How Moving from the Cloud to On-Prem Paid Off in Six Months: A Case Study

Full disclosure: Dooer, the client mentioned in this post, is part of the same group of companies as Mettlo.

Migrating off the cloud to an on-premises setup can seem like a daunting task. For Dooer, however, this move resulted in significant cost savings and increased control over their operations. In just six months, Dooer recouped their up-front investment and began reaping the benefits of owning their hardware.

The Challenge

Dooer was facing escalating costs on AWS, averaging $25,000 per month—or around $300,000 per year. Despite the promise of scalability and ease of use, the cloud didn’t simplify the infrastructure setup much. It just moved it online and introduced a bunch of cloud-specific concepts instead. But above all, it did not lower costs; quite the opposite!

The Solution

Mettlo helped Dooer transition from AWS to a physical server setup. Here’s what we did:

Selecting Hardware

We assisted Dooer in specifying and procuring hardware that met their specific needs. Importantly, we offered them flexibility in choosing between leasing our hardware or purchasing their own.

Performing Migration

As we focus on Kubernetes hosting, we set up the new hardware to run Dooer’s workloads on high-availability Kubernetes clusters. We also helped Dooer with an end-to-end migration of their workloads to the new hardware, and in doing so, made the following key technical changes of their old tech stack:

Event Management
Moved from AWS SQS and SNS to Kafka.
Data Storage
Transitioned from AWS S3 to an S3-compatible API using Ceph/Rook.
Container Orchestration
Shifted from ECS containers to containers managed by Kubernetes.

These changes not only reduced their dependence on proprietary cloud services but also enhanced their control over the infrastructure. And most importantly, the migration was entirely invisible to end-users.

Providing Cloud Management Software

To simplify the management of their infrastructure, we provided Dooer with our online cloud management software called Mettlo One! It makes infrastructure configuration easy—both through the browser and from the terminal.

Mettlo One is highly extensible and allows for packaging and deploying any service, both on their Mettlo infrastructure, but also to existing cloud providers. This means Dooer isn’t locked into a single ecosystem and can thus customize their operations as needed.

Data Center Partnership and Support

Lastly, we helped Dooer find a suitable data center, leading to a partnership with Equinix. This ensured their hardware is housed in a secure, reliable environment with excellent network connectivity. We also set up off-site backups and redundancy measures to protect their data and ensure business continuity.

The Results

Significant Cost Savings

Consistently averaging $25,000 per month on AWS, Dooer’s cloud expenses started to drop in the fall of 2023 throughout the migration to the new hardware (as shown in the graph from AWS below).

Over a three-year period, Dooer’s fixed costs for hardware and data center fees (including network and rack rent at Equinix) are considerably lower than an equivalent configuration on AWS. In fact, Dooer’s new setup paid for itself in just six months:

Cloud Costs Over Three Years: $300,000 per year x 3 = $900,000
On-Premises Investment: $115,000 (hardware) + ($4,000 x 36 months) = $259,000
Total Savings Over Three Years: $641,000

Enhanced Control and Autonomy

By moving to their own hardware, Dooer has gained more control over their infrastructure.

Transitioning from our cloud provider to our own hardware was one of the best decisions we’ve made, both financially and operationally. Our team no longer has to keep up with the cloud jargon, its complexity and obtaining specialized certifications. With Mettlo’s help, managing our infrastructure has become both straightforward and efficient.

― Dooer Ops

Mettlo’s Key Services

At Mettlo, we offer a wide range of services that made this migration possible:

Consulting and Migration Services
With more than 20 years of experience from the web and hosting industry, we can provide the expertise in not only setting up your infrastructure, but also migrate your workloads to your new infrastructure (even if this is not a lift-and-shift operation).
Flexible Hardware and Hosting Solutions
We offer options to lease our hardware, buy your own, or even host your workloads on virtual Kubernetes clusters in our data centers. You have full control and have the ability to switch as your needs change.
Cloud Management Software
Our software platform is fully extensible and extendable, allowing you to package and deploy any service, including integrations with existing cloud providers.
Infrastructure Support
We assist in picking the right hardware, procurement, finding a suitable data center as well as setting up off-site backups and implementing redundancy measures.

Consider a Similar Move?

Dooer’s experience demonstrates that transitioning from cloud services to owning your infrastructure can lead to substantial cost savings, greater control, and enhanced flexibility.

Are you considering a similar move and would like to explore how these services could benefit your business, we’d be happy to discuss your needs and how we can assist. Feel free to reach out - for example by filling out the form below.