Cloud Technology and Microservices: Gaming Site Scaling Options

Enhanced efficiency against the background of minimisation of financial investments is a natural desire of any modern entrepreneur. This is especially true for the casino industry.

Business owners must ensure constant availability of their platforms to thousands of users from different parts of the world. They need to be guaranteed confidentiality, security, and transparency of operations.

The best way to make the gaming project more sustainable and reduce management costs is to use cloud technologies and special architecture. Specialists from the Online Casino Market studio prepared an overview of each of these tools.

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The History of Cloud Technologies

The idea of ​​​​distributing processing power arose back in the 1950s when computers were too expensive to provide them to each employee of the company. In practice, it was first possible to implement a network connection and sharing tasks between several devices in 1964.

The cloud solution, in its usual modern sense, appeared only in 2006. It was the commercial digital storage Amazon Web Services.

About 2 years later, a similar product, App Engine, was presented by Google. The platform was designed so well that individual applications on its basis continue to be actively used even now (for example, the Snapchat service).

In 2010, Microsoft's Azure cloud product appeared in the market.

Initially, the remote infrastructure technology was used only by leading IT corporations but after a couple of years, it became widespread among regular consumers. Now, most online platforms work in the cloud format, including such giants as Facebook and Instagram.

Types of Virtual Services

Depending on business needs and purposes, all digital infrastructure solutions can be divided into 3 categories:

IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service)

Entrepreneurs can find a public cloud and rent from its provider part of the unused resources, such as remote servers, storage, or networks.

The IaaS option gives operators the following benefits:

• complete rejection of physical computational nodes or increase in their capacity;
• safety net in peak traffic times;
• the absence of costs for the acquisition, configuration, and maintenance of proprietary server equipment;
• development and testing of new products in the cloud.

The main advantage of the IaaS product is that it works according to the Pay-as-you-do model. Casino owners transfer money only for the amount of computing power that is actually used.

SaaS (Software-as-a-Service)

The vendor provides customers with ready-made program components aimed at solving various business problems. This category includes:

• e-mails;
• navigators;
• task schedulers;
• website builders;
• CRM systems.

PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service)

If, in the case of purchasing this option, clients receive only the supplier’s computing power, then PaaS are comprehensive software solutions that are completely ready to launch and work in various segments.

For the gambling niche, the following products are considered relevant:

• database management systems;
• environment for working with Big Data;
• turnkey configurations of virtual servers;
• platforms for machine learning, and testing various personalisation programs.

Advantages of Using Cloud Technologies in Gambling

Virtual computing power makes it possible to effectively solve several commercial problems:

1. Savings on infrastructure. Remote services have eliminated the need to buy and maintain proprietary equipment. This approach frees up huge resources for business development.
2. Flexibility and scalability. Operators can independently increase or decrease the amount of power used depending on current needs. It is especially important for fast-growing startups and enterprises forced to quickly adapt to various legislative changes.
3. Access to technological innovations. Significant amounts of free capacity ensure smoother work of AI services and allow entrepreneurs to use the capabilities of Big Data. Another trend actively implemented with the help of cloud services is the Internet of Things, which provides access to personal data from all gadgets.
4. High level of mobility. It is possible to connect to a remote environment from anywhere in the world where there is web access. This allows businessmen to perform any operational processes regardless of the physical location of employees.
5. Minimisation of the risk of malfunctions. Even a short-term stand down can lead to heavy financial losses. This is especially true for the gambling market where the brand's reputation directly depends on the audience’s loyalty. The best cloud tools for monitoring performance are distributed data storage and backup.
6. Automation of most operational processes. Entrepreneurs do not need to maintain a staff of their IT specialists since convenient management, optimisation, and performance monitoring systems are already built into digital products.
7. Simple and convenient integration. Cloud services can interact with a wide range of business tools. Any third-party solution can be connected to the virtual environment (for example, analytical algorithms or ERP systems for resource-planning purposes).

Microservices as a New Era of Application Design

Distributed architecture is a set of independent software modules. Each of them is aimed at performing a specific task.

The main difference between microservices and a monolithic structure is the ability to interact with the system’s elements independently of each other.

The modular scheme for building apps was first discussed in the 2000s when the US experienced a crisis in electronic technologies.

In 2010, the tool emerged as a promising concept, and by 2014, such online giants as Netflix, Twitter, and Amazon began to implement this approach.

Netflix even received a special JAX prize from the jury in 2015 for its innovative infrastructure based on DevOps technology. The brand currently owns more than a thousand microservices, with the help of which individual elements of digital platforms are remotely managed and customer support works.

Advantages of Distributed Architecture

Modular application design provides various prospects for online casino operators.

Let us consider the key benefits:

1. Convenient and fast scaling. As soon as the system reaches its maximum capabilities, many additional components can be quickly deployed. This allows entrepreneurs to significantly reduce the load on their platforms' main modules.
2. Continuous delivery. Manufacturers got an opportunity to activate regular and accelerated release cycles. While previously, software algorithm updates were presented at certain intervals, with microservices, system upgrades can be made 2 to 3 times a day.
3. Independent launches. The special architecture allows operators to interact with individual modules (add new or modify existing ones) without having to trigger and upgrade the entire system.
4. High reliability and protection against failures. Changes in the work of a specific component do not affect the functionality of the entire portal. Even if one or more algorithms crash, the basic services will remain available.

When to Implement the Tool

As a rule, the transition to distributed design occurs in cases where a classic monolithic solution no longer copes with its task. Such digital giants as Netflix or Mail.ru have become a good example.

Factors indicating that casino operators should consider switching to the microservice architecture:

1. Increased load. Typical integral services have a limit. It can be scaled slightly only by purchasing additional computing power, and this is a restricted and rather expensive option.
2. Growth in the number of system modifiers. With the addition of new functions, the monolith code base amplifies. This leads to a longer response time and a loss of data processing speed. Besides, the creation of each subsequent add-on becomes more expensive.
3. Data gradation. The program has individual elements that must be accessed faster than others. Provision of such an opportunity for the entire service at once is too expensive and time-consuming.
4. Setting new tasks. The diffusion of technologies encourages digital businesses to modernise rapidly. Most monoliths do not have sufficient technical capacity to debug machine learning and launch products with built-in AI services.

A distributed modular infrastructure serves as a good alternative to a single integral environment and significantly reduces production costs. At the same time, the transition from a monolith to microservices is quite simple.

Owners of iGaming sites only need to follow this scenario:

• allocate a separate node and transfer the logic there (it is important to leave a minimum of connections with other monolith’s components);
• support the work of both environments while the entire data set is being replicated;
• test the operability of the separate architecture;
• completely disable the functionality of the monolith.

The Main Things about Microservices and Cloud Technologies

Remote capacities and a distributed digital environment play a key role in the scaling of modern online projects. These tools allow entertainment companies to be as flexible as possible and quickly respond to any requests from the audience.

Key benefits that such technologies give to entrepreneurs:

• Noticeable reduction in operating costs. When working with virtual services, there is no need to buy and maintain proprietary equipment. All products and services are provided remotely. Their administration is handled by the supplier.
• Maximum flexibility and rapid scaling. The virtual architecture allows operators to implement various technological innovations at record speed, connect any third-party products to the basic service, and quickly adapt to the changing regulatory requirements of gambling jurisdictions.
• High guarantees of security and protection against failures. By transferring power capacities to the digital space, it is possible to distribute the load between several nodes and ensure stable work of the platform at any level of incoming traffic. Even if one of the components fails, the main structure of the entertainment portal will continue to function.

To learn more about advanced technologies and trends in the development and scaling of gambling, you can contact the specialists of the Online Casino Market studio. We monitor the most promising areas and offer the best solutions for a successful launch in any gaming niche.

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