The Situation
Established as a premier forensic research center, NFI has been at the forefront of forensic science, providing critical insights into criminal investigations. Over the past decade, their proprietary big data platform, Hansken, evolved from a modest development team to a robust group of tens of developers. This platform integrated numerous applications, including PostgreSQL and Elasticsearch, to process and analyze vast amounts of forensic data. However, as the platform expanded, managing its complexity became increasingly challenging. The traditional infrastructure required NFI to handle installations for each partner manually, limiting scalability and making it difficult to accomodate a growing number of stakeholders. Additionally, the preference for custom-built solutions over standardized ones les to inconsistencies and inefficiencies.
Facts and Figures
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Improved scalability with a modern infrastructure on Kubernetes
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Accelerated deployment and reduced downtime
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Lower operational costs
The impact
The existing setup imposed significant operational constraints. NFI’s inability to efficiently scale the Hansen platform hindered its potential to serve a broader international clientele, including law enforcement agencies and forensic institutions. The manual installation processes consumed valuable time and resources, diverting attention from strategic initiatives and innovation. Moreover, the platform’s complexity made it challenging to implement updates or partial upgrades, often necessitating complete overhauls that disrupted ongoing operations. These challenges not only affected NFI’s operational efficiency but also its revenue streams, as the institute relied on partner contributions for both licensing and feature development.
The result
Recognizing the need for transformation, NFI embarked on a containerization project for the Hansken platform. By adopting containerization, NFI aimed to modularize the platform’s components, allowing for more straightforward management and deployment. This approach facilitated the creation of scalable, high-available solutions capable of dynamic resource allocation based on demand. The transition to a containerized infrastructure also simplified the process of setting up test installations and proofs of concept, reducing the time and effort required for deployment. Furthermore, it lowered the barriers to adoption for potential partners, enabling NFI to extend its services to international organizations more effectively. Despite the challenges posed by air-gapped environments and on-premises hardware requirements, the containerized platform allowed for more efficient on-site deployments, minimizing downtime and enhancing performance.
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