Why We Moved Our Entire Infrastructure to Amazon
At bunq we’re pretty proficient technology nerds and we have very stringent requirements for storage, network security and data protection. When we got started some years ago we therefore built and hosted our technical infrastructure ourselves. However, at the end of 2017 we were pestered with bugs and needed to find a new solution that was more scalable and that required less overhead work. This is why we have decided to move our entire infrastructure to Amazon in Frankfurt EU, where we will be able to provide an even better and more flexible service to our users. All our data are just as safe (encrypted) and fully protected (the same stringent EU laws apply) as when hosting it ourselves.
Going back to when the move started, in late 2017, we also experienced DDoS attacks. A DDoS attack can be compared with a traffic jam at the end of a concert when everyone is trying to go on the same street at once. The DDoS attack is then blocking the highway and preventing regular traffic to pass. This means that even if the infrastructure is still there and working, it will be harder to get through. This left us confronted with a recurring situation where the network stack had issues and became unreachable too quickly. We had to speed up our plans to move! Luckily we had already been doing a lot of research and testing over the last couple of months into different systems, suppliers and infrastructures that would meet and exceed all of our rigorous requirements.
In the end we found Amazon to be the perfect solution for bunq because of the great level of security (everything is encrypted at rest and in transit), scalability (multiple locations in the EU) and reliability (different zones and off-site backups). Amazon allows us to scale for the future while protecting our user’s money and privacy. bunq is and will always be in control because we keep managing the infrastructure, encryption keys and protection ourselves. For our users this means that their data is secure and their privacy is protected. Above all bunq will become even faster, more reliable and better equipped to face off any challenges coming our way. If you would like to find out how Amazon Global CTO Werner Vogels and our users responded to this awesome move, check out this short clip from our latest update event!
During this extensive migration we faced many hurdles, complicated challenges and we spent days and nights finding the perfect solution. But we made it! Is there anything else you would like to know? Go to our together page to discuss bunq, AWS and post all other questions you might have!
Check out more about bunq here!
