Overview
MWL, a multinational design and engineering firm with operations in London and the Philippines, faced a growing challenge in managing large, high-resolution design files across its geographically dispersed teams. Frequent issues with WAN latency, file duplication, and data corruption were impacting productivity, especially during peak collaborative workflows. Traditional file-sharing platforms were proving slow, insecure, and costly.
To solve this, MWL partnered with Varciti to implement a secure and resilient AWS-based data replication architecture that could streamline collaboration between global offices while preserving data integrity and reducing operational overhead.
Project Objectives
The primary goals of the engagement were to:
- Enable fast, reliable access to large design files from both London and Philippines offices
- Ensure real-time or near real-time data replication between offices, regardless of WAN latency
- Prevent data corruption, duplication, and version conflicts
- Provide secure communication channels for all replication and user traffic
- Reduce ongoing costs compared to other enterprise-grade file sync solutions
Our Solution
Varciti architected and deployed a multi-region AWS data replication system with a robust hybrid-cloud infrastructure, designed specifically for secure, high-speed global file access.
1. Hybrid Cloud Storage Deployment
We implemented a centralized AWS S3 bucket in the London AWS region, configured for cross-region replication to an AWS-hosted environment in the Asia Pacific (Singapore) region. This allowed for low-latency access to mirrored data in the Philippines while maintaining a consistent file structure across both continents.
2. On-Premise Sync & Gateway Integration
To bridge on-premise networks and AWS cloud storage, we:
- Deployed AWS Storage Gateway appliances in both London and Philippines offices
- Configured local caching to allow high-speed access to frequently used files, reducing dependence on real-time WAN performance
- Enabled automated sync and version control, eliminating duplicate or corrupted files during simultaneous access events
3. Site-to-Site VPN & Secure Networking
For secure, direct connectivity between all environments, we:
- Established site-to-site VPN tunnels between each AWS region and its corresponding office location
- Configured end-to-end encryption across the entire replication path
- Set up firewall policies and IAM roles to ensure least-privilege access, maintaining full control over data security and compliance
4. Scalable Architecture for Future Growth
The architecture was built with scalability in mind, allowing MWL to easily onboard additional international teams or project sites in the future without reengineering the entire system.
