NIC.UA website

We were required to:

1. Transfer website front end to Symfony2 PHP framework.
2. Create a custom admin dashboard for managing website content.
3. Change domain search principles.
4. Introduce horizontal scaling and continuous integration.

Symfony2 advantages

To make NIC.UA website easy to scale and support we moved it to Symfony2. This PHP-framework is used by a number of large-scale websites such as BlaBlaCar, Spotify, MeinFernbus. They are handling tons of data on a daily basis.

New admin dashboard

Standard admin dashboards have pretty limited functions so for NIC.UA we have developed a custom flexible dashboard allowing them to:

• Create modules that will be displayed in certain parts of the website.
• Make landing pages (for example, for sales and special offers).
• Customize each and every website page as one sees fit.

Improved domain search

Since domain search is a central part of the service, we were required to make it even better. Advantages of the new search:

Function of transliteration, selection of synonyms and translations.

Users do not need to repeat the search to get all the best options. Now a suitable domain for business you will find even faster.

Domain filters.

You can choose popular, international, Ukrainian or regional domains.

«Smart caching».

Service does not make unnecessary requests to registries and does not slow down the system.

How it works?

For example, if a customer searches for a domain for a flower store, he will see:

• domain names with the indication of the need to register a trademark (for example, for the domain cvety.ua);
• variants with transliteration (for example, the search for «flowers» will also give out domains with the word «фловерс»);
• synonyms (the search for «flowers» will also give out domains with the word «bouquet-of-red-roses»);
• translations (the search for «цветы» will also give out domains with the word «flowers»).

You can use a convenient filter to select popular, international, Ukrainian or regional domains.

Horizontal scaling and continuous integration

To interact with the server part we’re using API. We have implemented its logic and introduced continuous integration via GitLab. With this type of integration code from several developers is regularly integrated into a single repository while build creation and its testing are automated. With continuous integration it’s quicker and simpler to make changes.

There’re two types of scaling:

1. Vertical — resources are added to one server.
2. Horizontal — the system is expanded using additional servers.

Since NIC.UA website should be resistance to drastic changes in traffic and demonstrate the maximum possible uptime, we decided to use horizontal scaling. The system that was created is relying on several servers. Some are load balancers that distribute the load for all others. In case of failure, the service won’t stop and will continue working since all the tasks will be conducted on a working server. Thus the system has a high level of overall failure safety.

We are proud of our work and believe that we have created the best website for domain registration and hosting in the Eastern Europe. Now work with the NIC.UA website is comfortable and profitable: they have a referral program, a bonus payment system and special discounts for regular customers. We are listening to wishes of the NIC.UA team and working on the further development of the website.