Managed 5,000+ databases with only four DBAs using Terraform automation
Maintained a 99.99% uptime SLA for global payments while spinning new regions
Integrated AI database agents as virtual DBAs to slash mean time to resolution (MTTR)
Unified fleet health and security across thousands of database instances
Airwallex manages 5,000+ databases with four DBAs using Cloud SQL to ensure 99.99% uptime for global payments.
Airwallex manages 5,000+ databases with four DBAs using Cloud SQL to ensure 99.99% uptime for global payments.
Global payments leave no room for guesswork
Global payments leave no room for guesswork... Every payment and authentication event depends on infrastructure that has to be fast, secure, and available around the clock.
Feixiang Zhao
Database Architect, Airwallex
Airwallex exists to simplify global finance, managing high-frequency transactions across markets like the US, EU, Australia, and Singapore. To support this scale, the company utilizes a globally distributed microservices architecture where each domain is assigned a dedicated database to ensure fault isolation and security. While this model supports rapid growth, it resulted in a massive fleet of more than 5,000 databases. Managing such a vast fleet presented significant challenges in identifying performance bottlenecks like slow queries across thousands of instances. Airwallex needed an operating model that could keep pace with rapid global expansion.
A database for every domain
Google Cloud’s global footprint means we can spin up isolated, enterprise-grade databases in new regions in minutes. Cloud SQL Enterprise Plus gives us near-zero downtime for planned maintenance and scaling and we can maintain a 99.99% availability SLA.
Feixiang Zhao
Database Architect, Airwallex
To support their scale, Airwallex runs a globally distributed microservices architecture. Each microservice has its own dedicated database to support fault isolation and domain-driven design.
Because of this, the company chose Cloud SQL Enterprise Plus edition for PostgreSQL because this operating model can keep up with global expansion. Google Cloud’s global footprint means Airwallex can spin up isolated, enterprise-grade databases in new regions in minutes, supporting growth in new markets. Cloud SQL Enterprise Plus edition also gives them near-zero downtime for planned maintenance and scaling.
This architecture helps them move quickly as they launch local financial products across the globe.
A unified view for a global fleet
To manage their massive database life cycle at scale, Airwallex leverages infrastructure as code with Terraform, benefiting from Cloud SQL's robust Terraform support. Once created, every Cloud SQL instance automatically shows up in the Database Center for unified fleet management. This gives the team immediate visibility and centralized security posture enforcement, allowing them to monitor what’s happening across more than 5,000 databases from one place. This centralized control is essential for global performance management rather than database by database.
Instead of fragmented logs, Database Center offers a single pane of glass to monitor fleet health across thousands of databases. Query Insights and System Insights now help the team spot performance issues early, allowing them to optimize resources before they impact customers.
Empowering the fifth DBA: AI-driven operations
Airwallex has integrated Google’s database agents into its workflow, effectively serving as new members of the Database Administrator team. These agents use AIOps to diagnose issues faster by analyzing logs and surfacing root causes through natural language interaction. This shift has significantly reduced mean time to resolution (MTTR) and transformed the team’s daily experience from "reactive troubleshooters to proactive architects." Looking forward, Airwallex aims for autonomous operations, where AI capabilities will recommend index changes, scale resources based on predictive traffic patterns, and preemptively heal infrastructure. This evolution is critical as Airwallex strives to become the underlying financial infrastructure for global commerce, processing millions of secure transactions.
In a way, agents are the fifth member of our DBA team. They help guide remediation... The result is a major reduction in mean time to resolution.
Feixiang Zhao
Database Architect, Airwallex
Airwallex helps businesses grow across borders by managing the complexities of global finance through a highly distributed and secure database architecture.
Industry: Financial Services
Location: North America
Products: Cloud SQL, Database Center
