Background and Deployment Challenges
In the rapidly evolving world of enterprise software deployment, one technology company faced significant challenges managing their extensive infrastructure of over 100 Microsoft .NET Core projects. Running on Windows Server with IIS, SQL Server, and Entity Framework, their deployment ecosystem had become increasingly complex and costly. The organization was previously utilizing Octopus Cloud for their deployment needs, which was proving to be both financially burdensome and operationally restrictive.
Their annual deployment costs were approaching $23,000, a substantial expense that prompted a comprehensive review of their existing deployment strategy. The team recognized the need for a more streamlined, cost-effective solution that could handle their diverse and complex Windows-based infrastructure while maintaining robust deployment capabilities.
Discovering a More Efficient Deployment Solution
After extensive research and evaluation, the company identified DeployHQ as a transformative solution that could address their deployment challenges. The most immediate and striking benefit was the dramatic reduction in deployment costs. By transitioning from Octopus Cloud to DeployHQ, they were able to reduce their annual deployment expenses from $23,000 to just $3,000 - a remarkable 87% cost reduction.
Leveraging Modern Windows Server Deployment Techniques
One of the key innovations in their new deployment approach was moving away from traditional agent-based deployment methods. Unlike Octopus Deploy, which requires installing the Octopus Tentacle agent on each server, DeployHQ enabled the company to utilize OpenSSH for Windows, an officially supported method by Microsoft for remote server management and deployment.
This approach simplified their server configuration and reduced the overhead associated with maintaining deployment agents. By enabling OpenSSH on their Windows Server infrastructure, they created a more standardized and secure method of remote server interaction that aligned with modern best practices in server management. More details about DeployHQ for Windows.
Flexible Deployment Workflows with PowerShell Integration
DeployHQ's flexibility allowed the team to implement sophisticated deployment workflows using PowerShell commands. Instead of being constrained by traditional SSH commands, they could execute complex administrative tasks directly within their deployment process. This included critical operations such as:
- Restarting application pools
- Applying database migrations
- Performing pre and post-deployment configuration tasks
- Managing Windows-specific server configurations
The ability to use PowerShell scripts provided granular control over their deployment process, enabling more precise and reliable software releases across their extensive project portfolio.
Handling Diverse Infrastructure
While the majority of their infrastructure consisted of Windows-based servers running .NET Core applications, the company also maintained a mixed environment that included Linux VPS instances. DeployHQ's versatility proved crucial in managing this heterogeneous infrastructure, providing a unified deployment platform that could handle both Windows and Linux environments seamlessly.
Technical Implementation Details
The deployment setup encompassed more than 100 projects, all built on Microsoft .NET Core and running on Windows Server with IIS. The technology stack included:
- .NET Core applications
- Internet Information Services (IIS)
- SQL Server databases
- Entity Framework for data access
- OpenSSH for remote server management
- PowerShell for administrative scripting
Outcomes and Benefits
By adopting DeployHQ, the organization achieved several significant improvements:
- Substantial cost reduction (from $23,000 to $3,000 annually)
- Simplified deployment infrastructure
- Elimination of agent-based deployment requirements
- Enhanced flexibility in deployment workflows
- Improved consistency across Windows and Linux environments
Conclusion
The case study demonstrates how modern deployment platforms like DeployHQ can dramatically transform an organization's infrastructure management. By embracing innovative approaches to server deployment and leveraging built-in Windows Server capabilities, companies can achieve significant cost savings, operational efficiency, and deployment reliability.
For enterprises running complex, multi-project environments, the combination of DeployHQ's flexible deployment model and Microsoft's evolving server technologies offers a compelling path to more streamlined and cost-effective software delivery.
