Case Study

Online Gambling Platform

A UK-based provider of online casino games including slots, table games and jackpot products, serving operators globally. Their platform processes millions of daily transactions and requires continuous availability, strict regulatory compliance, and resilient data infrastructure across AWS and on-premise environments.

Engagement Summary

The client engaged us to support, stabilise, and modernise their multi-technology data platform. Over the course of the engagement, we delivered major improvements to their PostgreSQL, Cassandra, and data-warehouse environments, supported a corporate transition, reduced operational risk, and significantly cut long-term costs.

This case study highlights the three core workstreams delivered:

• Platform Support & Transition Management
• High-Volume Cassandra & PostgreSQL Optimisation
• Large-Scale Database Deployment & Multi-Master Replication Programme

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Workstream 1: Platform Support & Transition Management

Challenge / Scope

The client needed full support and optimisation for their production, UAT, and development systems in AWS. With a 24/7 commercial gaming platform, downtime had direct financial impact. During the engagement, the business underwent a takeover, requiring reliable systems, consistent data flows, and smooth operational continuity.

What Was Delivered

• Support and maintenance across PostgreSQL, Cassandra, Qlik Sense, ETL, and reporting
• Implementation of logical and streaming replication for DW workloads
• Disaster recovery testing and HA configuration
• Stable platform management throughout a corporate transition
• ETL and reporting management, including performance tuning and automation
• Infrastructure-level Cassandra optimisation and monitoring improvements

The Outcome

• Continuous 24/7 uptime for the global gaming platform
• Improved data warehouse reliability with new replication strategies
• Zero disruption during the acquisition
• A more stable, predictable set of environments for engineering and analytics teams

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Workstream 2: High-Volume VLDB Optimisation (Cassandra & PostgreSQL)

Challenge / Scope

The business processed ~3.5 million transactions daily across mission-critical PostgreSQL and Cassandra clusters. Performance degradation, architectural mistakes, bloat, and recurring outages were impacting throughput and operational stability.

What Was Delivered

Cassandra Work

• Full architecture review (RF, quorum, node design, topology)
• Identified and corrected licensing and infrastructure inefficiencies
• Implemented OpsCentre, DR, and standardised monitoring
• Performed data centre decommissioning and cluster stabilisation
• Delivered encryption, account control, and security enhancements

PostgreSQL Work

• Migrated off EDB to community PostgreSQL
• Upgraded PostgreSQL
• Implemented streaming replication and high-availability designs
• Redesigned Pentaho ETL processes
• Automated key reports and recurring data outputs
• Modernised the data warehouse schema and performance

The Outcome

• £167,000 annual savings through corrected Cassandra architecture & licensing
• ~150GB per DC storage reclaimed by fixing bloat
• Eliminated node outages and OOM failures
• Rebuilt data infrastructure to support high-volume transactions reliably
• Fully modernised PostgreSQL and Cassandra estate

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Workstream 3: Large-Scale Database Deployment & Multi-Master Replication Programme

Challenge / Scope

The client needed to deliver the largest database platform change in their history. This involved:

• Leading support for their 24/7 commercial gaming platform
• Handling ~3.5 million daily transactions
• Deploying and validating multi-master replication
• Upgrading all environments to PostgreSQL 9.5
• Reducing deployment windows to minimise commercial downtime
• Created reporting suite providing near real-time accurate reports

What was Delivered

• Designed the full architectural roadmap for database upgrades and multi-master rollout
• Implemented multi-master replication and validated conflict resolution strategy
• Delivered streaming replication pipelines to AWS
• Automated ETL processes with Pentaho for reliability and repeatability
• Created a full backup strategy and maintenance operations plan
• Designed new data centre infrastructure for improved resilience
• Mentored junior engineers and produced full documentation

Outcome

• Deployment outage reduced from 36 hours → 6 hours
• Deployment and rollback operations became near instant
• Successful multi-master replication rollout, ensuring higher uptime and write availability
• All environments upgraded to latest version of PostgreSQL
• Stronger operational resilience and far faster release cycles

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Long-Term Impact

Across all three workstreams, the organisation moved from an unstable, expensive, and operationally risky setup to a modern, stable, cost-effective data platform, capable of supporting millions of transactions daily while minimising outage windows and operational effort and providing clear reporting.

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Technologies & Skills Used

• PostgreSQL (EDB, community, upgrades 9.5 → 10)
• Cassandra / Datastax Enterprise (DSE)
• Pentaho ETL
• Qlik Sense
• AWS (EC2, networking, storage)
• Streaming & logical replication
• Multi-master replication
• HA/DR architecture
• OpsCentre
• ETL automation
• Data warehouse design
• Infrastructure optimisation

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