Matoffo

CLIENT BACKGROUNDBlueGhost is a unique enterprise that helps businesses streamline their operations and save time & money while also gaining actionable event intelligence. Its diversified feature verticals include talent bookings, guest lists & comps, event programs, tasks & collaboration, CRM & database.  BlueGhost enables its clients to take control of their important events within a single source of truth.CHALLENGESGrowing means consistently examining your current infrastructure for weak areas. BlueGhost experienced an urgent need to enhance the existing infrastructure.It was necessary to optimize costs and automate the deployment process. BlueGhost required the option of initiating a rollback of the most-recent successful deployment to cope with all possible failure scenarios efficiently.SOLUTIONThere was created a new AWS environment based on microservice architecture. The docker image was developed according to the latest best practices. Backed services were deployed using AWS Fargate. For the front-end, the web application was configured as a CDN service using AWS CloudFront. To automate deployment and release processes, we created GitLab CI pipelines.All secrets for the deployment process are stored securely in GitLab CI while all infrastructure is deployed by Terraform. State files for Terraform are stored in AWS S3… TECHNOLOGIESAmazon S3, RDS, Terraform, Gitlab CI, Application Load Balancer, Amazon ECS, CloudFront, Docker, ElastiCache, AWS CodeDeploy.Full version of Case Study -  https://matoffo.com/cases/a-highly-available-microservice-architecture/

CLIENT BACKGROUNDOur customer operates in the digital services industry as a leading online marketplace in Africa. With a mission to promote sustainable economic development, our customer developed an app that helps local businesses to deliver their products as well as connects them with new clients.CHALLENGESThe customer’s primary challenge revolved around the slow performance of their app. With a microservices architecture, each microservice required its own HTTP load balancer(ALB), leading to increased costs and reduced performance speed. The customer sought a solution that would enhance the app’s speed and optimize resource utilization while maintaining a cost-effective infrastructure.SOLUTIONTo address the customer’s challenge, we developed several proofs of concept (PoCs) to evaluate the most efficient approach.Next, we designed and implemented an architecture on AWS that consolidated the microservices and eliminated the need for multiple load balancers. Instead, we set up an API gateway to serve as a single entry point for all EKS microservices, which reduced costs and improved app performance.We leveraged infrastructure as code (IaC) practices to ensure quick solution recovery in case of any failures and malfunctions, achieving a recovery time objective (RTO) and recovery point objective (RPO) of just one hour.TECHNOLOGIESAmazon API Gateway.Full version of Case Study - https://matoffo.com/cases/api-gateway-implementation-for-ecommerce-applications/

CLIENT BACKGROUNDOur client definitely knows how to bring user experience with maps to an entirely new level. From sharing stories and generating transactions to creating interactive maps across various industries — the organization handles multiple functions under one roof to help users accomplish the desired look and feel, for any map. As a next-gen map builder, the platform allows for creating maps of any type and complexity, making it a perfect solution for both novice and experienced users.  CHALLENGESThe client experienced an urgent need to automate the deployment and management of the MongoDB Atlas resources to achieve a better price-performance ratio. It was necessary to automate the provisioning and management of MongoDB Atlas resources and was requested to ensure consistency and repeatability in the infrastructure deployment process. We had to enable version control and collaboration for infrastructure changes. And the client needed to implement a secure and auditable infrastructure setup. Our team was entrusted with setting up a secure private connection between the application and the database.SOLUTIONFirst and foremost, our team created a Terraform code with the required resources. Overall, the solution was split into several crucial stages, including the provisioning of private network configuration between MongoDB Atlas and the client’s AWS environment. The configuration itself consisted of several activities, such as database network setup, peering connections, and firewall configuration. The Matoffo team implemented this solution for all environments.TECHNOLOGIESAWS, MongoDB Atlas, Terraform, and Azure DevOps. Full version of Case Study - https://matoffo.com/cases/mongodb-atlas-resources-automation/

CLIENT BACKGROUNDThe client is the one of leaders in telecommunication services domain by delivering the unique value proposition in targeted business niche. To deliver the services utilizes data center infrastructure with comprehensive hardware and software solutions.CHALLENGESThe client experienced the need to migrate as much of on-premises IT infrastructure resources which are being running on an outdated VMware ESXi cluster (dedicated physical boxes) as possible due to shutdown of a classic data center in the current physical location. The environment included a plethora of different services to migrate: AD DS, DFS, DHCP, File Servers, old custom 2-tier applications, BizTalk application cluster, IIS, TFS server, SQL Servers, etc.SOLUTIONHas been proposed to use the built-in AWS capabilities and tools. Hence, the choice was made in favour of AWS server migration service. Primarily, most of the services were migrated using lift and shift strategy. Once the VM images were uploaded to the cloud, Terraform was used to create the needed resources and perform initial configuration. Minor architectial changes were made to DFS and DHCP. SQL Servers were migrated to AWS RDS PaaS offering. TECHNOLOGIESHashiCorp Terraform, AWS RDS, AWS EC2, AWS CloudTrail, AWS Migration Service, AWS Database Migration Service.BENEFITSAll services are smoothly running in the cloud and as a result the client got a better performance with even lower specs due to smaller network latency and better rightsizing. Switching to RDS allowed to release the burden of OPS tasks. From security perspective all migrated services are aligned with cloud environment, leveraging storage encryption, improved network security. Additionally, highlighting that improved downtime KPI, business agility and significantly decreased capital expenditure. Full version of Case Study - https://matoffo.com/cases/data-center-migration/