How Kajabi optimized costs with Amazon Aurora upgrades
Database Blog
This article details how Kajabi, an online business platform, successfully upgraded their 39TB Aurora PostgreSQL database while achieving 80.53% cost reduction through strategic planning and technical execution.
- Kajabi faced near-zero downtime requirements while upgrading from PostgreSQL v12 to v15
- Traditional upgrade methods (in-place, snapshots, AWS DMS) proved inadequate for their massive database scale
- Hybrid solution combined Aurora blue/green deployments with PostgreSQL native replication
- Implemented 6-8 replication slots with dedicated slots for high-traffic tables
- Used PgBouncer for connection pooling and precise traffic management during cutover
- Phase 1: Upgraded to PostgreSQL v13 and enabled Aurora I/O-Optimized storage
- Phase 2: Upgraded to PostgreSQL v15 with parallel vacuum feature for performance gains
- PostgreSQL v13 cutover took minutes; v15 cutover completed in under 10 minutes
- Cost savings from Aurora:StorageIOUsage reduction of $90,500 to $4.51 monthly
- Key lessons: customization, thorough planning, phased approach, and collaboration essential
Kajabi demonstrated that large-scale database upgrades can achieve significant cost optimization while maintaining performance and near-zero downtime through careful architecture and strategic execution.
The AWS News Feed is currently looking for gold sponsors. If you want to support the AWS community and reach a large audience of AWS professionals, consider sponsoring the AWS News Feed.
The AWS News Feed is currently looking for silver sponsors. If you want to support the AWS community and reach a large audience of AWS professionals, consider sponsoring the AWS News Feed.