Tag: Amazon EC2

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AWs Storage Services Case Studies

Case Study | NSpira’s Data Revolution: Building a Resilient Student Data Management Platform with AWS and Oracle RAC

  • Post author By GoDgtl
  • Post date

NSpira, a prominent educational institution, encountered a pressing issue in effectively overseeing the expansion of its student data. The existing backup solution hosted on AWS struggled to cope with the rising requirements of their student database. In pursuit of a resilient and expandable remedy, NSpira collaborated with GoDgtl, a technology consulting firm, to initiate a transformative expedition.

The Challenge

NSpira encountered several pressing challenges in managing its student data:

  • Scaling for Growth: NSpira’s student population was rapidly expanding, pushing its existing platform beyond its capacity, and causing performance bottlenecks.
  • Degrading Performance: Slow response times were undermining NSpira’s commitment to provide seamless services to students and staff, negatively impacting their user experience.
  • Data Security and Backup: While the previous AWS backup solution provided data backup, it lacked comprehensive data integrity measures and a robust backup strategy to ensure availability in case of failure.

The Solution

Collaborating with NSpira, GoDgtl devised a comprehensive solution that addressed these challenges and positioned NSpira for future success. FlashGrid Cluster solves the network and storage requirements for running Oracle RAC on AWS while making it easy to deploy with a CloudFormation template.

  • Oracle RAC Deployment: GoDgtl recommended implementing Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) on AWS. This architecture provided the scalability and high availability of the database required to manage NSpira’s student data effectively.
  • FlashGrid Integration: FlashGrid, a software-defined storage solution, was chosen to simplify the deployment of Oracle RAC on AWS. This streamlined performance optimization and eased management complexities. It allows to deployment of infrastructure-as-a-code.
  • AWS Service Integration:
    1. AWS Key Management Service (KMS): To address data security concerns, AWS KMS was integrated to manage encryption keys, ensuring data protection both at rest and in transit.
    2. Amazon S3: Amazon S3 became the storage backbone, offering efficient, durable, and highly available data storage for student records and backups.
    3. Elastic Load Balancing (ELB): ELB was utilized to distribute incoming traffic among instances, enhancing the availability and fault tolerance of the platform.
    4. AWS Config: By incorporating AWS Config, NSpira gained insights into changes in resources and configurations, ensuring compliance and minimizing configuration drift risks.
    5. AWS RDS: The RDS service helped to automate database tasks and remove inefficient and time-consuming database administrative tasks.
    6. Amazon CloudWatch: CloudWatch was configured to continuously monitor performance metrics, enabling proactive identification and resolution of performance bottlenecks.
    7. AWS CloudTrail: AWS CloudTrail provided audit logs of all actions taken on the platform, bolstering security and accountability.
    8. Amazon Inspector: To strengthen security, Amazon Inspector automatically assessed vulnerabilities and recommended remediation actions.
      • Other AWS security services like KMS, Security Hub, and Guard Duty were used for continuous monitoring of the entire infrastructure.
    9. OpenVPN Implementation: GoDgtl implemented OpenVPN, a robust open-source VPN solution, to enhance security for remote access to NSpira’s websites, applications, and database systems. This ensured that authorized personnel could securely access the Oracle RAC cluster and other resources from external locations while maintaining data privacy.
    10. Amazon Route 53 Implementation: To ensure seamless and reliable access to the Oracle RAC cluster, GoDgtl set up Amazon Route 53 for DNS management. This allowed NSpira’s applications to dynamically resolve the database endpoints, ensuring high availability and efficient load distribution.
    11. AWS VPC Setup: The solution incorporated site to site AWS VPC to isolate and secure the Oracle RAC cluster within a virtual private network. VPC enabled NSpira to define network boundaries, control inbound and outbound traffic, and implement security measures like network ACLs and security groups.
    12. Amazon VPC and EC2: Amazon VPC provided a secure and isolated environment, while Amazon EC2 instances hosted the Oracle RAC architecture.
    13. AWS Directory Service: AWS Directory services was deployed to manage users, groups, and resources depending upon the Availability Zones.

Implementation:

NSpira’s student data was carefully migrated to the new Oracle RAC architecture. This architecture was hosted on Amazon EC2 instances within a secure Amazon VPC environment.

An advanced backup strategy was implemented, utilizing Amazon S3 for regular automated backups and incremental backups to ensure data availability in the event of failures.

AWS KMS was integrated to manage encryption keys, ensuring data remained secure throughout its lifecycle. Amazon Inspector conducted regular security assessments, identifying, and addressing vulnerabilities.

Amazon CloudWatch was set up to monitor performance metrics continuously, providing real-time insights for prompt identification and resolution of potential performance bottlenecks.

Results

  • Scalability Achieved: The integration of AWS services with the Oracle RAC architecture enabled NSpira’s platform to scale seamlessly, accommodating the growing student database without compromising performance.
  • Enhanced Performance: The Oracle RAC architecture, coupled with performance monitoring using Amazon CloudWatch, led to significant improvements in response times, enhancing the overall user experience.
  • Security and Compliance Assured: The integration of AWS KMS, CloudTrail, and Inspector ensured robust data security, compliance with regulations, and proactive identification of vulnerabilities.
  • Reliable Backup and Recovery: The advanced backup strategy utilizing Amazon S3 facilitated secure data backup and rapid recovery, minimizing downtime risks and ensuring data availability.

About GoDgtl

GoDgtl by PruTech is an Advanced Consulting Partner of AWS. Through our innovative and customized cloud services, we help our customers to design, architect, build, migrate, and manage their workloads and applications on cloud, accelerating their journey to the cloud. We offer cost-effective and secure cloud solutions through the effective implementation of the latest cloud technologies and processes that are highly scalable and compatible with changing market demands.

Our cloud managed services are offered through a holistic approach to the cloud

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AWS EC2 for Windows Blog

Modernize your Microsoft Windows workloads with AWS Cloud Services

Unlocking the full potential of your Microsoft Windows workloads through AWS cloud services brings a host of remarkable advantages, including elevated agility, scalability, and cost-effectiveness.

AWS stands as a catalyst for the modernization of Windows workloads, presenting an array of ingenious cloud-native solutions.

When Windows workloads transition to the AWS cloud, businesses ensure seamless application support and scalability, irrespective of demand fluctuations. This eradicates the need for constant future demand monitoring, paving the way for streamlined processes. Notably, the IIS server and Windows server operating system undergo automated updates, ensuring policy compliance without manual intervention.

The prowess of AWS Elastic Beanstalk lies in its automated security, resilience, and access to the global AWS infrastructure. As an open-source tool, it masterfully handles pivotal application tasks, encompassing provisioning, maintenance, health checks, and autoscaling.

In the dynamic realm of modern business, embracing innovation and efficiency becomes paramount. The modernization of Windows workloads stands as a potent avenue for transformation, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) offers a dynamic suite of cloud services tailored to simplify this evolution. Here, we delve into how AWS cloud services can catalyze a revolution in your Windows workloads, propelling your organization toward an impactful future.

The Power of AWS Cloud Services

The very landscape of IT infrastructure has been redefined by AWS, offering a comprehensive spectrum of services that empower businesses to modernize, optimize, and scale their Windows workloads. Key AWS services play a pivotal role in this modernization journey:

Amazon EC2: Elastic Compute Cloud: Amazon EC2 furnishes adjustable compute capacity in the cloud, granting swift scalability in response to demand. This ensures that your Windows applications always have the optimal resources for peak performance. The flexibility of EC2 allows you to choose instance types, operating systems, and software that perfectly align with your workload requisites.

Amazon RDS for SQL Server: Relational Database Service: For modernizing Windows workloads, seamless database migration and management are often crucial. Amazon RDS for SQL Server offers a fully managed relational database service, lightening administrative loads and bolstering high availability and security for your SQL Server databases. This liberates your focus for innovation, transcending routine maintenance tasks.

Amazon FSx for Windows File Server: Given the significance of file storage, Amazon FSx for Windows File Server presents fully managed Windows file systems. It seamlessly integrates with your existing Active Directory environment, delivering high performance, scalability, and compatibility with Windows applications. Migrating and managing file shares in the cloud becomes remarkably streamlined.

AWS Lambda: The introduction of serverless computing through AWS Lambda transforms your Windows workloads. This feature allows you to execute code without the need for provisioning or managing servers, leading to simplified application deployment and execution. This serverless paradigm bolsters agility and resource optimization, enabling a deeper focus on code development and innovation.

Amazon AppStream 2.0:  Enabling secure delivery of Windows applications to users, Amazon AppStream 2.0 emerges as a transformative solution. It facilitates streaming of desktop applications to diverse devices, alleviating compatibility concerns and ensuring access from virtually any location. With AppStream 2.0, complex installations and updates become relics of the past, ensuring easy accessibility for users.

Advantages of Modernization

The modernization of Windows workloads through AWS cloud services ushers in a range of advantages that extend beyond traditional on-premises setups:

  • Scalability: AWS empowers you to scale resources fluidly according to demand, ensuring optimal performance without overprovisioning.
  • Cost Efficiency: By paying solely for the resources consumed, you can achieve remarkable cost savings compared to the upkeep of physical hardware.
  • Reliability: AWS’s global infrastructure guarantees high availability and disaster recovery capabilities for your Windows applications.
  • Security: With robust security features and compliance certifications, AWS stands as a stalwart guardian, safeguarding your data and applications.
  • Innovation: The pathway to modernization becomes a gateway to innovation and agility, allowing for rapid experimentation and development of novel features.

Getting Started with AWS Modernization

Embarking on the journey to modernize your Windows workloads with AWS cloud services is both an attainable and rewarding endeavor. Here’s a suggested roadmap to initiate this transformative voyage:

  • Assessment: Begin by assessing your existing Windows workloads, identifying applications ripe for migration to the cloud.
  • Strategy: Determine the most fitting migration approach aligned with your business goals – be it lift-and-shift, re-platforming, or full modernization.
  • Implementation: Harness the comprehensive suite of AWS tools and meticulous documentation to smoothly migrate and optimize your Windows workloads within the cloud environment.
  • Monitoring and Optimization: Sustain the journey through continuous monitoring and fine-tuning of your workloads, ensuring peak performance and cost efficiency.

Conclusion:

Modernizing your Windows workloads via AWS cloud services transcends the realm of mere updates; it represents a compelling embrace of the future of IT infrastructure. AWS’s potent services offer the keys to scalability, flexibility, security, and innovation, positioning your organization for resounding success in the digital age.

As you embark on your modernization journey, consider the expertise and support that Godgtl brings to the table. Our team of seasoned professionals is well-versed in harnessing the full potential of AWS cloud services to elevate your business growth. By leveraging AWS’s cutting-edge technologies and best practices, we can help you seamlessly transition your Windows workloads, unlock new avenues of efficiency, and fuel innovation. With Godgtl as your partner, you’re not just modernizing – you’re embracing a transformative pathway that propels your organization to new heights.

Now is the time to embark on your Windows workloads’ modernization journey. Contact us today to discover how AWS cloud services, powered by Godgtl’s expertise, can metamorphose your Windows workloads and propel your organization toward a future brimming with efficiency, growth, and limitless possibilities.

Contact us today to learn more about our services and how we can help your business thrive in the cloud era. Contact 24/7 – GoDgtl (go-dgtl.in).

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AWS Services and Solutions Blog

Benefits of AWS ElastiCache – A fully managed Caching service by Amazon

Caching involves the storing of a subset of data onto a high-speed data storage layer. It helps in processing the requests for that particular data faster by accessing the data’s primary storage location. It is useful to retrieve previously used data efficiently.

AWS ElastiCache is a fully managed caching service by Amazon Web Services (AWS). It provides an in-memory caching solution for cloud-based applications, allowing them to quickly retrieve data without having to query a database every time. Through AWS ElastiCache, web applications can access and store data more quickly due to the managed in-memory data store capabilities.

The two popular open-source caching engines supported by Elasticache include: Memcached and Redis. Memcached is a simple, high-performance, and distributed memory object caching system, while Redis is a more advanced key-value data store that supports data structures such as strings, hashes, lists, sets, and sorted sets. Key performance measures associated with Redis or Memcached nodes are easily tracked using Amazon ElastiCache. 

Benefits of AWS ElastiCache

  • Extreme performance: As the data is stored on a sub layer, accessing data i,e. reading data from in-memory cache is faster which improves the overall performance of the application. ElastiCache consists of end-to-end hardware and software stack for faster performance.
  • Highly secure: Amazon ElastiCache simplifies the architecture while maintaining security boundaries and take advantage of granular access control to manage groups. By continuously monitoring the Redis open-source code, firmware and operating system, it is possible to detect security vulnerabilities and maintain a secure environment.
  • Reduce load at the backend: ElastiCache reduces the load on the database and protect it from slower performance under load, or even crashing at times of spikes.  
  • Reduce database cost: Cache includes hundreds of thousands of instances in a single cache instance that replaces several database instances. It helps in reducing the overall cost for primary database. 
  • Provides scalability: Amazon ElastiCache allows easily scale the data as the application grows. One of its main features is the capability to scale-in and scale-out an online cluster without disrupting Redis performance, responding smoothly to fluctuating workload demands.   
  • Fully managed service: Amazon ElastiCache does not need any hardware provisioning, software patching, setup configuration, failure recovery, monitoring, and backups. 
  • Integration with other AWS services: ElastiCache integrates seamlessly with other AWS services such as Amazon RDS, Amazon EC2, and AWS Lambda. This allows users to build and deploy their applications quickly and easily.

Conclusion

Amazon ElastiCache provides a resilient system that mitigates the risk of overloaded databases, which slow website and application load times, by automatically detecting and replacing failed nodes. Amazon Management Console along with Amazon ElastiCache allows adding an in-memory layer to the infrastructure in a matter of minutes.

 GoDgtl is implementing AWS solutions for enhancing web services. Choose GoDgtl for reliable cloud migration and consultation services to ensure seamless integration of your valuable data into the cloud.    

Contact us today to learn more about our services and how we can help your business thrive in the cloud era. Contact 24/7 – GoDgtl (go-dgtl.in).

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Blog Cloud Migration Services

Benefits of migrating your Microsoft Windows workloads to AWS cloud

Organizations are realizing the potential benefits of migrating their Microsoft Windows workloads and the flexibility it provides for managing huge data and applications.

Organizations are opting to migrate their Microsoft Windows workloads to AWS Cloud to get over the burden of managing unreliable firewalls, hardware and software systems that have performance issues, and resources that are unable to perform during peak times.

Migrating large Microsoft Windows workloads from on-premises data center to an AWS cloud requires a well-planned strategy and implementation of the right set of tools.

Modernizing Microsoft Windows workloads to Amazon EC2 instances offers agility and enhanced security and compliance.  

Benefits of migrating Microsoft Windows workloads to AWS Cloud

Flexibility: Amazon EC2 instances allow users to choose the operating system, middleware platforms, and libraries. Amazon EC2 allows users to configure memory, CPU, and boot partition that can be optimized for the available infrastructure. Windows servers run with enhanced efficiency that will improve output and response time. 

Customized infrastructure: AWS offers customized environments for Windows under the EC2 instance services. It allows users to seamlessly transfer their on-prem windows files to AWS. EC2 instances support the migration of Windows SQL for effectively managing databases. 

Ease of accessibility: Migrating Windows workloads to Amazon EC2 has the major advantage of gaining complete control over virtual servers. It allows users to access the resources from anywhere and anytime.    

Enhanced security and backup system: Amazon EC2 ensures automated backup for Windows workloads through customized backup plans to suit the specific needs of every customer. The workloads available on EC2 servers are secure and can be accessed only by authorized members with valid credentials.

Cost-effective: AWS provides a highly secure infrastructure that is designed to protect against a wide range of potential threats, including DDoS attacks, phishing, and other forms of cybercrime. Amazon EC2 for Microsoft Windows allows users to choose a plan that best suits their usage and specific needs. This helps in the maximum utilization of resources and reduces costs significantly. The upfront costs of purchasing and maintaining hardware is reduced. Amazon EC2 passes the benefits to the users as they need to pay a very low amount compared to the services they are availing.

Ease of handling large-sized files: Amazon EC2 offers higher bandwidth making it easy for the storage platform to handle large file requests without causing any disruption to the critical tasks. Organizations opting for AWS cloud benefit through Amazon EC2 and can handle heavy files without any difficulty as compared to a third-party platform.

Windows licensing: AWS guarantees extra reliability by allowing Amazon EC2 users to ‘Bring their own license’. AWS offers the flexibility to use new and existing Microsoft software licenses. By choosing Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud license-included instances fully compliant SQL Server licenses are provided by AWS. Amazon EC2 Dedicated Hosts, and Amazon EC2 Dedicated Instances services allow users to use their existing licenses while migrating to AWS. AWS License Manager helps in the ease of tracking software license usage and reduces the risk of compliance.

AWS consists of various services including AWS Cost Explorer, AWS Compute Optimizer, and AWS Managed Services for optimizing the costs, usage, and licenses after the successful migration of Windows workloads. 

Conclusion:

Migrating Microsoft workloads to Amazon Web Services (AWS) can help customers optimize costs and improve the agility and scalability of the infrastructure. This, in turn, allows them to innovate more easily and modernize their infrastructure and applications, leading to continued cost-savings.

By leveraging the power of AWS, customers can take advantage of its robust infrastructure and cutting-edge technology to streamline their operations and achieve greater efficiency. Moreover, AWS provides a secure and reliable platform for running Microsoft workloads, ensuring that customers can enjoy peace of mind knowing that their data is always protected. 

GoDgtl by Prutech is an AWS approved Cloud partner with expertise in migrating Microsoft Windows workloads to AWS cloud for various business organizations. Our expertise and competency helped various organizations with diverse industry verticals to realize their cloud transformation process.
Contact us today to learn more about our services and how we can help your business thrive in the cloud era. Contact 24/7 – GoDgtl (go-dgtl.in).