We started by detecting and fixing the issue with microsites within the scope of the pilot project. Nakasoft's specialists found out that the problem was caused by an external API used by the GeoIP module to define website visitors, namely by the API's slow performance that forced sites to go down.
We solved the problem by implementing a new algorithm for defining the microsites' visitors. The algorithm includes downloading a publicly available GeoIP database, putting that data on the server, and letting the GeoIP module search in its database instead of waiting for external IP queries to work. This led to better performance and stability. After this pilot project finished, we kept supporting the microsites in case new problems were to occur.
After solving the microsites problem, Nakasoft's DevOps experts moved on to the environment setup and maintenance as well as the automation of server deployment.
The microsites are either static or built on WordPress/Drupal. Our specialists develop and upgrade the scripts/templates to build these sites automatically or semi-manually. We created CloudFormation templates to set up the infrastructure and update site versions when needed. When accepting new microsites for DevOps maintenance, we perform joint code review and set up their Git in cooperation with the customer's team.
An example of a script written by Nakasoft is the one for āhousekeeping' that allows for cost-saving and resource optimization. Before we joined the project, the environments had been managed by different teams since 2015. The customer saw that there were unused resources on Amazon servers, such as volumes, snapshots, file storages, and backups. We wrote a script that used the AWS Command Line Interface tool to check up these resources constantly and notify engineers of the ones that can be cleared up.
The script helps save around 5% of the budget spent on the environment management monthly. The customer also uses the script for other AWS accounts, and the aggregated cost-saving index is up to $4,000 per month. The yearly savings comprise up to $50,000.
We carried out microsites migration when the customer decided to separate the sites belonging to the company's division responsible for research and analysis of global business and social trends from the rest of the microsites. We created the backup of the file system and the database, and then moved 10 microsites (Staging and Production environments) to a separate AWS account. It allowed for finance management and allocation between different departments, as well as for budget transparency.
After the successful migration, we started providing 24/7 support of these sites. According to the service-level agreement between the customer and Nakasoft, our specialists are to react to urgent issues within 1 hour, to high-priority issues within 2 business hours, and to spend from 1 to 2 business days on fixing other types of problems.
