Title

AWS re:Invent 2022 - Modernizing a megascale database (PRT302)

Summary

• Tua, an IT Manager with the State of California, along with Vishal and Sardushan from Deloitte, presented the modernization of the CalHEERS database.
• CalHEERS is a large health benefit exchange system serving one out of every three Californians, with 9.2 million user accounts and 450 terabytes of production data.
• The modernization goals were to reduce system complexity, improve performance, and enhance system resilience and cost efficiency.
• The team replaced legacy proprietary stack with cloud-native open-source technologies and refactored the monolithic application into a microservices-based containerized implementation.
• They followed an 18-month incremental modernization roadmap, ensuring each change was atomic, beneficial, and progressive towards the target state.
• The modernization included a detailed discovery and planning phase, leveraging AWS's Database Migration Acceleration Program and tools like Schema Conversion Tool (SCT) and Data Migration Services (DMS).
• DataFury, an approach developed to supplement AWS migration tools, was introduced to simplify the modernization process.
• The modernization process involved three control steps: discover, migrate, and operate, with a focus on improving quality attributes such as performance, scalability, availability, and security.
• The team expects significant operational simplifications and cost savings by transitioning to Aurora Postgres database.
• The presentation concluded with an emphasis on the importance of the modernization journey in setting a standard for future large-scale modernizations and reinforcing CalHEERS as a leading health insurance marketplace.

Insights

• The CalHEERS modernization project is a significant undertaking due to the system's scale and complexity, highlighting the importance of careful planning and incremental changes.
• The use of cloud-native open-source technologies and microservices architecture is a growing trend in modernizing legacy systems, as it offers scalability, flexibility, and cost savings.
• The collaboration between state agencies and private sector partners like Deloitte and AWS is crucial for the success of such large-scale modernization projects.
• DataFury is a notable innovation that extends AWS migration tools, aiming to reduce development and testing efforts, and simplify database migration. This could be of interest to other organizations facing similar challenges.
• The project's approach to modernization, with a focus on atomic changes, tangible benefits, and progression towards a target state, can serve as a model for other organizations embarking on similar journeys.
• The emphasis on quality attributes such as performance, scalability, availability, and security during the migration phase is essential for maintaining and improving the system's reliability and user experience.
• The modernization of CalHEERS is not just a technical upgrade but is also expected to have a significant positive impact on the affordability and accessibility of healthcare for Californians.