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Network Architecture & Deployment

VLAN segmentation, firewall configuration, wireless coverage mapping, VPN, and WAN design — built to your scale and growth plan.

Your network is the foundation everything else runs on — VoIP, security cameras, cloud applications, access control, point of sale, guest Wi-Fi, and business-critical operations. A network designed by your ISP or assembled ad-hoc from consumer gear will eventually fail you. Forged designs, deploys, and manages enterprise-grade network infrastructure sized for your current operations and your next three years of growth. Every firewall rule, VLAN assignment, and wireless access point is intentional — not inherited from whatever the last guy left behind.

What's Covered

Scope of Assessment

Firewall & Perimeter Security

Next-generation firewall deployment with application-aware policies, intrusion prevention, SSL inspection, geo-blocking, and threat intelligence feeds. Your first and most critical line of defense.

Switching & VLAN Segmentation

Managed switches with proper VLAN design — separating corporate, guest, VoIP, IoT, security cameras, and building systems onto isolated network segments. Each with appropriate access policies.

Wireless Network Design

Enterprise wireless with heat mapping, channel planning, client density calculations, and seamless roaming. Separate SSIDs for corporate, guest, and IoT with individual security and bandwidth policies.

VPN & Remote Access

Site-to-site VPN for multi-location connectivity and remote access VPN for your mobile workforce. Always-on, split-tunnel, or full-tunnel configurations based on your security requirements.

WAN & Internet Connectivity

Circuit selection, ISP negotiation, SD-WAN deployment, failover configuration, and bandwidth management. Redundant paths with automatic failover so a single circuit failure doesn't stop your business.

Network Monitoring & Management

SNMP monitoring, NetFlow analysis, uptime alerting, and performance dashboards. Every switch port, access point, and firewall interface tracked in real-time with historical trending.

Our Process

How It Works

01

Discovery & Requirements Analysis

We map your business operations to network requirements — how many users, what applications, which locations, what uptime expectations, and what regulatory constraints apply. Network design starts with business needs, not hardware catalogs.

  • User and device census — every endpoint that will touch the network
  • Application inventory with bandwidth, latency, and availability requirements
  • Site survey — physical layout, cable pathways, equipment room locations
  • Security and compliance requirements (PCI segmentation, HIPAA controls, etc.)
  • Growth projections — planned headcount, locations, and technology additions
02

Architecture Design & Documentation

A complete network design document — logical topology, physical topology, IP addressing scheme, VLAN assignments, firewall policies, wireless coverage maps, and equipment specifications. Reviewed and approved before a single cable is pulled.

  • Logical network diagram with all VLANs, subnets, and routing
  • Physical topology showing every switch, AP, and cable run
  • IP addressing plan with reserved ranges and DHCP scopes
  • Firewall rule matrix — what talks to what, and what's explicitly denied
  • Wireless heat maps with AP placement and channel assignments
  • Equipment bill of materials with pricing and lead times
03

Staged Deployment

Equipment is pre-configured in our lab, shipped to site, and installed in a staged sequence that minimizes business disruption. Core infrastructure first, then edge, then wireless — with testing at every stage.

  • Equipment pre-staging — firewalls, switches, and APs configured and tested before on-site work
  • Core deployment — firewalls, core switches, and uplinks installed and validated
  • Edge rollout — access switches, patch panels, and cable terminations
  • Wireless deployment — AP mounting, cable drops, and coverage validation
  • Cutover planning — scheduled transition from old to new with rollback procedures
04

Validation & Handoff

Every aspect of the network tested against the design specification. Performance benchmarks documented, monitoring configured, and your team trained on day-to-day operations before we hand over the keys.

  • End-to-end connectivity testing across all VLANs and sites
  • Failover testing — ISP failure, switch failure, AP failure scenarios
  • Performance benchmarking — throughput, latency, and jitter measurements
  • Security validation — penetration testing against the new perimeter
  • Documentation package and operations training for your IT team
Deliverables

What You Receive

Network Architecture Document

Complete design package — logical topology, physical topology, IP scheme, VLAN matrix, firewall policies, and wireless design. The single source of truth for your network infrastructure.

Wireless Heat Maps

Predictive and validated coverage maps showing signal strength, channel utilization, and client capacity across every floor and area. Proves coverage before and after deployment.

Firewall Rule Documentation

Every rule documented with business justification, source, destination, service, and action. No mystery rules. No 'any-any' permits. Every policy traceable to a business requirement.

Configuration Backups

Baseline configurations for every network device — firewalls, switches, access points, and controllers. Stored securely with version control so you can restore any device to a known-good state.

Performance Baseline Report

Throughput, latency, jitter, and packet loss measurements across all critical paths. Establishes the benchmark for ongoing monitoring and proves the network meets design specifications.

Operations Runbook

Procedures for common tasks — adding a VLAN, onboarding an AP, creating a VPN tunnel, troubleshooting connectivity. Written for your team's skill level, not for network engineers.

Who It's For

Is This Right for You?

New Office Builds

Greenfield network design where every decision is intentional. No inherited mess. No consumer gear. Enterprise infrastructure designed for your business from day one.

Network Refresh & Modernization

Replacing aging switches, upgrading firewalls, migrating from flat networks to segmented architectures. Phased migration that keeps your business running during the transition.

Multi-Location Connectivity

Site-to-site VPN, SD-WAN, and centralized management for organizations with 2–50 locations. Consistent security policies and unified monitoring across every site.

Wireless Overhauls

Replacing consumer access points with enterprise wireless — proper coverage, capacity planning, guest isolation, and seamless roaming. The single biggest upgrade most offices can make.

Compliance-Driven Segmentation

PCI-DSS, HIPAA, and CMMC all require network segmentation. We design and implement the VLAN structure, firewall rules, and monitoring that auditors need to see.

Rapid Growth & Scaling

Adding headcount, locations, or bandwidth faster than your current network can handle. We design for where you're going, not just where you are today.

Common Questions

FAQ

How long does a typical network deployment take?

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A single-site deployment for a 50–200 person office typically takes 3–5 weeks from design approval to go-live. The design phase is 1–2 weeks, equipment procurement 1–2 weeks (depending on availability), and deployment 1–2 weeks. Multi-site rollouts are phased over weeks or months depending on the number of locations.

Can you work with our existing equipment?

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We assess what you have and give you an honest recommendation. If your switches and firewall are enterprise-grade, current on firmware, and capable of meeting the design requirements — we'll use them. If they're consumer-grade, end-of-life, or can't support proper segmentation — we'll recommend replacement. We don't replace equipment for the sake of selling hardware.

Do you support specific vendors or are you vendor-agnostic?

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We're vendor-agnostic but opinionated. We have deep expertise in Fortinet, Cisco Meraki, Aruba, UniFi, and Palo Alto — and we'll recommend the platform that fits your environment, budget, and management capabilities. We don't push a single vendor because we get better margins on it.

What about ongoing management after deployment?

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Three options: full managed services where Forged handles all network operations and monitoring, co-managed where your team handles day-to-day and we handle escalations and changes, or a complete handoff with documentation and training. Most clients start with managed services and transition to co-managed as their internal team builds confidence.

How do you handle the cutover from old network to new?

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We plan every cutover in detail — what gets migrated when, what the rollback procedure is if something fails, and what the business impact window looks like. For critical environments, we deploy the new network in parallel and migrate segments one at a time during off-hours. The goal is zero unplanned downtime.

Case Study
750-Staff Nonprofit Health Organization
Consolidated IT operations and improved quality without business interruption.
Read Case Study

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