Migrating Volumez RedHat VMs into Amazon Linux 2 for higher effective discounts rate of Saving Plan

A cloud data infrastructure company relied on extensive use of multiple instance types to test its products. But this made it difficult to optimize costs – a fact which had begun to impact their ability to scale the business.  

The GlobalDots team helped the company identify and implement a new infrastructure configuration that both saved them money and maintained exceptional performance. As a result, they were able to continue scaling while improving their bottom line.

The Problem: Managing Cloud Costs While Maintaining Performance

Volumez is a company that rapidly scales its testing environment to ensure its products perform optimally across a wide range of CPU architectures. However, their infrastructure configuration and OS choice were based purely on performance considerations – and had not fully taken cost into consideration.

As the company scaled its operations, this problem became clear. The company relied heavily on multiple EC2 instances. But the cost of RedHat licenses, coupled with the extensive use of different instance types, placed a significant financial burden on the company. 

Ultimately, they needed to rethink their infrastructure configuration to maintain high performance while also increasing cost-efficiency. 

The Solution: Optimizing Operations with an AWS Partner

The company chose GlobalDots as their innovation partner, based on the company’s AWS partnership and 20+ years’ experience connecting our clients with groundbreaking FinOps technologies & services.

GlobalDots’ cloud experts undertook an extensive cost optimization strategy that included:

• Benchmarking: We performed a detailed benchmark analysis of different EC2 instance types, sizes, and operating systems (RedHat, Ubuntu, Amazon Linux 2). This benchmark aimed to identify the most cost-effective combination without compromising on performance.
• OS Migration: Based on the benchmark results, we recommended migrating from RedHat to Amazon Linux 2 (AL2). AL2 not only provided the necessary performance but also eliminated the additional cost of RedHat licenses.
• Savings Plans: Post-migration, we assisted Volumez in purchasing Savings Plans tailored for their AL2 EC2 usage. This strategic move enabled them to benefit from substantial discounts, further reducing their operational costs.

Architecture diagram before RH-AL2 migration:

Architecture diagram After RH-AL2 migration:

The solution leveraged a range of AWS Services, including:

• Amazon EC2: Leveraged for running diverse instance types to test products across various CPU architectures.
• AWS Savings Plans: Implemented to secure cost savings across their new AL2 EC2 instances.
• Amazon Linux 2 (AL2): Chosen as the primary operating system post-migration due to its cost-effectiveness and performance.

The Results 

By migrating from RedHat to Amazon Linux 2 and leveraging Savings Plans, Volumez achieved:

• Cost Reductions: The migration led to a significant reduction in operating costs, with an additional impact due to Savings Plans, effectively doubling the cost savings.
• Improved Scalability: The cost optimization allowed Volumez to scale their testing environment rapidly, without the financial strain previously experienced.
• Performance Maintenance: Despite the reduction in costs, the performance of Volumez’s testing environments remained consistent, meeting their rigorous testing requirements.

This led to measurable improvements:

15% reduction in overall EC2 costs.

Increased capability to run 20% more instances with the same budget.

Eliminated recurring licensing costs for long-term savings

Leveraging the Power of AWS Partnership

This case study demonstrates that cost savings do not have to come at the expense of performance. In fact, the expert team at GlobalDots prides itself on delivering solutions that help our partners simultaneously reduce spend and elevate their product and service offerings.  

Want to explore how we could help you achieve similar results?