Brazilian startup increases performance and slays costs with MySQL Heatwave while developing an efficient and scalable database architecture for their Metaverse-as-a-Service platform.
Introduction & Background
Founded in 2011, VRGlass designs, develops, and produces virtual reality/augmented reality (VR/AR) applications and equipment for enterprise and retail. The company has delivered over 200 projects and serves enterprises such as NBA, Hershey's, Coca Cola, and Samsung.
Embarking in the metaverse revolution, a network of 3D virtual worlds focused on social connection that is facilitated using VR/AR headsets, VRGlass developed the Metaverse-as-a-Service platform Virtual Town, which is hosted in the Oracle Cloud. The platform automates the creation of online events which uses 3D and 360-degree immersions to achieve player engagement and a differentiated brand experience. The platform also leverages custom integrations with Oracle Commerce Cloud, Oracle CrowdTwist, and Oracle Blockchain Platform Cloud Service that enrich the overall customer experience.
VRGlass' 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 main technological innovation is that everything runs end-to-end in a web browser, without the need to download applications or install plugins. Furthermore, it can be accessed on both desktop browsers as well as iOS and Android smartphones.
Business Challenges & Goals
VRGlass' 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 without unscheduled downtime. VRGlass therefore sought to find a database which was reliable, easy to use, and offered the computing power to support multiple high-stress scenarios. Additionally, the database needed to come with cloud migration assistance and time-saving consulting services.
VRGlass also generated a massive amount of data on the metaverse platform. The company required a database solution that would easily achieve high performance in query execution and analytics. Moreover, the desired database needed to come with high availability.
Having already delivered several projects, VRGlass noticed that database scalability was a central issue to solve. The company searched for a solution that would offer them the possibility to easily scale up or down as well as 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 solution that would allow them to pay for the services used, instead of a flat fee, depending on their development needs.
Business Results & Metrics
Upon enrolling in the Oracle for Startup accelerator program in Brazil, VRGlass experienced the 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 Startup program, VRGlass implemented eight projects for Oracle customers.
"Exhilarated by the progress achieved within the Oracle for Startup program, VRGlass migrated all application data to MySQL HeatWave. The help of the Oracle team was pivotal. Within three hours of completing migration, the company achieved a 500% increase in database performance."
"The Oracle team is always available. We've been working with them almost daily for a year. With our previous providers, we didn't have any relationship with them. We were just a number. With Oracle, it's completely different," comments Ohmar Tacla.
VRGlass chose MySQL HeatWave as the solution's high availability meets the availability requirements of even the most demanding virtual reality applications. 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.
Using MySQL HeatWave, VRGlass also dramatically reduced security risks otherwise associated with taking end-consumers to third-party websites. This was in perfect sync with the launch of the second Oracle Cloud Region datacenter in Brazil which provided ultra-low latency and disaster recovery to ensure data sovereignty.
With Oracle MySQL Heatwave, VRGlass managed to deliver the Virtual Town simultaneously to many people as, on the opening day of the NBA House Digital 2021 virtual event, the platform generated no less than 8,000 signups per minute. With MySQL HeatWave, not only did the company succeed to manage the huge spike in query execution but increased the performance of the database by 500%. VRGlass also succeeded in scaling up the MySQL HeatWave database, accommodating more than 1 million visitors on the platform during the event.
Halving costs was another advantage that VRGlass saw by migrating to MySQL HeatWave. That was achieved through its pay-per-use pricing as well as the use of HeatWave Autopilot. Not only Autopilot is optimized for cost performance over time but increased the availability, scalability, and security of the Virtual Town platform.
Why MySQL
Previously hosting its databases on AWS and Digital Ocean, VRGlass chose MySQL HeatWave because of the increased performance and reduced costs.
Another reason for choosing MySQL HeatWave was the benefit of counting on a newly opened Oracle Cloud Region datacenter in Brazil. It provided ultra-low latency, increased database availability, scalability, security, and performance.
Implementation
VRGlass configured OCI on its own with local partners. However, the migration to MySQL HeatWave was guided by the Oracle Cloud Architecture team which helped VRGlass every step of the way and managed to migrate all data to MySQL in just three hours.
The Oracle for Startups team closely followed the stress and penetration tests processes and gave valuable insights into how to maintain the level of excellence in performance and security on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.