Reliable and secure server architecture for critical systems
- CLIENT
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- [Independent public institution]
- Slovenia
- YEAR OF IMPLEMENTATION
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- 2024–present
Project in numbers
Such high availability ensures virtually uninterrupted access to the website and reliable communication with the public.
The system operates in two geographically separate regions, and data is backed up in three locations, ensuring resilience even in the event of major disruptions or failures.
In the event of a server outage, the system automatically switches to the standby location in under 40 seconds, ensuring an almost imperceptible interruption for the user.
Challenge
In the project for an independent public institution with a systemic role in the European institutional environment, classified as critical infrastructure, it was necessary to establish an exceptionally reliable and secure server environment for operating the web solution while strictly adhering to demanding security standards.
Our solution
Combined server infrastructure
To ensure stable and secure operation of the web solution, we designed a combined, highly available server architecture that connects our Slovenian environment with Microsoft Azure infrastructure. Such a hybrid design enables centralized control, greater flexibility in resource management, and a consistently high level of security, in line with the client's requirements.
We integrated Cloudflare into the architecture, which, with advanced traffic distribution and automatic failover when individual components go down, ensures high resilience and an uninterrupted user experience. Failover is typically completely seamless; in rare cases, a simple page refresh is all that is needed.
In this way, we established a robust and secure architecture that enables reliable operation of the solution and a consistently high quality user experience.
Uninterrupted operation
The established replication across multiple servers enables uninterrupted operation of key services even in the event of failures or unavailability of an individual unit. We also devoted special attention to careful planning and selection of optimal server locations, ensuring low latency, stability, and high resilience of the entire infrastructure.
- A Primary Humanfrog server
- B Replication to Microsoft Azure infrastructure at a remote location
- C Redundant (backup) Humanfrog server
- D Cloudflare system for switching between locations
Results
By implementing the combined server architecture, the independent public institution, which is part of the critical infrastructure, gained a reliable, stable, and robust environment for operating its web solution. The system is resistant to external disturbances and failures while enabling an uninterrupted user experience. The client is assured high availability, data security, and minimal impact of potential outages on end users.
Scope of our work
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Oblak, infrastruktura in varnost
- Design of server architecture and infrastructure for high availability.
- Management and maintenance of the web solution's hosting.
- Implementation of server replication and failover mechanisms.
- Ensuring security and compliance with critical infrastructure requirements.
