Networking Recruitment Platform For Students
Background
Customer Request
Challenges & Solutions
Challenges
Performance issues
Legacy mySQL setup had performance issues so the product had a bad user experience during the Convention Days. Users often could not easily access all the platform's features to participate in events fully.
Database Corruption
The mySQL database worked unstably. The lack of a reliable backup plan and point-in-time recovery caused some data to be lost or corrupted. There was an urgent need to centralize and automate backups.
Lack of automating infrastructure provisioning
Previously, developers manually managed infrastructure components (servers, OS, storage, and others) during product development or deployment. Configuration changes were undocumented.
Difficulties with SDLC
We found problems during both the development, testing, and deployment phases of the project. Resources were used rationally, the speed of code delivery and movement was low, and costs were high.
Solutions
Product Outages Mitigation
FTL specialists moved mySQL to the Amazon RDS Aurora with a multi-AZ nodes setup. We optimized Backend Rails application using Newrelic integration. Bunch of N+1 queries were fixed. Left join queries optimized.
Product Database Corruption Mitigation
FTL made sure that mySQL got a backup plan. We provided daily snapshots with a DB snapshots vault, as well as PITR (Point-in-time Recovery) support for a 45 days ad-hoc history.
Moving to IaaC with the help of Terraform
FTL moved the platform to Infrastructure as a Code to automate resource provisioning. To do this, we used Terraform Cloud with Workspaces. We also performed tasks related to Setup CloudFront distributions with CORS headers and RDS Aurora.
Software Development LifeCycle improvements
The FTL team added Docker support to speed up deployment and scaling in any environment. We used Docker Compose for a Monorepo setup. With Developer Sandbox, we were able to improve efficiency in an isolated environment.
project facts
main features
Useful integrations with third-party platforms
The FTL team performed a number of integrations that positively impacted the platform: - Saleforce: personalizing the customer experience and automating routine tasks; - ClassLink: increased security with MFA. - Clever: convenient and secure digital learning for all parties (student, parent, teacher, administrator). - Whereby and Zoom: easy video communication. - Custom integration with Institutions (SFTP, Salesforce, etc).
Using Amazon RDS Aurora features
To fix database performance problems and optimize costs, we chose Amazon RDS Aurora. It made the database run 5 times faster (compared to MySQL) and reduced costs by almost 10 times. RDS helped automate routine administration tasks, including backups.
Developing features for students and administrators
The FTL specialists devoted 70% of their work time to the creation and implementation of the functionality. Since the first and main value for the project is a student (Convention Users), most of the features were related to the search for educational institutions. We also developed options for Admin Users (School Admins) to communicate with students and conduct events.
Technologies used
