VRGlass increases database performance by 5X over Amazon EC2 with MySQL HeatWave
The Brazilian startup increases performance and slays costs with Oracle MySQL HeatWave while developing an efficient and scalable database architecture.
“Exhilarated by the progress achieved within the Oracle for Startups program, we migrated all application data to MySQL HeatWave. The help of the Oracle team was pivotal. Within three hours of completing migration, we achieved a 500% increase in database performance.”
Business challenges
Founded in 2011, VRGlass designs, develops, and produces virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) applications and equipment for enterprise and retail. The company has delivered over 200 projects and serves enterprises such as the NBA, Hershey’s, Coca-Cola, and Samsung.
Embarking on the metaverse revolution, a network of 3D virtual worlds focused on social connection that is facilitated using VR/AR headsets, VRGlass developed Virtual Town, a Metaverse-as-a-Service platform. Virtual Town automates the creation of online events and uses 3D and 360-degree immersions to achieve player engagement and a differentiated brand experience.
VRGlass’s platform offers brands a unique and innovative way to transform shopping, marketing, sales, and gaming with the purpose of increasing revenues and user retention, providing a unique sales channel rich in resources and opportunities.
The company's databases—running on AWS and Digital Ocean—had difficulties managing the workloads of the company’s metaverse platform. The performance was subpar compared to the company’s requirements of a cloud-based database with no unscheduled downtime. VRGlass therefore sought to find a database that was reliable, easy to use, and offered the computing power to support multiple high-stress scenarios.
VRGlass also generated a massive amount of data on the metaverse platform. The company required a database that would easily achieve high performance in query execution and analytics.
Having already delivered several projects, VRGlass noticed that database scalability was a central issue to solve. The company searched for a system that would enable it to easily scale up or down and calculate costs and efforts without compromising on security.
The continuous development of the metaverse platform with its associated costs constituted another roadblock. VRGlass needed a database that billed by usage instead of a flat fee, which other cloud providers did not provide.
The Oracle team went way beyond what I expected from an infrastructure supplier. They guided us from the planning phase to the deployment of virtual events for massive crowds, giving us valuable advice gathered from decades of experience in infrastructure and software development and deployment.
Why VRGlass chose Oracle
Previously hosting its databases on AWS EC2 and Digital Ocean, VRGlass chose Oracle MySQL HeatWave, the in-memory query acceleration engine for MySQL Database Service in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), to improve performance, cost, and scalability.
A key factor for choosing MySQL HeatWave was the benefit of counting on a newly opened Oracle Cloud Region data center in Brazil. It provided ultra-low latency, increased database availability, and security to meet the requirements of the most demanding virtual reality applications.
Results
Upon enrolling in the Oracle for Startups Program in Brazil, VRGlass experienced far-reaching assistance and continuous support that the dedicated Oracle Cloud Architect Team provided. Most of the company’s projects were created in close collaboration with Oracle, and, as a result, revenue on the metaverse platform grew threefold. Furthermore, as part of the Oracle for Startups program, VRGlass implemented eight projects for Oracle customers.
With Oracle MySQL HeatWave, VRGlass managed to deliver Virtual Town on the opening day of the NBA House Digital 2021 virtual event, generating no less than 8,000 signups per minute. With MySQL HeatWave, not only did the company successfully manage the huge spike in query execution, but it also increased the performance of the database by 500%. VRGlass also succeeded in scaling up the MySQL HeatWave database, accommodating more than 1 million visitors and 1.7 million sessions on the platform during the event.
The data generated was easily available in the client dashboard. One other immediate benefit of MySQL HeatWave was that it was mounted on a cloud infrastructure that allowed large data files to be manipulated or downloaded, as the clients wanted to have control over the data on the platform.
In addition, VRGlass reduced costs by half by migrating to MySQL HeatWave and using its pay-per-use pricing as well as HeatWave Autopilot, which is optimized for cost performance over time. The system also increased the availability, scalability, and security of the Virtual Town platform.
Using MySQL HeatWave, VRGlass also dramatically reduced security risks associated with taking end users to third-party websites. This was in perfect sync with the launch of the second Oracle Cloud Region data center in Brazil, which provided disaster recovery to ensure data residency.
The VRGlass platform also takes advantage of custom integrations with Oracle Commerce Cloud, Oracle CrowdTwist, and Oracle Blockchain Platform Cloud Service to further enrich the overall customer experience.