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Freecharge - Cost Optimization and Database Administration

Client Overview​

  • Client: Freecharge
  • Industry: Financial Services
  • Objective: Reduce AWS costs, enhance infrastructure manageability, and automate manual tasks.
  • Initial AWS Monthly Costs - $150,000
  • Optimized AWS Monthly Costs - $110,000

Approach​

1. Infrastructure Assessment​

We conducted a detailed assessment of Freecharge's AWS infrastructure to identify inefficiencies and potential cost-saving opportunities. This involved analyzing compute resources, storage, database configurations, and service utilization.

2. DevOps Optimization​

a. S3 Optimization​

We optimized S3 storage by:

  • Identifying and deleting unused objects.
  • Implementing lifecycle policies to transition infrequently accessed data to cheaper storage classes (e.g., S3 Infrequent Access, Glacier).
  • Enabling versioning and cleanup policies to manage old versions.

b. EC2 Instance Right-Sizing and Upgrading​

  • Right-sized EC2 instances to better match workload requirements, ensuring optimal resource utilization.
  • Migrated instances from older Intel-based instances to newer AMD and Graviton instances, achieving better performance at a lower cost.

c. Cleanup of Unused Resources​

  • Conducted thorough cleanups of unused resources across multiple environments and accounts, including unattached EBS volumes, obsolete snapshots, and unused Elastic IPs.

d. Load Balancer Merging​

  • Merged redundant load balancers to streamline traffic management and reduce associated costs.

3. Database Optimization and Administration​

a. RDS and EC2 Database Merging​

  • Consolidated 80 databases, moving from 50 on EC2 to a combination of RDS and Aurora.
  • Merged smaller databases into larger instances where appropriate to improve manageability and reduce overhead.

b. Archival and Rightsizing​

  • Implemented data archival strategies to move historical data to cheaper storage solutions, reducing active database size and costs.
  • Right-sized database instances based on actual usage patterns to optimize cost and performance.

c. Database Migration​

  • Migrated databases between EC2 and RDS/Aurora based on availability and performance requirements.
  • Set up replication, disaster recovery (DR), and backup strategies to ensure data availability and resilience.

d. Upgrading Databases​

  • Upgraded databases from MySQL 5.7 to 8.0, reducing extended support costs.
  • Used blue-green deployment strategies to minimize downtime during upgrades.

e. Cost Reduction for Backups and DynamoDB​

  • Optimized backup strategies to reduce storage costs.
  • Implemented DynamoDB reserved instances (RIs) to lower costs.

4. Additional Activities​

a. Database Activity Monitoring (DAM) and Backup Monitoring​

  • Implemented DAM to monitor and log database activities, enhancing security and compliance.
  • Set up comprehensive backup monitoring to ensure regular and reliable backups.

b. Savings Plans and Reserved Instances​

  • Purchased savings plans for EC2 instances to secure long-term cost reductions.
  • Implemented RIs for DynamoDB and RDS to take advantage of significant savings over on-demand pricing.

c. Cost Accelerator Mails​

  • Set up automated cost accelerator emails for daily monitoring of AWS expenditures, ensuring timely identification and addressing of any cost anomalies.

Results​

Cost Savings​

  • Initial Monthly Cost: $150,000
  • Optimized Monthly Cost: $110,000
  • Total Monthly Savings: $40,000 (approx. 27% reduction)

Infrastructure Manageability​

  • Reduced infrastructure footprint by eliminating unused resources and consolidating databases.
  • Enhanced infrastructure manageability through automation of routine tasks and improved monitoring.

Performance and Reliability​

  • Improved database performance and reliability through optimized configurations, rightsizing, and migration strategies.
  • Achieved zero downtime during database upgrades and migrations using blue-green deployment and replication setups.

Conclusion​

Through strategic optimizations on both the DevOps and DBA sides, Opstree successfully reduced Freecharge's AWS costs by approximately 27%, while significantly enhancing infrastructure manageability and automating manual tasks. This case study underscores Opstree's ability to deliver cost-effective, high-performance solutions tailored to client needs.