V-Flow Case Study

Background

V-Flow is a digital platform developed by Velresco Group Ltd, designed to enhance business performance by delivering lean efficiency. The company was operating in an AWS environment with multiple unused services and experiencing significant issues with performance, security, and high costs in their AWS cloud infrastructure. These challenges were impacting their operational efficiency and overall business performance

Objective

The primary objective was to assess and review the existing environment, then recommend and implement a restructured server environment. The focus was on CI/CD automation with enhanced security to ensure a robust, scalable, secure and cost effective infrastructure.

Industry / Domain

The platform offers results-driven software that helps organizations operate efficiently and sustainably. V-Flow allows for real-time data capture using an Android app on a tablet device, which is then automatically uploaded to the cloud, ensuring robust data management. The user-friendly interface and customizable profiles make it easy to use and require minimal training.
VFlow

Technology Stack

V Flow 2

Features

  • CI/CD Automation: Automated build and deployment processes using CodeCommit, CodeBuild, CodePipeline, and CodeDeploy.
  • Scalability: ECS Cluster with AWS Fargate services for scalable and efficient task management.
  • Security: Enhanced security with WAF, GuardDuty, Inspector, and Secrets Manager.
  • Monitoring and Alerts: Integrated monitoring with AWS Managed Prometheus and CloudWatch, along with notifications via SNS.
  • Data Management: Multi-AZ MySQL RDS for high availability and data replication, with backup and recovery managed by Backup Vault.

Challenges

  • The existing AWS environment had multiple unused services leading to inefficiencies.
  • The setup lacked adequate security measures, making it vulnerable to attacks.
  • Unused services and inefficient configurations were driving up costs.

Solution Delivered

  • Conducted a thorough assessment of V-Flow’s requirements and recommended restructuring their environment to an ECS cluster with CI/CD automation.
  • Transitioned to an ECS cluster environment with Fargate services, ensuring efficient resource utilization and scalability.
  • Automated the build and deployment process using CodeCommit, CodeBuild, CodePipeline, and CodeDeploy, enabling continuous integration and continuous deployment.
  • Implemented WAF to protect against malicious requests, GuardDuty for threat detection, and Inspector for vulnerability assessments.
  • Used Secrets Manager to securely store and manage sensitive information.
  • Integrated AWS Managed Prometheus with CloudWatch for comprehensive monitoring of applications running in the ECS cluster.
  • Utilized SNS for real-time notifications and alerts.
  • Employed Multi-AZ MySQL RDS for high availability and data replication.
  • Used Backup Vault for automated backups with daily frequency and 30-day retention, ensuring data security and availability.
  • Eliminated unused services and optimized resource allocation, significantly reducing overall AWS costs.

Benifits

  • Improved Performance: Better resource management and scalability, leading to enhanced application performance.
  • Enhanced Security: More secure environment against threats and vulnerabilities with WAF, GuardDuty, Inspector, and Secrets Manager.
  • Cost Reduction: Significant cost savings by optimizing the AWS environment and eliminating unused services.
  • Automated Processes: Streamlined build and deployment processes, reducing manual intervention and increasing efficiency.
  • High Availability: Ensured data availability and disaster recovery with Multi-AZ MySQL RDS and automated backups.
  • Real-time Monitoring: Provided real-time insights and notifications, enabling proactive management of the environment.