Amazon Zoosk
Meet local singles with Zoosk, an online dating site and dating app that makes it so simple to find your perfect match. Put some love in your life today! Amazon has signed an agreement to acquire Zoox, a California-based company working to design autonomous ride-hailing vehicles from the ground up. Aicha Evans, Zoox CEO, and Jesse Levinson, Zoox co-founder and CTO, will continue to lead the team as they innovate and drive towards their mission.
Amazon Buys Zoosk
The Challenge
When Spark Networks bought Zoosk, one of the bigger challenges of the acquisition was merging the two disparate IT environments. Spark Networks already used the AWS platform extensively. Zoosk, on the other hand, still ran many of its systems and applications in on-premises infrastructure.
In particular, Zoosk had an on-premises Microsoft SQL Server data warehouse with SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) and SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) that had outgrown legacy hardware. The platform couldn’t complete native database backups due to its lack of disk space and poor hardware capabilities. Also, the data warehouse was in the Zoosk domain, which meant it wasn’t accessible to Spark Networks.
Spark Networks needed to integrate Zoosk into its AWS environment without affecting existing users. Doing so required database refactoring and a smooth migration from on-premises systems to the cloud. However, Spark Networks didn’t have experience with such projects. The leadership team needed a third-party expert to guide them to a desirable end state. Additionally, Spark Networks believed there could be opportunities down the road to optimize its cloud usage if it were to find the right long-term partner. Enter ClearScale.
The ClearScale Solution
ClearScale began by digging into Zoosk’s data warehouse needs. The team evaluated Zoosk’s computing and storage requirements, as well as its data usage patterns, to determine an optimal AWS architecture.
ClearScale settled on an Infrastructure as Code (IaC) automation approach. The cloud expert worked closely with leaders from Spark Networks and Zoosk to migrate databases from multiple database servers to AWS without disrupting existing services.
Several AWS features were instrumental throughout the unification effort, including:
- Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS) for Microsoft SQL
- Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)
- Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3)
- Amazon CloudWatch
- AWS CloudTrail
Amazon RDS is a relational database that is optimized for the cloud. The service provides cost-efficient and resizable capacity. It can also automate administrative tasks, such as hardware provisioning and patching so that IT teams can focus on higher-value activities. With Amazon RDS, Zoosk spends less time managing its data infrastructure.
ClearScale implemented Amazon EC2 to address Zoosk’s computing high availability requirements. Amazon EC2 provides secure and resizable computing capacity in the cloud and gives complete control to developers over resource allocation. ClearScale deployed Microsoft SSIS and SSAS clusters across multiple Availability Zones (AZs), taking advantage of Always-on Windows Server Failover Cluster capability.
Using Amazon CloudWatch, Zoosk can closely monitor resource consumption and performance for its applications and infrastructure. On top of that, AWS CloudTrail simplifies governance, compliance, and risk management, which is important for a dating application that must protect sensitive user data.
Amazon Zook
Overall, these features equip Zoosk and Spark Networks with better capabilities for managing IT systems and processes across a vast user base. ClearScale followed AWS best implementation practices the entire way to maximize performance and availability while also leaving room for future growth.
Architecture Diagram
Amazon Zookeeper
The Benefits
Thanks to ClearScale, Spark Networks was able to integrate Zoosk into its existing AWS IT infrastructure without compromising performance.
Zoosk now has a highly available and sophisticated data warehouse that doesn’t suffer from performance issues. The application is accessible to the Spark Networks IT team and can take advantage of advanced cloud computing capabilities going forward.
Additionally, Zoosk is more cost-effective and reliable. The platform can deliver better user experiences through its optimized IT cost structure. At the same time, Spark Networks can trust that its new subsidiary has the capabilities it needs to expand across the world and reach new users over the long term.
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