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Deployment Topology

Overview​

The current baseline assumes deployment inside a university-managed environment, with the main services reachable through a controlled network boundary.

Runtime nodes​

Client devices​

Two client types are supported:

  • browser clients on desktop or laptop devices;
  • mobile applications on Android and iOS.

Reverse proxy​

The reverse proxy is the external-facing entry point and is responsible for:

  • receiving inbound HTTP(S) traffic;
  • routing traffic to the application server;
  • providing a clean network boundary;
  • supporting future hardening, TLS termination, and request filtering.

Application server​

The application server hosts:

  • project and requisition business logic;
  • API endpoints;
  • integration logic for Snipe-IT;
  • authentication integration logic;
  • legacy migration utilities when required.

PostgreSQL node​

The Maker Lab PostgreSQL database stores all project-domain records. It is intentionally separate from the Snipe-IT database.

Snipe-IT node​

Snipe-IT is deployed as a separate service and remains the authority for inventory data.

External services​

External or institutional services include:

  • university authentication service;
  • legacy wiki or legacy data source during migration.

Network model​

The simplified runtime flow is:

  1. a client sends a request over HTTPS;
  2. the reverse proxy forwards the request internally;
  3. the application server processes the request;
  4. the application server reads or writes project-domain data in PostgreSQL;
  5. when inventory data is needed, the application server calls the Snipe-IT API;
  6. authentication flows are delegated to the university identity system.

Deployment recommendation​

For maintainability, keep the following separation even if services initially share infrastructure:

  • application database lifecycle separate from Snipe-IT database lifecycle;
  • secrets management separate from source code;
  • migration utilities isolated from normal runtime services.

Included diagram​

Deployment diagram