The Unexpected Test
When the first wave of COVID-19 hit, IT networks around the world faced a stress test they weren’t prepared for. Suddenly, thousands of employees shifted to remote work, VPN traffic spiked, and the assumptions we made about failover, capacity, and user access were exposed. Network redundancy, once a box-ticking exercise, became a central concern.
Flaws in Traditional Redundancy Models
Most redundancy plans centered around on-premise systems and site-to-site failover. Few considered the possibility of a mass remote workforce. Redundant power supplies, backup ISPs, and clustering were no match for the choke points that emerged in VPN concentrators, firewall rulesets, and saturated home broadband networks.
Lessons from the Front Lines
IT teams found themselves scrambling. Capacity upgrades, SD-WAN deployments, and cloud proxy enhancements were suddenly top priorities. Organizations that had already invested in cloud-first models with resilient remote access fared better. Those reliant on traditional perimeter-based security and centralized connectivity struggled to scale quickly.
Rethinking Redundancy for a Remote-First World
Redundancy now means more than duplicating hardware—it means designing for distributed, always-on, anywhere-access. Key principles include:
- Multi-path remote access via cloud VPN, DirectAccess, and SASE solutions
- Load balancing of authentication systems (e.g., MFA, RADIUS, LDAP)
- Use of cloud-native apps with geo-distributed availability zones
- Failover internet connections for branch and home offices
- Active-active topology instead of passive standby systems
Monitoring and Testing are Non-Negotiable
Too often, redundant systems exist only on paper. Organizations must implement automated testing, failover simulations, and real-time health monitoring. A failover that doesn’t trigger, or triggers into a misconfigured environment, is worse than none at all. Synthetic testing and SLA alerting are now essential.
The Role of SD-WAN and Cloud Gateways
Software-defined WAN technologies rose to prominence during the pandemic for good reason. They allow dynamic path selection, bandwidth aggregation, and policy-based routing—all vital for keeping remote workers productive. Paired with cloud-based gateways, they offer redundancy that adapts to user location and application behavior.
Business Continuity is Now Network-First
Redundancy planning has evolved into a business continuity strategy. IT teams now collaborate directly with operations and compliance teams to ensure services remain online regardless of disruption. Compliance frameworks increasingly include questions around remote failover, secure access, and zero trust enforcement—even under load.
Investing Beyond the Crisis
The organizations that treat pandemic-era upgrades as temporary stopgaps will be caught off guard again. Those that embed network resilience into their long-term strategy—investing in automation, distributed design, and user experience monitoring—will thrive in the next disruption, whether pandemic, political, or technological.
Final Thoughts
June 2020 marks a shift in how we define uptime and continuity. Network redundancy is no longer about boxes with dual power supplies—it’s about agility, visibility, and user access under extreme pressure. The first wave taught us the cost of assumptions. Now, we redesign for resilience.