAG citation coverage | = 100% (refusal ≥ 98%) |
| 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 (reroute, re-key, rollback, scale, tighten policy), with artifacts attached.
🧪 Acceptance Tests & Artifacts (we keep the receipts)
- Landing zone — org policy checks (deny-public, CMEK), tag coverage, log sinks and retention.
- Network — Private Endpoint reachability, BGP policy, latency/jitter to regions & Anycast edges.
- Compute — image integrity (SBOM/signatures), auto-heal/scale tests; kernel/driver posture.
- Storage — snapshot/restore drills (screenshots & checksums), replica lag; Object-Lock verification.
- 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 assemble into QBR/audit packs.
💸 FinOps in Practice (cost that behaves)
- Govern — mandatory tags; budgets & alerts; policy stop on untagged.
- Commit — RIs/SPs/CUDs/slots sized to utilization; savings scorecards per team/service.
- Explain — unit economics ($/env, $/service, $/1k req, $/TB scanned, $/question for AI); forecast targets (30/90d).
- Optimize — rightsize; lifecycle/archives; egress guardrails; cache/CDN; schedule-based scale-down.
🧰 Solution Bundles (choose your fit)
- Foundation Pack — landing zone + identity federation + Private Endpoints + WAF baseline + SIEM/SOAR + budgets.
- Kubernetes Platform Pack — managed K8s, GitOps, admission policy, signed images/SBOM, autoscale, OTel.
- Serverless/API Pack — API GW (quotas, schema validation, JWT/HMAC), Functions; idempotency/DLQs; “$/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
- Build guardrails first; then add environments—policy-as-code catches most mistakes before they go live.
- Prefer workload identity over static keys; rotate all secrets/keys with proof.
- Keep L2 bounded; rely on routed VPC/VNet + Private Endpoints and transit hubs.
- Use Anycast for UC/API ingress; withdraw on health signals.
- For AI/ML, plan NVMe scratch + object backends and token/$ budgets; track eval metrics.
- Test restore and DR before production—then quarterly.
📝 Public Cloud Intake (copy-paste & fill)
- Cloud(s)/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
- 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 for audits and QBRs.
Or go straight to /customized-quotes.
📞 Launch or Level-Up Your Public Cloud — Securely, Efficiently, and With Proof
- Call: (888) 765-8301
- Email: contact@solveforce.com
We’ll assemble foundations, platforms, security, data & AI, observability, and continuity into a public cloud you can operate, optimize, and prove—every day.