Tinder matches with Rackspace to keep its Cupid-computer running

05.03.2015
Every time Tinder enthusiasts swipe right to match or left to pass there's a little bit of computation done somewhere in the cloud that most people probably aren't aware of.

Tinder app uses geolocation technology to connect users with potential matches in a specific radius and allows users to anonymously like or reject matches by swiping right or left, respectively.

The mobile dating app, founded three-years-ago by Sean Rad in Los Angeles, California, has taken the world by storm to the extent that it is now used by 50 million people, with user numbers expected to double to 100 million by the end of 2015. As of January 2015, Tinder users swipe through 1.7 billion Tinder profiles and the app generates more than 25 million matches per day.

Tinder needs to ensure it has the necessary computing power at its disposal to process. As a result, the company announced today that it will be using cloud provider Rackspace's Object Rocket platform, which provides companies with a "highly available, infinitely scalable, database-as-a-service platform."

Ryan Ogle, CTO of Tinder, said: "ObjectRocket by Rackspace is the fastest, most reliable MongoDB offering that we've ever tried."

Tinder has also signed up to Rackspace's support service and the Rackspace Managed Cloud.

"We can rest assured knowing that we always have a team of dedicated experts on our side, operating as an extension of our in-house team," said Ogle. "With such a popular, fast-growing app, this type of scalability and support is crucial for the success of our business."

Rackspace CTO John Engates said the deal will allow Tinder to avoid the cost and burden of managing their data themselves.

Last year, Tinder poached the head of engineering at Amazon Web Services to help the company scale and move faster.

The company is now looking to start monetising its app through the introduction of Tinder Plus, which charges users for additional features that allow them to find potential matches in other locations and reevaluate their swipes.

(www.techworld.com)

Sam Shead