Use Case: Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs) & Managed IT Providers

Client Need

WISPs and IT providers commonly use the Ubiquiti UniFi Cloud Controller to manage network hardware remotely — from access points to switches and gateways across distributed locations.

One of our WISP partners was running a UniFi controller deployment with another cloud provider that charged based on IOPS (Input/Output Operations Per Second). Because UniFi controller workloads can be IOPS-intensive, the partner was facing unpredictable monthly bills, making it difficult to forecast costs as they onboarded more customers and expanded their network.

They needed:

• A high-performance cloud environment for UniFi
• Predictable, transparent pricing
• A platform that wouldn’t penalize them for growth or proper redundancy

Project Overview

The WISP engaged CaaB directly to migrate their UniFi Cloud Controller environment from the incumbent provider to CaaB’s infrastructure.

The goal was to provide:

• Consistent performance for controller and management services
• No IOPS-based billing
• A stable, scalable platform that could support ongoing subscriber growth

Challenges

• IOPS-Based Pricing: The previous provider’s billing model meant that as the WISP’s usage and customer base grew, so did the IOPS — and with it, their monthly costs.
• Cost Unpredictability: Spikes in activity, maintenance windows, and network growth all contributed to unpredictable invoices, making budgeting difficult.
• Critical Role of UniFi Controllers: The UniFi controller is essential for provisioning, monitoring, and managing customer networks, so the migration had to avoid impacting service and customer experience.

Solution

CaaB deployed a high-performance cloud environment specifically tuned for the WISP’s UniFi controller workloads, providing:

• Compute and storage sized for IOPS-heavy activity without additional transaction-based fees
• Flat, transparent pricing independent of IOPS consumption
• A resilient platform allowing the WISP to confidently scale their UniFi controller footprint as the customer base grows

This model allowed the partner to focus on network quality and expansion, not on micromanaging cloud usage to avoid cost spikes.

Migration Strategy

• Assessment: CaaB worked with the WISP to review the existing UniFi controller deployment, including resource usage patterns and growth trends.
• Planning: A migration window was selected to minimize impact on end customers, with rollback steps defined as a safeguard.
• Execution:
  • Deployed a new UniFi controller instance within CaaB’s cloud
  • Synchronized configuration and policies
  • Redirected traffic and management endpoints to the new environment
• Validation: Post-migration checks confirmed controller availability, device adoption, and stable performance.

The migration was completed with minimal disruption, ensuring continuity of network management operations.

Results

• Predictable Costs: By removing IOPS-based billing, the WISP gained cost predictability, even as controller usage and device count increased.
• High Performance Maintained: The UniFi controller continued to run with high performance and responsiveness, supporting remote management at scale.
• Simplified Operations: The WISP no longer needed to track or optimize around IOPS to control costs, reducing administrative overhead.
• Better Alignment with Growth: They could confidently add new customers and expand services without worrying that successful growth would trigger unexpected cloud charges.

Key Takeaways

This project underscores the importance of aligning cloud economics with real-world workloads.

For IOPS-intensive environments like UniFi Cloud Controllers, a pricing model that ties costs to IOPS can undermine predictability and penalize growth. By moving to CaaB’s high-performance, no-IOPS-fee platform, the WISP gained:

• Stable, predictable billing
• Performance suitable for large-scale network management
• Freedom to grow their footprint without surprise invoices

The result is a cloud foundation that supports both technical reliability and business scalability for WISPs and managed IT providers.

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