At-a-Glance
- Client/Industry: Confidential / Trading firm (UAE)
- Scope: Turnkey infra across datacenter + office: compute/virtualization, storage, SAN fabric, network, security, backup, and core services
- Delivery window: 12-weeks from contract to handover, including equipment supply with a temporary platform → migration to target hardware approach
- Key outcomes: Production environment plus rigorous handover: as-built system passport, test program with pass/fail evidence, and DR plan
Challenge
The client needed an end-to-end infrastructure rollout spanning a hosted datacenter environment and an office network, without “throw it over the wall” gaps between design, implementation, and operations. The pressure came from procurement reality: multiple major components carried multi-week lead times, so the project plan explicitly included temporary equipment to enable early build, configuration, and validation while the target hardware was in transit
Solution Overview
We delivered a complete stack:
- Compute/virtualization: Huawei FusionCube server platform with VMware vSphere 8 Enterprise and vCenter, built as a HA-ready environment
- Storage + SAN: Huawei OceanStor Dorado primary storage plus Dell EMC backup storage, connected via redundant Fibre Channel switches
- Network: Huawei CloudEngine core + access switching with routing design explicitly documented (including OSPF at the core)
- Security: Check Point 3800 firewalls with centralized security management and a documented HA cluster pattern
- Core services + ops: Microsoft platform (Windows Server 2022 Datacenter, Exchange Server 2019), SCCM, monitoring (Zabbix), and gateway security tooling (Kaspersky suite), plus Citrix NetScaler/ADC load balancing for Exchange access
Project Specifics
- Temporary-to-target architecture: Build the environment on temporary gear first, then migrate workloads and data to the target platform once delivered
- Multi-domain integration: Coordinating compute, FC SAN, network routing, security perimeter, and core Microsoft services as a single, testable system
- High availability on all levels: Firewall HA cluster implementation, plus validation via a structured test program focused on HA behavior
- Routing + segmentation complexity: Core switching with OSPF design documented for operational continuity
- Mail security + access path: Exchange rollout paired with fault-tolerant mail gateway design and load balancing/proxy configuration
- Backup architecture with operational intent: Daily/weekly/monthly policy mapped to specific retention tiers and repositories
- Migration risk management: Explicit distinction between non-disruptive migrations (SAN switches and storage) and disruptive cutovers requiring agreed downtime windows (firewalls)
Execution Under Pressure
The work was sequenced to avoid “waiting for hardware.” Early weeks focused on standing up a functioning temporary platform (servers, storage, SAN zoning, baseline network/security) and proving workloads and services in parallel streams (VMware layer, Microsoft services, security gateways, backup, monitoring). Migration planning and staged validation were not optional; they were built into the plan, including sample mailbox migration to validate the Exchange path and a defined cutover approach that reserved downtime only for the truly disruptive steps
As-Built Documentation That Operations Can Trust
The as-built set is structured as an operational “system passport,” not a marketing diagram. It captures what ops teams actually need: inventory (what was deployed), topology and rack layouts, routing configuration artifacts (without exposing full sensitive rule sets), and service-level build details for core systems like Exchange and backup policy. The project plan also mandates post-implementation documentation: AD role model documentation, a formal test program with pass/fail results, DR planning, and updates reflecting the final target hardware state
Result
The client received a complete datacenter + office infrastructure stack, deployed in a way that balanced speed with control: a temporary platform enabled early progress, while disciplined migration and documentation ensured the final environment was supportable and auditable. The outputs included not just “working systems,” but a documented foundation for operations, troubleshooting, and continuity planning
