The Beginning - What is Beyond Bare Metal?

"Beyond Bare Metal" is a series of projects showcasing the growth of a medium-sized company. It begins with a single office and basic infrastructure and evolves into a multi-site, cloud-integrated enterprise. I will implement the knowledge I've gathered throughout my career. Still, I’m always open to suggestions, changes, and alternative approaches that can benefit both myself and those reading and learning from this.

The Journey Ahead

Our infrastructure will evolve through several phases:

Phase 1: The Foundation - Main Office

• On-premises infrastructure setup

• Domain and email configuration

• Network Implementation

• Basic services deployment

• Internal applications

Evolution 1: New York Branch

• Branch office expansion

• Site-to-site connectivity

• Domain trust relationships

• Distributed file services

Evolution 2: Los Angeles Branch

• Multi-site infrastructure

• Advanced routing (OSPF)

• Geographic redundancy

• Application distribution

Evolution 3: Cloud Integration

• Hybrid identity with Entra ID

• Modern device management

• Cloud file services

• Infrastructure modernization

Technologies We'll Cover

• Windows Server (Active Directory, GPOs, File Services, RDS)

• Networking (Cisco, VPNs, Routing protocols (OSPF), Switching, DNS)

• Microsoft Office 365 (Email, Onedrive, Domain setup)

• Azure Services

• PowerShell Automation

• Security

Following Along

Each post in this series will:

• Include detailed steps and configurations

• Provide screenshots and diagrams

• Share real-world considerations

• Include configuration files and scripts

• Address common challenges

What's Next?

Our first technical post will cover the foundation of any enterprise infrastructure: setting up the domain controller and Active Directory environment. Stay tuned!

DISCLAIMER: There will be times when implementing a specific technology as intended may be challenging or even impossible due to limitations in resources, hardware, or connectivity. In those cases, I will provide support through diagrams. I welcome any suggestions, ideas, or best practices for ongoing improvement. Thank you for reading!