MapTiler header
Piggy Bank icon

Predictable costs
in the OVHcloud public cloud

Counter

Unlimited instances
to process high volumes of data quickly

users

400 million requests
for map tiles per day

The background

Advanced map platform based on optimal cloud solutions

MapTiler is a Swiss company specializing in the development of an advanced map platform for developers. With the aim of providing user-friendly and high-performance map services, MapTiler has established itself as a leading and innovative provider of basemaps. These maps serve as a background layer for geographical data and are used in various applications to display geographical information in a contextualized way. MapTiler also offers solutions for hosting and serving custom geographical data together with the basemaps.

The company is characterised by its versatile applications, which range from individual users, through large companies, to government entities. MapTiler serves a broad portfolio of industries, including real-estate, transportation, logistics, agriculture, tourism, defense and many more. With customised solutions for different needs, the scaleup offers custom map integrations for websites, mobile applications and other platforms.

MapTiler maps are viewed by more than 350 million people every month, with around 400 million requests for map tiles every day. In order to handle such a large and rapidly growing volume of traffic, MapTiler looked for a cost-effective cloud storage solution with high scalability and found it in OVHcloud's OVHcloud S3 Object Storage.

The challenge

Wanted: Predictable costs, cloud instances and more storage space

The world is constantly changing, and maps have to keep pace. In order to be able to offer detailed basemaps and keep them up to date, MapTiler generates an enormous amount of imagery from satellite data. Creating high-resolution satellite maps quickly, the company reached the capacity limits of the previous storage solution. In order to deliver a map that is as accurate as possible, it is based on several satellite images per area, which provides an average of different weather conditions and seasons. The satellite data used must not be older than three years in order to remain competitive.

The cloud solutions previously used by large hyperscalers became a challenge. The prices for storage and dedicated servers were a particular problem, as the satellite images generate several terabytes of data. The amount of data also fluctuates every month, and so did the monthly costs. The biggest challenge, however, was the limitation of storage space, which could only be increased with rising costs.  

In addition, the previous solutions only offered a limited number of instances, which meant that the predictable processing time of the required data would have been over 18 years. A new solution was needed that would not only remove the storage limit but also provide a predictable monthly cost and enough instances to minimize processing time.

"We kept hitting the limits of our previous cloud solution. Pushing those limits would have been beyond any budget."
Tom Armitage, Senior Technical Writer at MapTiler

The solution

Public cloud and OVHcloud S3 object storage - with unlimited instances and highly scalable

With OVHcloud, the Swiss scale-up MapTiler found a cloud provider that both delivers the necessary storage capacity and offers manageable and predictable costs. Another advantage was unlimited instances to implement the satellite map project.  

MapTiler found the perfect match for these requirements in the public cloud and OVHcloud's scalable S3 object storage. Not only do they offer the desired predictable costs, but also the unlimited instances required to process the sheer volume of data quickly.

maptiler diagram

The new solution from OVHcloud has significantly simplified the creation of detailed satellite maps. While MapTiler repeatedly reached the limit of usable instances with the previous solution, the company now has access to an unlimited number of instances. This reduced the previous processing time of over 18 years to just a few weeks without increasing costs.

"By switching to OVHcloud we were able to realize specific projects with detailed satellite maps and become more economical in the process."
Tom Armitage, Senior Technical Writer at MapTiler

The result

Shared open source policies, shared success

The provider of B2B basemaps has moved its entire storage architecture to OVHcloud and hosts it in its public cloud. As a leading provider in the industry, MapTiler is a sought-after customer and made a conscious decision in favour of OVHcloud. Both companies share open source policies and technology, so there were synergies in their mindsets right from the beginning.

And there are further similarities. Both companies started out as one-man projects and managed to establish themselves in their respective industries within just a few years. MapTiler is also one of the few map providers that does not store any customer data and has implemented data sovereignty just like OVHcloud.

With the move to OVHcloud's public cloud, the fluctuating volumes of data generated each month are no longer a problem for MapTiler. The S3 object storage offers predictable costs, regardless of the volatile workloads. In addition, unlimited cloud instances are available, which has greatly reduced the processing time of the satellite data.

"Switching to OVHcloud has reduced the processing time of satellite data from potentially over 18 years to just a few weeks."
Tom Armitage, Senior Technical Writer at MapTiler

The ease of implementation combined with the optimal price-performance ratio convinced MapTiler to join OVHcloud's Scale-Up Programme. In the programme, the company benefits from financial support and advice on cloud strategy.

Find out more about MapTiler at https://www.maptiler.com/