“Our client Buffalo & Livestock Analytics went from supporting a few hundred users to preparing for hundreds of thousands – and our infrastructure had to scale just as fast.”
This is according to Jaco Kroon, the CEO of Ultimate Linux Solutions (ULS), which provides Linux and hosting-related infrastructure solutions for its customers.
The sudden growth came as South Africa grapples with a sharp rise in reported foot-and-mouth disease cases, placing increased pressure on the digital systems used to track, monitor, and manage the outbreak.
“It has an incalculable effect on farmers and the broader economy, with the red meat industry under pressure, exports limited, and food prices increasing. It is a huge issue,” said Kroon.
Buffalo & Livestock Analytics is one of the platforms supporting digital reporting and analysis during the outbreak, and its entire platform is hosted at DPA’s data centre through ULS.
National outbreak drives unprecedented data demands
Buffalo & Livestock Analytics offers a specialised traceability system for buffalo and other livestock in South Africa, enabling farmers, veterinarians, and stakeholders to report disease sightings, animal movements, symptoms, and locations. Through Geographical Information Systems (GIS) mapping, the platform consolidates this data and gives stakeholders clear visibility into movements and testing results, helping them identify regional outbreak patternsand respond before disease spreads.
Behind this platform is a technically demanding infrastructure designed to capture, process, and analyse large volumes of real-time data inputs.
A recent surge in the reporting of foot-and-mouth cases caused a significant increase in reporting on Buffalo & Livestock Analytics ’ platform, and therefore a massive rise in its hosting and compute requirements.
“We went from a couple of 100 platform users to many thousands – and we’re now preparing to onboard another 100,000-200,000. It has grown insanely over the last couple of months, and especially in January,” said Kroon.
Scaling up data centre requirements
The need to scale wasn’t driven by user growth alone – as reporting skyrocketed, so did the complexity of data being processed.
“When the reporting data comes in, there is significant analysis required to identify developing hotspots,” said Kroon. “That meant more computing power and more sophisticated models to determine the where, what, and when.”
At this point, ULS recognised that the existing virtualised environment was no longer sufficient.
“Virtual machines simply weren’t cutting it anymore – we needed more powerful physical infrastructure to cater to the sudden demand,” said Kroon.
Kroon explained that ULS had recently onboarded as a customer at Digital Parks Africa, a move that proved critical as demand escalated.
After comparing value and capabilities across providers, ULS found that physical infrastructure hosted at DPA offered the best balance of performance, scalability, and value.
In early January 2026, as its growth accelerated, ULS flagged the need for additional capacity. Within hours, DPA had provided clarity on pricing and configurations. When ULS confirmed the requirement two weeks later, the additional capacity was deployed quickly and without disruption.
“With other providers, this can normally take days or even weeks just to get racks, power, and space allocated. It simply wouldn’t have happened this quickly elsewhere,” said Kroon.
DPA’s flexibility was a key differentiator.
“They don’t box us into rigid limits,” said Kroon. “If we need more density, DPA is willing and able to make it happen. From the start, DPA’s approach was always, ‘Let’s figure out how to make this work.’”
Onboarding, trust, and transparency
Kroon also explained that the onboarding process at DPA was hands-on and transparent.
“There was a genuine openness about what’s possible, what isn’t, and how we could design the best solution together,” said Kroon.
Rather than navigating long ticket queues or delayed responses, ULS could simply call their dedicated account manager with any query and get a clear answer. No long waiting periods for paperwork or having to frustratingly talk to a bot and wait for a ticket to be answered.
This collaborative approach enabled infrastructure decisions to be made quickly and deployments to happen faster throughout the scaling process.
The future
As a result of this experience, DPA is set to become ULS’s preferred partner for high-performance infrastructure, according to Kroon.
While the technical success of scaling Buffalo & Livestock Analytics is significant, the broader impact lies in the collaboration itself.
The collaboration between Buffalo & Livestock Analytics, Ultimate Linux Solutions, and Digital Parks Africa demonstrates how coordinated action between technology partners can support national challenges like FMD, even on a small but meaningful scale.
Buffalo & Livestock Analytics continues to work closely with farmers, veterinarians, industry stakeholders, while ULS delivers the infrastructure that powers the platform at scale – supported by DPA’s flexible, high-density data centre foundation that enables rapid growth and stability.
Click here to learn more about Digital Parks Africa.
Click here to learn more about Ultimate Linux Solutions.
Click here to learn more about Buffalo & Livestock Analytics.
