SpyFu

CHALLENGES

SpyFu’s applications and workloads rely on the entirety of the internet, combing through billions of keywords and search results to find the information their clients require. They initially used hyperscale cloud provider services like AWS OpenSearch to obtain the resources needed to accomplish their business goals. However, these services quickly became cost-prohibitive and difficult to work with. This left them struggling to find cost-effective alternatives capable of performing large-scale data analytics and processing that fuels their projects.

With the launch of RivalFlow fast approaching, SpyFu needed a flexible, opex-modeled IT infrastructure solution that would provide the raw horsepower capable of driving their AI-powered initiatives.

Noting that the price of high-performance, all-flash storage was becoming more affordable, they were looking for an NVMe-based storage solution to accelerate their workloads. However, AWS did not support it. As a result, the SpyFu team moved to large ElasticSearch clusters and started scouting for alternative cloud service providers that could cater to their compute, network, and storage needs.

phoenixNAP’s Bare Metal Cloud turned out to be the perfect fit for SpyFu. The platform offered them powerful, API-driven bare metal featuring high-capacity local NVMe storage and easy access to all-flash Network File Storage (NFS). Using Bare Metal Cloud, SpyFu gained the ability to deploy workload-optimized dedicated servers in minutes.

SOLUTION

phoenixNAP’s Bare Metal Cloud provided SpyFu with access to powerful dedicated servers that are provisioned in minutes and managed as code. These capabilities simplified their migration process, while the raw power of bare metal helped SpyFu optimize performance for their data-intensive workloads.

The hourly billing option gave SpyFu the liberty to test Bare Metal Cloud and make sure it was the right fit for their workloads. Once the platform met and exceeded their expectations, they were able to further optimize their IT spend by opting for a long-term reservation.

SpyFu chose s3.c3.medium server instances powered by the latest and fastest Intel^® Core^™ i9 14900K processors. Boasting 24 cores and 32 threads, these CPUs reach 6.0 GHz Max Turbo frequency with 8 Performance cores. Paired with DDR5 RAM and all-NVMe storage on a 20 Gbps DDoS-protected network, the infrastructure helped them process even the most demanding computational tasks with maximum efficiency.

They combined Bare Metal Cloud network fabric with their own infrastructure hosted at phoenixNAP’s flagship data center facility in Phoenix. Doing so enabled them to effectively network any number of physical machines to a dedicated backend. Through better performance, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness, SpyFu built a unique infrastructure that ensured optimal user experience for their clients and dramatically lowered their IT costs.

BENEFITS

Bare Metal Cloud granted SpyFu access to over 50 pre-configured dedicated servers. Through transparent configurations and pricing, they were able to find the resources they required at a billing model suitable to them and consume cutting-edge servers as a service.

As a versatile IaaS solution, the platform provided the SpyFu team with the freedom to test various deployment scenarios and find the one offering the highest cost-to-performance ratio. They were able to compare the performance of the local NVMe storage against the platform’s scale-out Network File Storage option and their own dedicated cabinet of storage servers.

By finding the right combination for their particular use case, SpyFu managed to cut their cloud spend in half while improving performance and leaving plenty of room for future growth.

Key Bare Metal Cloud Benefits for SpyFu include:

• Better Cost-to-Performance Ratio – 50% savings over previously used AWS services and higher performance of their clusters on bare metal.
• Automated Provisioning — Deployment of pre-configured dedicated servers in 3 to 10 minutes.
• Easier Scalability — Ensured high availability and performance by globally scaling bare metal servers with a single POST request.
• Access to Scale-Out Storage – Easy deployment of terabytes of all-NVMe Network File Storage and S3-compatible Object Storage.
• Next-Gen Technologies – Ability to consume future-ready CPU, RAM, storage, and network technologies on an opex model.
• Flexible Billing Models – Additional cost optimization with around 40% discount for long-term server reservations.
• Reduced Infrastructure Overhead – Provisioning via API, CLI, WebUI, or IaC modules allow for automated resource management at scale.
• More Headroom for Growth - Reliable performance and freedom to burst resources based on fluctuating requirements.

Choosing Bare Metal Cloud as an alternative to popular hyperscale cloud service providers helped SpyFu overcome its IT challenges and improve performance while maximizing ROI. The raw performance of bare metal powered by blazing-fast Intel CPUs allowed them to break through AI performance bottlenecks. With the possibility to choose from multiple easy-to-deploy storage options, SpyFu managed to find the most effective storage solution and seamlessly interconnect it with its hosted infrastructure. Finally, relying on phoenixNAP’s broad product portfolio, SpyFu can continue to grow and build out, leveraging new hardware as it becomes available. This ensures SpyFu stays true to its ideals and continues to provide outstanding products to anyone - not just big corporations.