BitDegree is a gamified platform where users can gain Web3 skills while earning various rewards. In its learn-and-earn model, players complete Missions – interactive micro-tasks – to unlock exclusive prizes such as tokens, stablecoins, NFTs, and even merchandise from top crypto brands. Completing each Mission also earns special points called Bits, which increase the chance of winning prizes.
Missions aren’t just simple quizzes – they’re packed with valuable content on everything from blockchain basics to top crypto products. Players are free to use all the provided info to find the answers they need – as long as they do that within a set time limit. They can even build their own Missions or create communities, called Guilds, to help others learn about the Web3 ecosystem. Plus, BitDegree offers referral rewards, giving both referrers and their friends extra Bits for helping the community grow.
The platform caters to learners at all levels, from beginners to professionals, and provides certifications to track progress. With its flexible learning paths, BitDegree offers an accessible way for individuals to enhance their digital expertise and advance in their careers.
Challenges
As a rapidly growing online education platform, BitDegree faced challenges in managing its AWS costs effectively while maintaining a seamless user experience for its learners. By 2024, their monthly AWS spend had climbed to $3,000, with a significant portion attributed to data transfer costs between EC2 and S3, as well as suboptimal resource allocation. While the platform’s in-house DevOps team managed daily operations, identifying and implementing cost-saving measures across their architecture required additional expertise.
Solution – Cost Optimization Review
In June 2024, Cloudvisor conducted a comprehensive AWS cost review for BitDegree, identifying key areas for optimization:
- Reducing Data Transfer Costs: Cloudvisor introduced S3 VPC Endpoints to optimize the data flow between EC2 and S3, which significantly lowered data transfer expenses.
- Purchasing Reserved Instances (RIs): Following a detailed analysis and consultation, BitDegree purchased Reserved Instances for their EC2 workloads, resulting in additional savings.
- Tiering S3 Storage: Cloudvisor recommended migrating BitDegree’s S3 Standard storage to Intelligent Tiering, which could provide further savings. While this change has not yet been implemented, it remains an actionable suggestion for their DevOps team.
Ongoing Consultations: Cloudvisor has maintained regular communication with BitDegree, conducting quarterly calls to address AWS anomalies, discuss potential cost-saving measures, and ensure their architecture remains efficient.
Additional Benefits: Cloudvisor offered BitDegree the opportunity to leverage AWS Well-Architected Framework Reviews (WAFR) and additional services like real-time AWS infrastructure monitoring dashboards, which remain available for future implementation.
Results
By implementing Cloudvisor’s recommendations, BitDegree successfully reduced its monthly AWS costs by 33%! The optimization of data transfer costs through S3 VPC Endpoints and the strategic purchase of Reserved Instances were key contributors to these savings.
At Cloudvisor, we’re committed to helping businesses uncover savings, fine-tune their cloud systems, and care about their success. We collaborate closely with our clients to unlock efficiency and scalability, helping them make the most of their cloud investments. Choose Cloudvisor to maximize your savings and fully optimize your AWS infrastructure for success!
“By reserving AWS resources a year in advance, we achieved approximately 30% savings, with an additional 3% in monthly savings. The consultation we had proved useful in steering us in the right direction and sparking additional ideas. It provided a fresh perspective and reinforced our approach, offering valuable guidance along the way.“
BitDegree’s Developer team
