U.S. Government Agency Achieves 75% Hosting Cost Reduction with AWS Migration

A U.S. government news agency, which serves between 1 to 2 billion monthly pageviews across 47 Drupal sites, encountered significant challenges with rising costs associated with their hosting provider, Acquia. The agency was spending approximately $1 million per year for just four of its sites, which prompted a reevaluation of their hosting strategy. They sought a solution that would not only reduce costs but also provide greater control over their infrastructure.

The agency explored migrating to Amazon Web Services (AWS) using DevPanel, a platform that allows users to manage their own AWS accounts with a user-friendly point-and-click dashboard. This migration offered browser-based development tools, full root access, and VPN support, along with 24/7 DevOps assistance. The phased pilot project demonstrated that the average migration time was less than two days per site, showcasing the efficiency of the process.

As a result of the migration, the agency projected its hosting costs to drop to approximately $200,000 per year, translating to over 75% savings compared to their previous expenses. Additionally, the performance of their sites improved significantly, with the new infrastructure capable of handling over 1 million hits per minute due to auto-scaling capabilities. This transition not only alleviated financial burdens but also enhanced the agency's operational efficiency.