Network & Infrastructure Consultant

NETWORK & INFRASTRUCTURE CONSULTANT (Fortinet / Hyper-V / HPE Alletra / Veeam) SaaS Company Serving K-12 Schools ABOUT US We're a small enterprise SaaS company serving K-12 schools with a Student Information System (SIS) platform. Our infrastructure is self-hosted (on-prem/colo) and supports a multi-tenant production environment that schools rely on daily. We're a .NET shop (ASP.NET, IIS, Windows Server, MS SQL Server multi-tenant database). We're looking for a network and infrastructure expert — individual, small team, or agency — to serve as our ongoing technical authority for our core hardware/network stack, and to guide our onsite engineer through implementation, upgrades, and day-to-day best practices. OUR CURRENT ENVIRONMENT - Firewall/WAF: Fortiweb (Web Application Firewall) - Switching: Fortinet switches - Compute: 2x Hyper-V servers (host our virtualized Windows Server environment) - Storage: HPE Alletra storage array - Backup/DR: Veeam (backup and restoration) - Application stack: ASP.NET, IIS, Windows Server, MS SQL Server (multi-tenant) We have an onsite engineer who can execute physical/hands-on work under your direction — you don't need to be local, but you do need to be able to produce clear, actionable guidance and documentation they can follow. SCOPE OF WORK Phase 1 — Assessment & Documentation - Conduct a full audit of our current network and hardware environment - Produce a detailed network/hardware map (topology diagram, IP schema, VLANs, firewall rules/policies, switch configs, storage layout, backup jobs/retention, and how it all interconnects) - Document current-state configuration for Fortiweb, Fortinet switches, Hyper-V hosts, HPE Alletra storage, and Veeam backup jobs - Identify single points of failure, security gaps, and configuration risks Phase 2 — Recommendations - Provide a prioritized list of improvements: security hardening, redundancy/high availability, performance, and scalability - Recommend capacity planning for growth (storage, compute, bandwidth) given we run a multi-tenant SaaS workload - Advise on backup/DR strategy adequacy (RPO/RTO) using our existing Veeam setup - Flag any end-of-life/end-of-support hardware or firmware concerns Phase 3 — Execution & Ongoing Support - Guide (and where appropriate, remotely execute alongside) our onsite engineer on approved upgrade/improvement projects - Available for ongoing advisory support as we scale (new hardware procurement guidance, configuration changes, troubleshooting escalations) - Be a resource we can reach out to for architecture decisions as the business grows WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR - Proven hands-on expertise with Fortinet products (FortiWeb WAF and FortiSwitch, FortiGate/FortiOS knowledge a plus) - Strong experience with Microsoft Hyper-V virtualization (host configuration, clustering/HA, performance tuning) - Experience with HPE Alletra (or comparable enterprise SAN/storage platforms — HPE Nimble, 3PAR experience relevant too) - Deep familiarity with Veeam Backup & Replication (backup strategy, job configuration, restoration testing, DR planning) - Solid understanding of enterprise networking fundamentals: VLANs, routing, firewall policy design, network segmentation, security best practices - Experience working with environments running Windows Server, IIS, and MS SQL Server (understanding how infrastructure decisions affect a .NET/SQL Server application stack is a big plus) - Experience supporting SaaS or other environments where uptime and data integrity are business-critical - Comfortable creating clear, professional documentation (network diagrams, runbooks, config docs) that a less-senior onsite engineer can follow - Strong communication skills — able to explain technical tradeoffs to a non-network-specialist stakeholder NICE TO HAVE - Experience in education technology (EdTech) or other regulated/compliance-sensitive SaaS environments - Relevant certifications (Fortinet NSE, VMware/Hyper-V, HPE storage certifications, Veeam VMCE) - Prior experience as a fractional/virtual infrastructure lead for a small company ENGAGEMENT DETAILS - Engagement type: Project-based to start (assessment + documentation), with strong potential for an ongoing retainer/advisory relationship - Team size: Open to individual consultants, small teams, or agencies — please indicate which you are - Remote: Yes — work will be guided remotely, executed onsite by our engineer, with occasional coordination calls - Timeline: Looking to begin the assessment phase as soon as possible TO APPLY, PLEASE INCLUDE - Relevant experience with Fortinet, Hyper-V, HPE storage, and Veeam specifically - An example of network documentation or an infrastructure assessment you've produced (redacted is fine) - Whether you're applying as an individual, team, or agency, and your general availability - Your proposed approach to Phase 1 (assessment) and a rough estimate of time/cost for it