Case studyDistro.io

Ship features faster on AWS.

How Distro.io modernised the platform behind its web applications on AWS: containers, automation and a scalable core, so new features reach customers about 70% faster.

Industry
SaaS, web application management
We built
A modernised AWS platform
Runs on
Amazon ECS on AWS Fargate

~70%

Faster feature deployment

New CI/CD pipeline

Zero

Downtime rollouts

ECS batch deployments

Multi-AZ

High availability

Across Availability Zones

The challenge

Legacy infrastructure slowed every release.

Distro.io’s legacy architecture limited how quickly the team could deploy updates and scale the application as its customer base grew. It needed a resilient, scalable platform with less downtime, more reliable deployments and strong security.

What we built

Containers, automation and a scalable core.

Assembly planned the move with the AWS Cloud Adoption Framework and rebuilt the platform in phases, defined in code with AWS CDK.

What we delivered

Containerised application

The React frontend, the Node.js backend and an internal utility run in Docker on Amazon ECS with AWS Fargate.

A scalable data layer

Amazon Aurora for a high-performance database, and Amazon S3 for secure, reliable object storage.

Zero-downtime releases

A GitHub Actions pipeline builds, tests and deploys, with ECS batch deployments for faster rollouts.

Infrastructure as code

The whole AWS environment is defined in AWS CDK as modular stacks, reusable across environments.

01 / 04

Built in

Security and cost control

Tasks run in private subnets with strict security groups, data is encrypted in transit and at rest with AWS KMS, and Amazon GuardDuty and AWS Security Hub watch for threats. Fargate Spot, reserved database instances and tiered S3 storage keep costs down.

  • Amazon GuardDuty
  • AWS Security Hub
  • AWS KMS

Powered by AWS

From commit to customer.

  • Shipped automatically. GitHub Actions builds each change and rolls it out to Amazon ECS with batch deployments, with no downtime.
  • Routed to healthy tasks. An Application Load Balancer spreads traffic across AWS Fargate tasks in several Availability Zones.
  • Scales with demand. ECS scaling rules adjust the number of tasks to CPU, memory and demand.
  • Data that lasts. Amazon Aurora holds the data, and Amazon S3 stores files.
  • Watched and protected. Amazon CloudWatch and Datadog monitor it; Amazon GuardDuty, AWS Security Hub and AWS WAF guard it.
Powered by AWS

High-level architecture

Distro.io on AWS

How Distro.io runs on AWSHigh-level AWS architecture for Distro.io. Customers reach the platform through Amazon Route 53 and an Application Load Balancer, which sends traffic to healthy tasks of platform services on Amazon ECS with AWS Fargate, inside an Amazon VPC. The services use Amazon Aurora and Amazon S3, and send metrics and logs to Amazon CloudWatch. GitHub Actions builds each change and rolls it out with ECS batch deployments. Amazon GuardDuty, AWS Security Hub, AWS WAF and AWS KMS secure it; the environment is defined in AWS CDK.AWS CLOUD · DEFINED IN AWS CDKAMAZON VPC · MULTI-AZRequestsResolveHealthy tasksRead and writeFilesMetrics, logsECS batch deploymentsCustomersUse Distro.ioAmazon Route 53DNSElastic Load BalancingApplication Load BalancerPlatform servicesReact frontend · Node.js backendAmazon ECS on AWS FargateAmazon AuroraHigh-performance databaseAmazon S3Object storageAmazon CloudWatchMetrics, logs · DatadogGitHub ActionsCI/CD pipelineSECURED WITHAmazon GuardDutyThreat detectionAWS Security HubCompliance checksAWS WAFWeb protectionAWS KMSEncryption keys
Simplified view. Arrows follow one request through the platform, then one release from the pipeline.

Key results

Faster releases on a platform built to grow.

Delivery

~70%

Faster feature deployment

The new pipeline and ECS batch deployments get features to customers sooner, with less risk.

Availability

Multi-AZ

Built to stay up

Services run across Availability Zones behind health checks, and failed tasks restart on their own.

Cost

Spot

Pay for what runs

Fargate Spot for non-critical workloads, reserved database instances and tiered S3 storage.

Our certified expertise

AWS Partner, Advanced Tier ServicesAWS Partner, Well-Architected Partner Program
AWS Certified Generative AI Developer – ProfessionalAWS Certified Machine Learning Engineer – AssociateAWS Certified Solutions Architect – ProfessionalAWS Certified AI Practitioner

AWS Advanced Tier Services Partner and Well-Architected Partner Program. All 12 current AWS Certifications are held by our team.

Want results like these on AWS?

We modernise and scale platforms on AWS, from assessment to production. Book a call and bring your platform.

Book a discovery call