Dragonfly Aviation – AWS Cloud Migration
Challenge
Dragonfly Aviation was operating all business‑critical systems on aging on‑premise infrastructure, including a Windows file server hosting ~5TB of operational data and a locally hosted Fleet & Utilisation Management Application System (FUMAS). The environment had no backup or disaster recovery, no defined RTO/RPO, storage capacity constraints, and lacked enterprise‑grade security controls such as encryption, centralised access management, audit logging, and vulnerability scanning. Any single failure could have caused permanent data loss, regulatory exposure, and operational shutdown.
Solution
CRAG designed and implemented a secure, cloud‑native AWS architecture. Amazon FSx for Windows File Server (Multi‑AZ) replaced the on‑premise file server, with AWS DataSync securely migrating all data while preserving NTFS permissions. The FUMAS application was modernised onto Amazon EC2 behind an Application Load Balancer with HTTPS and TLS 1.2. AWS Backup provided automated daily backups with Vault Lock, while Amazon S3 and S3 Glacier enabled cost‑efficient long‑term archival. End‑to‑end encryption was enforced using AWS KMS, alongside least‑privilege IAM, CloudTrail audit logging, GuardDuty threat detection, and Inspector vulnerability scanning.
Results & Business Impact
- Eliminated data‑loss risk with automated daily backups and tested recovery processes (RTO: 4 hours, RPO: 24 hours)
- Improved availability to 99.99% for file services and ~99.9% for the FUMAS application
- Reduced IT operational costs by ~40% and removed hardware capital expenditure
- Reclaimed ~15 hours per week of IT staff time for strategic work
- Achieved enterprise‑grade security and audit readiness aligned to aviation regulatory requirements
- Delivered full migration and go‑live in 17 days with zero data loss
AWS Services Used:
- Amazon FSxfor Windows File Server
- AWS DataSync
- AWS Backup,
- Amazon EC2,
- Application Load Balancer,
- Amazon S3 & Glacier
- AWS KMS, IAM,
- CloudTrail,
- GuardDuty,
- Inspector,
- Systems Manager,
- Amazon Q
