FLYY Case Study 

• Inflexible Infrastructure: Flyy’s infrastructure was built using DigitalOcean droplets with load balancers, making it impossible to scale down compute usage during low-traffic periods (especially at night). This resulted in the company paying for resources they did not need.

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• High Database and Compute Costs: Flyy’s use of DigitalOcean’s managed Postgres database and compute resources was becoming increasingly costly, particularly during peak usage periods.

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• AWS S3 Storage Costs: In addition to their DigitalOcean setup, Flyy was using AWS S3 for asset storage, which added to their expenses, primarily due to data transfer charges.

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• Legacy Codebase and Configuration Complexity: Flyy’s application, built on Ruby on Rails, had an old and complex codebase. Their setup included server-specific configurations for traffic management and application-level needs, and they had Lua code written in their Nginx web server for reverse proxying. These complexities made the migration challenging.

• Database Migration to E2E Networks: Flyy’s DigitalOcean managed Postgres setup was migrated to E2E Networks. The E2E managed Postgres solution offered the same level of storage and performance but at 60% lower cost compared to DigitalOcean.

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• Kubernetes-Ready Application: SSBA Tech containerized Flyy’s Ruby on Rails application, making it Kubernetes-ready. This allowed Flyy to benefit from automated scaling and flexible resource allocation based on real-time load, something they lacked with DigitalOcean droplets.

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• Infrastructure Optimization: By moving configurations out of the application and making the infrastructure dynamic, Flyy was able to scale down during off-peak hours, reducing unnecessary compute costs.

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• Migration of Storage: Flyy’s assets were moved away from AWS S3 to S3-compliant storage on E2E Networks, eliminating the high data transfer charges they previously incurred.

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• Complex Migration Execution: Due to Flyy’s old and intricate codebase, SSBA Tech invested time in understanding and unraveling all the moving parts. The Nginx reverse proxy with custom Lua code added another layer of complexity to the migration process, particularly in ensuring the application’s functionality post-migration.

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• Efficient Load Management: The use of Kubernetes ensured that Flyy’s infrastructure could auto-scale based on demand, allowing for optimal resource utilization during peak hours and significant cost savings during off-peak periods.

• 45% Reduction in Overall Cloud Costs: By moving from DigitalOcean and AWS S3 to E2E Networks, Flyy’s overall cloud infrastructure costs were reduced by 45%, a significant saving for a business of their scale.

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• 60% Reduction in Database Costs: The migration to E2E’s managed Postgres resulted in a 60% reduction in database costs, while still maintaining the same level of performance and reliability.

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• Dynamic Scaling: With the application now containerized and Kubernetes-ready, Flyy’s infrastructure dynamically scales based on traffic, ensuring that resources are used efficiently and compute costs are minimized during off-peak times.

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• Successful Migration: Despite the complexity of Flyy’s legacy infrastructure, SSBA Tech completed the entire migration in 4 months, with zero downtime and seamless continuity for Flyy’s clients.