Add KISTERS case study #2637
Add KISTERS case study #2637
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src/cases/kisters.md
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| image: "/assets/images/work/aleph-alpha-background-2.jpg" # TODO | ||
| imageAlt: "TODO" # TODO | ||
| tags: "development / architecture / Rust" | ||
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| image: /assets/images/cases/cs-aleph-alpha-og-image.jpg # TODO |
src/cases/kisters.md
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| <!-->TODO add image for KISTERS<--> | ||
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| "imgPath": "/assets/images/work/aleph-alpha-graphs.jpg", | ||
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hdoordt
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| The concrete steps taken in filtering, grouping, and post-processing depend on dynamic inputs reflecting the needs of KISTERS’ clients. These processing steps can, therefore, not simply be executed in batches during nightly computations; they need to be carried out on user demand.</p> | ||
| <p>That in and of itself warrants a well-optimized design, but in times of calamity, <strong>the amount of users requesting information may rise quickly</strong>: residents of endangered areas can use KISTERS’ software to obtain real-time information regarding their situation.</p> | ||
| <p><strong>To handle traffic spikes</strong>, KISTERS’ sought to employ a design that would allow them to <strong>quickly deploy their data processing to edge functions</strong> and, in case of extreme traffic surges, allow the processing steps to be <strong>run within the browser</strong> on end user’s devices.</p> | ||
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I think this could be more straightforward – it seems we're first saying they wanted to move transparently between server, edge, browser; then we talk about sth. else; than we go back to the topic of reusing code.
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| <p>During an initial development cycle, Luca Palmieri, Mainmatter’s Principal Engineering Consultant, and Founder and Engineer Marco Otte-Witte proposed and implemented an architecture that isolates the implementation of the data processing steps in a platform-independent package<p> | ||
| <p>That way, the package can be thinly wrapped for use by a web server, served as an edge function, or compiled to Web Assembly for execution in browsers.</p> | ||
| </div> |
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I think we should explain a bit how Rust and WASM allow for this easily: reusing the same code in these different environments while writing code that's super fast and efficient (which is the reason why e.g. JS which would also have been usable in those 3 environments, was not really an option)
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The next section mentions the requirement of high performance. I'd like the 'How Mainmatter helped out' to focus on describing at a high level what we did, and then 'technology' to detail the design choices made
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src/cases/kisters.md
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| <h3 class="case-study__heading">The challenge</h3> | ||
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| <p>With big data comes big computation. KISTERS wanted to <strong>handle large traffic spikes by dynamially switching</strong> between serving from a traditional server, from an edge function, or by offloading cumputation to end user's devices.</p> |
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I don't think this is accurate. The data we're working with here is far from being "big data" (i.e. data that doesn't fit into the memory of a single machine).
WASM is not an option for big data, since you woulnd't be able to stream it/handle it on the client device.
The challenge is here is strictly related to the unpredictable and very spiky traffic shape.
src/cases/kisters.md
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| <div class="case-study__section"> | ||
| <h3 class="case-study__heading">Technology</h3> | ||
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| <p>Given the requirement of <strong>high performance, cross-platform code sharing</strong>, and the need for <strong>integration with their current software</strong>, Rust was a natural choice as a language with which to implement the architecture.<br> |
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I think "high performance" is not really the angle. It is also a bit vague—is it performant in terms of high throughput or low latency?
What we're really after here is efficient processing.
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To be more precise, we're after high availability without breaking the bank and with no risk of behaviour divergence.
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@LukeMathWalker @marcoow I clarified the flow a bit more and stressed the requirement of high availability without imposing huge cloud expenses. Can you have another look? |
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Co-authored-by: Marco Otte-Witte <[email protected]>
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Thanks again @marcoow. Just applied your suggestions |
src/cases/kisters.md
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| <div class="case-study__section"> | ||
| <h3 class="case-study__heading">The challenge</h3> | ||
| <div class="case-study__text"> | ||
| <p>To be able to <strong>handle large traffic spikes efficiently without risking astronomic cloud expenses, KISTERS needed the ability to dynamically move computation</strong> between traditional servers and edge functions, or offloading to end user's devices.</p> |
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I would break this down into two sentences, a flip it around (first what they need to do, then why).
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A couple of style comments, but otherwise good to go for me 👌🏻 |
Co-authored-by: Kevin Bongart <[email protected]> Co-authored-by: Luca Palmieri <[email protected]>
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I processed all feedback so far. The images are still left to do @IdeliaRisella |
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@hdoordt I've done most of the images. However, regarding the divider on the "technology" sub-title, do you have a specific visual you wish to show there? If you look into the others case studies, they are mostly some documentation or visuals of the work itself (e.g. user interface). I think I would need a little direction for this from you if possible. Thank you |
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@IdeliaRisella let's use something that's water-related for the hero, I don't think the city photo is related to the content… Also, the |
To do:
Quote + reference @marcoow (?)