Data centres and networks you can operate cleanly
Data centres, campus networks and WANs that scale and can be operated cleanly.
Data centre and network architecture at FlixConsulting covers planning data centre space with power, cooling and cabling to EN 50600, plus LAN, WAN and campus networks. It is for IT leaders in large enterprises, public authorities and critical infrastructure (KRITIS) organisations. The result: a documented target architecture, NetBox or Nautobot as the source of truth, and standardised operations.
What changes for you
Predictable capacity
Power, cooling, rack space, ports and IP addresses are documented. You plan expansions on maintained data rather than scattered lists.
Consistent standards
Sites, racks and network segments follow a fixed naming and design standard. Changes and incident analysis do not depend on individual people.
Evidence for audits
Redundancy, maintenance and monitoring of the data centre infrastructure are documented. This is the basis for assessments against EN 50600 and audits to ISO 27001.
What we take on
Available individually or as a package, from analysis to handover.
- 01
Rack, power and cooling concept to EN 50600
Rack design, power supply with UPS, PDUs and busbars, N+1 or 2N redundancy, including in the MW range, and cooling with cold and hot aisles.
- 02
Cabling, cable and patch plans
Passive and active cabling, cable routing and cabling standards, plus cable and patch plans as the basis for installation, acceptance and operation.
- 03
Tendering, component selection and acceptance
Requirements for RFIs and RFPs, bid evaluation and selection of racks, switches and UPS systems. Site surveys and acceptance (RfO) against criteria agreed in advance.
- 04
Target architecture and roadmap for DC, LAN and WAN
Target state for data centre, campus and WAN networks, with feasibility studies, hardware selection and a roadmap. We compare vendors against documented criteria.
- 05
Segmentation, firewalls and site connectivity
Segmentation and firewall concepts, for example on Palo Alto Networks or Fortinet, WAN connectivity for sites via IPsec VPN and BGP, and a standard for each site type.
- 06
Network migration across many sites
Phased plan with pilot sites, fixed change windows and a rollback plan for each phase, plus risk management, quality assurance and training for local IT teams.
- 07
DCIM and IPAM with NetBox or Nautobot
Data model, naming convention for data centre and campus assets, migration from Excel with quality checks, and data maintenance within change, incident and capacity processes.
- 08
Maintenance and monitoring of data centre infrastructure
Maintenance cycles, thresholds and alerting for power, cooling, security and network systems, plus monitoring of UPS, PDUs and cooling equipment.
What you end up with
- Target architecture and roadmap for data centre, LAN, WAN and campus, with documented decisions
- Planning documents based on EN 50600: rack, power, cooling and patch plans, plus acceptance reports (RfO)
- Site standard with segmentation, plus a migration and rollback plan for each phase
- NetBox or Nautobot as a maintained source of truth for network, IP and data centre data
How we work
- 01
Analysis
We survey space, power, cooling, cabling, network design and rule sets, and compare the current state with EN 50600 and ISO 27001.
- 02
Target architecture
We design rack, power and network layouts, segmentation and site standards, and assess vendors and hardware against fixed criteria.
- 03
Delivery
We support tendering and installation, run migrations in phases with a rollback plan and carry out acceptance (RfO).
- 04
Handover to operations
We hand over documentation, patch plans and the maintenance concept, embed data maintenance in NetBox or Nautobot and train your teams.
- NetBox
- Nautobot
- FNT Command
- IPAM
- Palo Alto (PAN-OS)
- Arista EOS
- JunOS
- Cisco IOS
- Fortinet
- BGP
- IPsec
- VLAN
In practice
Questions about this service
What does N+1 or 2N redundancy mean in a data centre?
With N+1, at least one additional unit is available on top of the components required, such as UPS modules or cooling units. If one fails, the spare takes over. With 2N, the entire supply is duplicated, usually in two separate paths. The right level depends on your availability requirements. We plan both variants, including in the MW range.
What criteria do you use to select vendors and hardware?
Your requirements for functionality, operations, lifecycle and cost. We examine the options in feasibility studies and compare vendors such as Cisco, Juniper, Arista, Fortinet or Palo Alto Networks against these criteria. We record the assessment and rationale in the target architecture, so the choice remains traceable later on.
How does a network migration across many sites work?
We group comparable sites into types and define a standard for each type. Pilot sites test the approach, followed by phases with fixed change windows. Each phase has a rollback plan with abort criteria. We involve the local IT teams early and train them to operate the new platform.
Let us talk about your project.
No obligation, confidential and with a concrete next step.