Table of Contents
At JetRuby, we understand the importance of staging and pre-production servers to effectively test a product during its active development phase, ensure production stability, and enable asynchronous feature release. However, we also understand that this approach can be quite expensive for enterprises, which may discourage many organizations from adopting this approach. This exact problem we have encountered with one of our clients.
The Problem
After creating an efficient supply stream that included deploying an additional pre-production server, the customer faced high maintenance costs. Satisfied with the improvements that the new infrastructure and delivery flow brought, our customer challenged us to reduce maintenance costs while maintaining all its benefits.
Our Solution
To solve this problem, we proposed implementing work schedules for the stage and pre-production servers, given the different time zones of our team and the three client offices (Australia, New Zealand, and the UK). This approach enhanced collaboration and responsiveness, while reducing downtime. We’ll cover positive results in more detail later in the article.
Since we originally used Terraform technology to design the project infrastructure (infrastructure as a code), we made all changes through Terraforms. This approach took us a little longer to implement, but it guaranteed that we could adjust the schedule without risking disrupting the entire system.
We brought in a DevOps engineer to solve this problem. It took just over a day to complete the task.
Positive Results
The implementation of work schedules for the stage and pre-production servers had several positive results for our client:
- It led to a significant reduction in maintenance costs without sacrificing functionality or security. We implemented a solution that saved around $300 a month.
- It increased collaboration between our team and the client by streamlining the development process, resulting in faster feedback and issue resolution.
- It improved the overall efficiency of the development process by ensuring servers were only in use during peak hours, leading to more productive work days and fewer delays.
At our agency, we provide technical solutions that solve business problems while improving efficiency and collaboration. By implementing work schedules for stage and pre-production servers using Terraform technology, we reduced maintenance costs, increased efficiency, and enhanced collaboration for our client.
