Pixm Backend DevOps

Overview

PIXM, a leading provider of enterprise solutions, faced a significant challenge in managing database deployments across its multi-tenant architecture. Each customer had a dedicated database, and all databases were part of an Azure elastic pool, ensuring scalability and cost efficiency.. The manual deployment process was time-consuming, error-prone, and difficult to scale. PIXM needed a solution to automate these deployments while ensuring consistency and reliability.

 

In this case study, we explore how PIXM has revolutionized its multi-tenant database management by leveraging GitHub Actions to automate the deployment of incremental database scripts. This document details the challenges, solutions, and benefits experienced by PIXM, providing a comprehensive guide for similar implementations.

Project Info

Category

CD (DevOps)

Client

Pixm

Tags

  • Azure
  • Multi-tenant
  • Elastic-pool
  • Github

Technology Stack

Challenges

Complexity of Multi-Tenant Architecture
Complexity of Multi-Tenant Architecture

Managing separate databases for each customer added a layer of complexity to deployment processes.

Manual Deployment Issues
Manual Deployment Issues

Manual deployments were prone to human errors, leading to inconsistent database states.

Scalability Concerns
Scalability Concerns

As the number of customers grew, so did the difficulty in maintaining and deploying incremental database updates efficiently.

Resource Management
Resource Management

Ensuring optimal resource utilization within the Azure elastic pool was essential to maintain performance and cost-efficiency. This becomes challenging in Github actions to deploy to the elastic pool and making sure that the release is applied across all customer databases in this elastic pool.

Solutions​

To address these challenges, PIXM adopted GitHub Actions, a powerful automation tool that integrates seamlessly with their existing development workflows. The implementation involved the following key steps:

1. Workflow Definition:

  • PIXM defined a workflow in a .github/workflows directory, specifying the steps required to deploy incremental database scripts.
  • The workflow included triggers on code push events, ensuring that any updates to the database scripts in the repository would initiate the deployment process.

2. Environment Setup:

  • Each database was configured within the Azure elastic pool, providing a scalable and cost-efficient environment.
  • Environment variables and secrets were securely managed within GitHub to handle database connections and credentials.

3. Script Execution:

Incremental database scripts were designed to be idempotent, allowing safe re-execution without adverse effects.

GitHub Actions executed these scripts against each customer database, ensuring consistency across the multi-tenant architecture.

4. Error Handling and Notifications:

  • Error handling mechanisms were incorporated to catch and log deployment issues.
  • Notifications were set up to alert the development team of successful or failed deployments, enabling quick response times.
  • Retry mechanisms are provided to retry only failed jobs or retry all the jobs, which reduces the complexity to monitor and retry failed jobs.

5. Manual Approval:

  • Manual approval process was integrated to review releases artifacts and builds
  • Team was formed for release approval at different stages of deployment like Development(DEV), Quality Assurance(QA) and Production(PROD).

Benefits​

Automation and Efficiency
Automation and Efficiency

Automated deployments reduced the time and effort required for manual updates, significantly increasing efficiency.

Consistency and Reliability
Consistency and Reliability

The use of GitHub Actions ensured that all deployments followed a consistent process, reducing the risk of human error.

Cost Management
Cost Management

The Azure elastic pool provided a cost-effective solution by sharing resources across databases, optimizing usage, and reducing overhead.

Scalability
Scalability

PIXM’s solution scaled effortlessly with the growing number of customers, as the automated workflow could handle increased load without additional manual intervention.

Conclusion​

The adoption of GitHub Actions for deploying incremental database scripts has transformed PIXM’s multi-tenant database management. By automating the deployment process, PIXM achieved greater efficiency, consistency, and scalability, allowing the company to focus on delivering value to its customers. This case study demonstrates the potential of combining GitHub Actions with Azure services to streamline complex deployment workflows in a multi-tenant environment.

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