How did Microlines execute the network migration with zero manufacturing downtime?

Microlines engineered a dual-homed parallel core topology. The new Cisco Catalyst 9300 stack and FortiGate HA firewalls were staged and tested off-hours. Cutover was performed building-by-building during planned maintenance windows, ensuring zero production disruption.

What redundancy mechanisms were implemented to guarantee 99.99% uptime?

The network utilizes Active-Passive FortiGate High Availability (HA) clustering, Cisco StackWise-480 technology, and dual-ring OM4 10G fiber backbones with Spanning Tree / LACP link aggregation.

How are IoT machines and office users segmented for security?

Strict VLAN segmentation was implemented. Manufacturing OT (Operational Technology) networks, CCTV streams, guest Wi-Fi, and corporate ERP users operate on isolated VLANs with micro-segmentation firewall rules.

What warranty and post-deployment SLA support is included?

The deployment is backed by a 5-Year OEM Cisco SmartNet & FortiCare warranty, 25-Year Systimax Cabling warranty, and 24/7/365 Microlines NOC monitoring with a 2-hour hardware replacement SLA.

CASE STUDY: MANUFACTURING SECTOR

Enterprise Network Infrastructure
& 10G Fiber Core Deployment

How Microlines transformed a 24/7 manufacturing facility by engineering a dual-redundant 10G Cisco switching backbone, Fortinet High-Availability security cluster, and zero-downtime cutover across 5,000+ connected endpoints.

factory

Manufacturing

Client Industry

hub

5,000+ Nodes

Network Endpoints

speed

10 Gbps

Fiber Core Backbone

verified

99.99%

Guaranteed Uptime SLA

analytics The Challenge

The client operated an expanding multi-building manufacturing facility running 24/7 assembly lines, ERP servers, and automated PLC machine telemetry. Their legacy 1Gbps copper network suffered from frequent latency spikes, bottlenecked VLAN trunks, single points of failure, and unsegmented traffic that posed severe cybersecurity risks.

Key Objective:

Eliminate network downtime, boost core bandwidth by 10x, micro-segment OT factory machines from corporate traffic, and execute a zero-downtime hot cutover.

memory The Microlines Solution

Microlines deployed a high-performance Cisco Catalyst 9300 L3 core stack paired with Fortinet FortiGate 200F firewalls configured in Active-Passive High Availability (HA). Multi-building connectivity was upgraded to 10G OM4 multi-mode fiber with LACP link aggregation.

Engineering Deliverables:

✓ Dual-Redundant Cisco Catalyst 9300 StackWise-480 Core Architecture
✓ Fortinet FortiGate 200F HA Cluster with Deep Packet Inspection & Intrusion Prevention
✓ 10Gbps Multi-Building OM4 Fiber Ring Topology with Automatic Failover
✓ 802.1Q Micro-Segmented VLAN Architecture (OT Machinery, CCTV, ERP, Guest)
✓ 24/7/365 NOC Telemetry Integration with 2-Hour Hardware Replacement SLA

OEM Products Deployed in Project 1

Genuine enterprise hardware specified, supplied, and configured by certified Microlines engineers.

CISCO SYSTEM

Cisco Catalyst 9300 Core Switch

48-Port UPOE+, StackWise-480, 480Gbps stacking bandwidth with 10G uplink modules.

FORTINET

FortiGate 200F HA Firewall

27 Gbps Firewall throughput, 3 Gbps NGFW, dual SFP+ 10G slots for HA active-passive pairing.

COMMSCOPE SYSTIMAX Systimax 10G OM4 Fiber

Systimax OM4 10G Fiber Cable

Laser-optimized multi-mode 10G fiber trunking with 25-Year Manufacturer System Warranty.

APC BY SCHNEIDER APC Smart-UPS 10kVA

APC Smart-UPS RT 10kVA

Online double-conversion 3-phase redundant power supply with network management card.

Frequently Asked Questions

Technical inquiries regarding the deployment, cutover strategy, and SLA guarantees.

Microlines engineered a dual-homed parallel core topology. The new Cisco Catalyst 9300 stack and FortiGate HA firewalls were staged and pre-configured off-hours. Cutover was performed building-by-building during pre-scheduled 15-minute maintenance windows, ensuring zero disruption to continuous 24/7 manufacturing operations.

The infrastructure incorporates Active-Passive FortiGate High Availability (HA) firewall pairing with 0.1s heartbeat sync, Cisco StackWise-480 stack redundancy, dual power supplies connected to APC Online UPS systems, and a dual-ring OM4 10G fiber backbone with rapid Spanning Tree (RSTP) link aggregation.

We implemented 802.1Q VLAN micro-segmentation. Operational Technology (OT) PLC controllers, 4K CCTV surveillance cameras, guest wireless access, and core corporate ERP servers run on strictly isolated Virtual LANs, guarded by Fortinet stateful firewall inspection policies.

All Cisco and Fortinet hardware carries 5-Year official OEM warranty coverage (Cisco SmartNet & FortiCare 24×7). Structured fiber cabling is backed by a 25-Year Systimax System Warranty. Microlines provides 24/7/365 telemetry NOC monitoring with guaranteed 2-hour engineer dispatch for hardware replacement.