Redis > Case Studies > Optimizing Database Performance and Cost with Redis on Flash: A Case Study on Ekata

Optimizing Database Performance and Cost with Redis on Flash: A Case Study on Ekata

Technology Category

Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Database Management & Storage
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Storage Services

Applicable Industries

Cement
Consumer Goods

Applicable Functions

Maintenance
Quality Assurance

Use Cases

Construction Management
Time Sensitive Networking

Services

Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services

About The Customer

Ekata is a company that specializes in providing digital identity verification services. It operates a proprietary Identity GraphTM solution that helps consumers find old family and friends and learn more about their backgrounds, and enterprise businesses address fraud and identity verification. The company's solution makes on average 150,000 to 200,000 calls per second to its 3TB database. Ekata's services are used by more than 35 million people a month, with over 5 billion records being searched. The company is often the first destination for businesses and individuals looking to find contact information and run background checks.

The Challenge

Ekata, a company that provides digital identity verification services, was facing a significant challenge in managing its vast database. The company's proprietary Identity GraphTM solution was making an average of 150,000 to 200,000 calls per second to its 3TB database, a number that could even surpass during peak hours. The challenge was to handle this massive load without impacting the performance of the system. As Ekata expanded its identity dataset globally, the need for a better solution to manage this load without affecting performance and keeping operational costs low became increasingly apparent.

The Solution

Ekata turned to Redis Cloud to address its database management challenges. Initially, Ekata had stored the IDs to all its data in a key-value store on Amazon ElastiCache. However, after testing the performance and reliability of other solutions, including MongoDB, Cassandra, Couchbase, and Amazon ElastiCache, Ekata found that none could handle the full dataset size and still provide the single-digit latency that Redis could deliver. Redis Cloud was chosen as the primary database due to its ability to maintain sub-hundred millisecond end-to-end latency of its application and provide a consistent end-user experience. Furthermore, Redis on Flash, which stores hot values and keys in DRAM and cold values in cost-effective Flash-based SSDs, was leveraged to drastically reduce the application’s operational costs without compromising performance.

Operational Impact

The implementation of Redis Cloud and Redis on Flash brought about significant operational improvements for Ekata. The company was able to handle the massive load of calls to its database without impacting the performance of its system. This ensured a consistent end-user experience for its digital identity verification services for both businesses and consumers. Furthermore, the breakthrough approach of tiering data access with Redis on Flash allowed Ekata to drastically reduce its operational costs without compromising performance. This resulted in substantial infrastructure savings each year, allowing the company to invest more in its core services and expansion.

Quantitative Benefit

By leveraging Redis on Flash, Ekata reduced its use of expensive DRAM storage by 70%, resulting in significant cost savings.
Ekata was able to maintain less than 100ms end-to-end latency of its application, ensuring a consistent end-user experience.
Ekata saved hundreds of thousands of dollars in infrastructure investment costs each year.