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Algo21 operates in the blockchain domain as a decentralized finance hub. They utilized AWS for their cryptocurrency exchange, but faced mounting costs and a less-than-optimal infrastructure given the size of their project. They needed to either adjust their current deployments or to switch providers.
Algo21 was only founded in 2023. It was in its infancy, but they were energetic. Founder Amit Krelman and company had invested a lot of time in building out their architecture, opting for a conventional deployment strategy on AWS that included a lot of native Amazon tools – CodeBuild, CodePipeline, Route 53, and others.
But their early progress was soon overshadowed by worries. The Algo21 team saw costs might escalate in a way that they could not control or forecast. They needed to find help in transforming their layout to preempt those challenges, as well as a partner that had worked with the blockchain ecosystem before.
Algo21 looked into a few different options, but ultimately landed on partnering with Profisea for the latter’s experience in setting up architecture, as well as handling migrations with AWS and GCP on a short timeline. Profisea’s experience with crypto platform INX also showed they knew the industry.
What started as a cost-saving exercise quickly became a strategic reimagining of Algo21’s entire technological approach. That turned any changes and possible migration into an opportunity, even a conduit for resilience, flexibility, and future-proofing Algo21’s operations.
Targeting Goals
Pre-migration deployment of Algo21 on AWS
We first evaluated their present deployment to see where improvements could be made from the standpoints of FinOps and efficiency. Along the way, we would consider alternative architectures and different applications that could save money or be more flexible in deployment.
Our investigation landed on several places Algo21 could benefit by switching to Google Cloud Platform, particularly for its project-based structure. But more importantly, Algo21 stood to gain much by replacing AWS-specific tooling with neutral options, in order to add flexibility for deployments, especially if they manage to build out and become multi-cloud or need to migrate again.
1. Container Orchestration – Instead of AWS-native container service (ECS) or opting for Google’s Cloud Run equivalent, we resolved to replace ECS with the GCP-managed service GKE, which is based on the open source Kubernetes for automating deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications, owing to its huge community and user base.
2. DNS – While Route 53 works well for AWS, it isn’t as convenient to keep an extra cloud service for DNS. It also lacks some of the robust security that more universal options like Cloudflare provide.
3. GitOps and CI – To replace AWS’s combination of CodeBuild and CodePipeline, we saw it would be better to take advantage of Algo21’s use of GitHub as their repository by adding GitHub Actions. Thanks to the deployment of Kubernetes, we would also be able to add runners inside the cluster.
4. CD – We would shift from Terraform to a more specialized tool, ArgoCD.
Profisea’s Solution
The migration was completed in less than a month, with minimal downtime, making for an incredibly speedy migration. Infrastructure was modernized and made to align with best practices, including replacing certain software with more appropriate options.
Partnering with Profisea went beyond switching out AWS for GCP – the new infrastructure did away with vendor lock-in. It made their architecture more versatile going forward, making future scalability quicker to achieve.
Post-migration deployment of Algo21 on Google Cloud Platform
Container Orchestration
Another reason for the migration was to take advantage of open source Kubernetes in order to manage future container orchestration.
Profisea’s experts configured container orchestration. This involved defining tasks for containerization, setting up a cluster and service for deployment, and implementing auto-scaling policies to dynamically adjust resources and varying workloads.
DNS
Crucially, we took advantage of the migration to deploy more provider-agnostic tools for DNS. We replaced AWS Route 53 with the more universal Cloudflare.
With Cloudflare, we can fully configure Full (Strict) access from the cloud to the application. This limits the access points, being more secure. We also integrated WAF, thereby restricting the regions where clients can access the application. All of this is one tool with Cloudflare, rather than multiple provider-specific tools.
GitOps & CI/CD
Profisea chose to migrate the CI component from AWS-native services, moving from AWS CodeBuild and CodePipeline to GitHub Actions with runners inside the main cluster. This option was lighter, not having to include provisioning of the separate EC2 instances.
Also owing to Algo21’s use of GitHub as its code repository, it was easier to manage continuous integration in the same place.
GitHub Actions has the added advantage of a larger user base and being flexible to multiple cloud deployment options. For instance, should there be a need for another migration in the future, GitHub Actions can remain part of the stack.
In tandem, we switched out the main CD tool, swapping Terraform for Argo CD. Terraform is not AWS-native, so it wasn’t a universal applicability issue. While many developers elect to use Terraform for multiple purposes, it isn’t as specialized for continuous deployment as Argo CD is.
Terraform, as an Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) tool, complicates managing application resources. You in effect are modifying your entire infrastructure, which goes against Best Practices.
Argo CD also displays everything in a more user-friendly way. We can customize the UI display in terms of dashboards and charts.
Profisea: Your Trusted Partner for AWS DevOps Services and Cloud Migration
Profisea is an Israeli boutique DevOps and cloud company providing a full spectrum of cloud management services, from smart customization of existing cloud infrastructures to end-to-end cloud infrastructure designing and optimization that meets unique business requirements.
Since 2015, Profisea’s DevOps engineers have been implementing top practices in GitOps, DevSecOps, and FinOps, and providing Kubernetes-based infrastructure services to help businesses of all sizes – SMB, SME, or large enterprises transform their organizational mindsets, increase productivity, and boost performance.
If you are looking for optimized infrastructure and enhanced delivery processes, check out our DevOps as a service page to get more information about how we can transform your cloud journey.
