Peerio integrates cloud storage with a messaging platform so users can safely keep their important files online and ready to send from anywhere. With end-to-end encryption, messages and files are encrypted before leaving the client’s computer and can only be read by senders and recipients.
The requirements
Peerio needed a cloud infrastructure solution that would meet the needs of its developers and operators. The company’s application required reliability and scalability, including intelligent load balancing. Peerio sought a partner who would develop and manage a multi-cloud solution. The company was also looking to secure their data in Canada.
“We cannot be hacked or have our servers down. We also need a disaster recovery architecture in place in case something happens,” commented Vincent Drouin, CEO of Peerio.
The solution
CloudOps, which owns and operates cloud.ca*, offered a solution consisting of a multi-tier reference architecture with customization, including: Front-end Node.JS API and load balancer, Riak cluster for data storage and object storage, Redis sessions, and a secondary zone in Amazon Web Services (AWS) for disaster recovery (DR).
Riak is a distributed database developed by Basho Technologies, a CloudOps partner. “Riak is an incredibly well architected database that helps us grow and scale very efficiently, while ensuring data integrity. At Peerio, we deal with encryption, which is a perfect science. We use Riak because we know we can rely on it,” noted Peerio’s CEO.
With its expertise providing best-in-class cloud infrastructure and managed cloud services, CloudOps was able to validate and provide feedback on Peerio’s development and deployment approach. The CloudOps solution offered greater flexibility and scalability to meet future requirements. In addition, it provided Peerio with increased control over load balancing, using Citrix’s NetScaler Application Delivery Controller (ADC), thus permitting Peerio to load balance its application traffic with multiple instances and grow its traffic over time.
CloudOps provides various storage performance tiers for database block storage and for file object storage. Peerio was able to choose the tiers best suited to their demanding databases for managing the millions of anticipated users, and they were able to manage customer files that required a bulk cost-effective storage tier.
“The cloud infrastructure operated by CloudOps allows us to scale performance on-demand, which is critical for us as our number of users is growing substantially,” said Drouin.
The result
Peerio now functions within an environment that supports both vertical and horizontal scaling of nodes, with minimal changes to its application. The environment delivered by CloudOps is highly available, meeting both Peerio’s Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPO), and includes a DR solution using AWS.
“We had tight deadlines and I appreciated the fact that I was able to talk to someone on a daily basis. Customer support was also very responsive. We consider CloudOps as a long-term partner.”
For Peerio, an architecture that spans multiple cloud providers mitigates the risk of a single vendor solution, allowing them to run anywhere in the world. With cloud.ca, Peerio takes advantage of storing data within Canada with the certainty of being able to scale to meet growing demand. With AWS, Peerio can leverage Amazon’s footprint to expand in locations around the globe. Today, Peerio benefits from a regional, scalable and secure infrastructure along with managed service operations, providing its team with the ability to focus on developing its software services without the distraction of infrastructure operations.
Speaking of his relationship with CloudOps, the CEO of Peerio said, “We had tight deadlines and I appreciated the fact that I was able to talk to someone on a daily basis. Customer support was also very responsive. We consider CloudOps as a long-term partner.” Drouin added: I recommend cloud.ca to businesses in search of a virtual private cloud provider that offers great service, high availability, and ensures that information stays in Canada.”
Peerio was recently featured in WIRED and ZDNet.
* CloudOps guarantees that cloud.ca, a Canadian-based cloud infrastructure, will remain 100% Canadian owned and operated.
