Qatar Living is Qatar's largest online community platform offering classified ads, jobs, real estate, car sales and social forums for residents and expats.
Classifieds
Case Study
Category
Web Developement
Date
04 February, 2025
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Executive Summary
Qatar Living, a platform serving millions of daily active users, faced a critical performance bottleneck and the impending End-of-Life (EOL) of Drupal 7. We engineered a high-performance, decoupled architecture that reduced server load and ensured lightning-fast response times even during peak traffic hours.
The Challenge
- Legacy Debt
Drupal 7 was becoming obsolete, posing security risks and limiting flexibility for future development.
- High Concurrency
Millions of daily hits meant the monolithic structure struggled to serve content efficiently during peak traffic hours.
- Search Latency
Native database search was too slow for a massive directory of listings and forums, impacting user experience.
Screenshots:
Screenshots:
Solution
We moved away from a traditional 'all-in-one' website to a modern decoupled (headless) architecture:
- Backend (Drupal Latest )
Upgraded Drupal to the latest version to act purely as a robust headless CMS for structured content management.
- Frontend (Next.js / React)
Implemented a Next.js SSR frontend for faster page loads, improved SEO, and a smoother user experience.
- Search & Data Layer
Synced data to Elasticsearch for millisecond queries while Node.js APIs handled read requests, bypassing heavy CMS processing.
Impact (Business Value)
The new architecture delivered measurable performance, scalability, and engagement improvements.
- Peak Performance
Decoupling reduced backend dependency, improving Time to First Byte (TTFB) by 60%+ during peak usage.
- Scalability
Node.js APIs and Elasticsearch enabled the platform to handle 3x more traffic without additional server costs.
- User Retention
Faster page transitions improved engagement and reduced bounce rates across the portal.
Technology Stack
- Drupal (Latest) – Headless CMS
- Next.js / React – SSR Frontend
- Node.js – API Layer
- Elasticsearch – Search & Query Engine
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