Aptify Server Consolidation
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT | Recorded: 2025-03-18 | Verify against current system state
Abstract¶
Team discussion on reducing Aptify cloud hosting costs before the April 2025 contract renewal. Reviews current server infrastructure across QA, UAT, and Production environments. Identifies VMs that can be dropped (WebTestA, WebTestB in UAT) and discusses potential consolidation of eBusiness and Aptify Web servers. Six-month extension contract adds 7% to costs.
Key Procedures¶
- Review current VM inventory across all environments
- Identify unused servers (WebTestA, WebTestB in UAT)
- Evaluate consolidation of WebL1C into WebL1B (production)
- Move scheduled tasks and services before decommissioning
- Request per-server cost breakdown from Aptify
- Consider moving Aptify Smart Client to SQL Server
Notable Statements¶
- 0:00:20 "Our contract is up for renewal in April. And we want to talk about can we reduce any of our usage"
- 0:00:43 "The Aptify contract for a non one year contract adds 7% to the total"
- 0:01:22 "Then we have the user acceptance environment which honestly I barely ever touch"
- 0:01:44 "I think we could get rid of UAT except for the SQL server"
- 0:02:40 "WebL1C... What's learning on that?" "Yeah, let's get through UAT first"
- 0:06:01 "QA is kind of a mess. I mean, it's just our playground in a way. User acceptance is an exact copy of production"
- 0:06:46 "eBusiness was on WebA and it kept consuming all this memory and causing problems with our other apps"
- 0:09:35 "Total amount, cloud based amount 102,698... Six month amount, 51,000"
- 0:11:06 "WebL1c is Aptify smart client. That's it"
- 0:13:32 "Aptify Web does exist in here, but we got it stopped. It hasn't been updated since 2019"
- 0:15:08 "We've got some very simple things running here about rebuilding indexes for conference admin"
- 0:22:25 "That would be one, two, three, four, five servers that we drop"
Systems & Configurations¶
Systems Mentioned¶
- Aptify Cloud Hosting (VMs across environments)
- SQL Server (databases)
- Aptify Smart Client (RDP access)
- eBusiness (WebL1B)
- Conference Admin (scheduled tasks)
- Enreach Services
- Azure Servers (future migration target)
Server Inventory¶
| Environment | Server | Purpose | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| UAT | WebTestA | Web applications | Can Drop |
| UAT | WebTestB | eBusiness | Can Drop |
| UAT | RDP Test | Aptify Smart Client | Keep (or move to SQL Test) |
| UAT | SQL Test | Database | Keep for debugging |
| QA | WebA | Applications | Keep |
| QA | WebB | eBusiness | Maybe consolidate |
| QA | RDP | Smart Client | Keep |
| QA | SQL | Database | Keep |
| Prod | WebL1A | Applications | Keep |
| Prod | WebL1B | eBusiness | Keep |
| Prod | WebL1C | Aptify Smart Client | Can consolidate to B |
| Prod | RDP01 | Smart Client | Keep |
| Prod | SQL | Database | Keep |
Cost Information¶
| Item | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Annual cloud cost | $102,698.82 | Full environment |
| 6-month renewal | $51,000 | Half year |
| 7% increase | $3,594 | Non-annual penalty |
| Total 6-month | ~$55,000 | With increase |
| RDP licenses | 24 | Production capacity |
| Current VM count | 16 | All environments |
Credentials/Access Mentioned¶
- RDP license limitations in QA environments
- Aptify licensing for Smart Client
Vendor Contacts Mentioned¶
- Aptify hosting team (for cost breakdown request)
Errors & Troubleshooting¶
- Issue: RDP licenses not set up correctly for UAT access
- Cause: License configuration
- Resolution: Open ticket with Aptify to apply licenses
- Timestamp: 0:02:59
Transcript Gaps & Quality Notes¶
- Planning meeting with full team (25 minutes)
- Screen sharing of server list and pricing
- Contract deadline: April 25, 2025
- Goal: Reduce 5 servers to offset 7% increase
- Azure migration discussed but not feasible in timeframe
- Action item: Get per-server cost breakdown from Aptify