What's the difference between an IT consultant and a network consultant?

An IT consultant covers software, networking, servers, compliance, and strategy. A network consultant focuses on the network and the infrastructure underneath it. Helix Stax is an IT consulting firm; networking is one capability we run inside the firm.

Do you sell network hardware?

No. Helix Stax is vendor-agnostic. We do not have reseller agreements with Cisco, Meraki, Fortinet, Palo Alto, SonicWall, Ubiquiti, VMware, or any network or server vendor. We do not collect spiffs or referral fees. Your VAR or MSP buys the hardware; we tell you what to buy and why.

Do you do on-prem servers and virtualization, or only networking?

Both. Servers, virtualization, and hybrid cloud live inside this capability. There is no separate servers page. Our own production runs a hybrid: Cloudflare and OVH at the edge, Proxmox VE for the platform layer, K3s for the apps cluster. The right architecture depends on data gravity, compliance scope, latency, and operational depth.

Do you do network segmentation for CMMC?

Yes. CMMC Level 2 segmentation is a Controls-pillar problem inside the CTGA framework. The segmentation plan names where CUI lives, how it flows, and where firewall and identity-aware policy enforce the boundary. We coordinate handoff to your C3PAO and RPO partner; we do not certify the boundary. See the Compliance & Cybersecurity page for the broader scope.

Service · Networking & Infrastructure

Networking and infrastructure: a network you can defend in three rooms.

Network consulting is the work that happens before the wiring closet becomes a story you tell at the next leadership meeting. The shop runs flat on a single subnet, the firewall ruleset was last reviewed when the previous IT person left, and the on-prem server in the supply room is one fan failure from a very expensive afternoon. We make the day it stops working a Tuesday, not a disaster.

What we ship is a network you can defend in the audit room, the boardroom, and the room where the warehouse asks why the Wi-Fi died again. We score the Controls and Technology pillars against your actual environment, name the segmentation, firewall, mesh, and server gaps in writing, and ride the configuration until the topology matches the diagram and the diagram matches reality.

Servers, virtualization, and hybrid cloud live inside this page. There is no standalone servers line. Helix Stax does not resell network or server hardware. We do not take spiffs from Cisco, Meraki, Fortinet, Palo Alto, Ubiquiti, VMware, or anyone else. Our own production runs NetBird mesh, Cloudflare Tunnels, K3s, and Proxmox, the evidence that the recommendations are not vendor-led.

Fiber patch cables routed through a network switch in a server rack

Key service areas

What the work looks like.

Network design and topology audit against your actual environment
Segmentation and zero-trust patterns (VLANs, microsegmentation, identity-aware policy)
Business firewall configuration and ruleset review (Cisco, Meraki, Fortinet, Palo Alto, SonicWall, OPNsense)
SD-WAN consulting and site-to-site mesh (NetBird, Tailscale, ZeroTier, Twingate) for multi-site operators
Wi-Fi design, RF survey, and capacity planning for warehouse, office, and clinical environments
Server infrastructure and virtualization: Proxmox, VMware vSphere, Hyper-V, HA cluster design
Hybrid cloud architecture: when to keep on-prem, when to move to cloud, when to run both
Hardening baselines (CIS, STIG, NIST 800-171) and tested backup-and-recovery plans

How we engage

Three tiers. The score picks one.

Network and infrastructure work runs at every tier. The cadence and the depth of the seat change with the scope.

Helix Pulse Retainer

Quarterly network health re-score, ruleset spot-check, mesh and segmentation advisory, async sanity-checks on the vendor quotes your MSP or VAR sends. We sit in the room for the call; we do not run the rollouts at this tier.
Helix Engagement

We come in as your network squad. Topology audit, firewall ruleset audit, segmentation plan, mesh deployment, Wi-Fi survey, server consolidation, change-control docs, then a re-score.
Helix Operate

Embedded network architect seat. Weekly sessions, a standing seat for any infrastructure decision, full architecture ownership across multi-site WAN, CMMC segmentation, and server-consolidation programs on a deadline.

What you walk out with

Concrete deliverables.

A written network topology document: current state, target state, and the delta ranked by risk and cost
A firewall ruleset audit: every rule, every shadow, with a flag list to remove, tighten, or document
A segmentation plan: VLAN map, identity-aware policy, and a CUI flow map if CMMC is in scope
A mesh deployment runbook with the vendor choice scored against your scenario
A server consolidation plan: VM inventory, target hypervisor, sizing math, and the cutover sequence
A hardening baseline (CIS / STIG / NIST 800-171) plus a tested backup-and-recovery plan

Honest scope

What we do not do.

We do not resell hardware, take spiffs, or collect referral fees from any network or server vendor. We do not run your help desk, staff your night shift, or operate a 24/7 NOC. We do not pull cable, hang access points, or terminate fiber: your low-voltage vendor does the physical work and we coordinate the design. We do not certify CMMC; we score the readiness and ride the remediation.

Industries we apply this to

Where this service shows up most.

You can have the number by Friday.

The Pulse is free, sixty minutes, and the only thing you walk out with is your CTGA score and the three gaps that cost you the most. If we are not the right fit, you keep the score and we both move on.

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