Cloud Computing
ESI Services
As big data got bigger it became clear that we need greater computer power and expansive storage space to support these massive amounts of data. Today, cloud computing offers the ideal option for securely storing, accessing, updating, and maintaining data—whether you’re working in one location or with people around the world.
ESI’s AWS-certified staff offer the full range of expertise needed to make cloud systems that work.
Our cloud services include:
- Developing mobile systems so we can create one solution that’s easily adapted for use across many applications.
- Configuring infrastructure that works together and through one central hub.
- Supporting systems well after launch to ensure that our solutions work the first time and every time.
ESI Solutions In Action
ESI’s cloud-based solutions are helping to support two major data ecosystems for the National Cancer Institute—the Cancer Research Data Commons and the Childhood Cancer Data Initiative. Our work includes setting up portals for accessing data, maintaining dozens of data commons, and developing apps that link to the hub to help researchers access and work with these data.
Using existing cloud architecture’s one-click deployment, we stand up new applications with a simple click of the mouse. The model enables us to move from development into production quickly and securely without the need for extensive testing and retesting.
ESI Cloud DevOps Optimizes Deployment Process
Our client, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) is developing scientific portals for researchers to gain easy and secure access to its key data ecosystems. While supporting the development and deployment of some recent cloud-based portals, our ESI team recognized an opportunity to leverage the native power of the cloud to speed up the process without compromising the integrity of the application.
For years, developers have followed an established process in deploying content. They start with coding the application in a developmental tier, then they move it through a series of tiers before going live.
The problem with this process is that developers need to manually move the application through each tier. This includes a battery of tests to make certain that tier-specific information (for example, domain names in links) are correct before proceeding to the next level.
Because NCI needed to migrate a large number of applications, in a very quick timeframe, we saw an opportunity to propose a new deployment process—one that could trim production time from months (or even years) to a matter of weeks. Our solution was to use the one-click deployment functionality of the AWS cloud.
With one-click deployment, we can “build once and deploy everywhere.” We simply build a profile of what’s needed for each tier of an application. Then we integrate microservices for various tiers, as needed. This means we keep the configuration the same but change the variables to suit the targeted environment.
Most importantly, we’re able to build integrity throughout the development process, so only tested content gets promoted to the next tier. In other words, our solution will work in the environment in which it’s launched without any unexpected “fail” jobs. And, if an error occurs, we don’t need to sift through code looking for a root cause. By building in our rigorous testing from the start, we save time and resources—for ourselves and our clients.