Notes from the architecture meetup 2024-11-20

meeting-notes/2024-11-20-architecture-meetup/2024-11-20-architecture-meetup.md

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+​Architecture meetup 2024-11-20
+
+13:30 -  15:00
+
+Agenda Times are approx. Less is better ;) 
+13:30 - 13:35 Goals of the meeting (~5min)
+13:35 - 14:15 Diagram discussion (~40min)
+14:15 - 14:35 Status of the project (~20min)
+14:35 - 14:55 Roles & responsibilities (~25min) 
+14:55 - 15:00 FOSSDEM (~5min) 
+
+Attendees: Bjorn, Ronny, Richard, Kevin, Nicolas, Gheorghe, Valentin
+
+Goals:
+	*     Clarify uncertainties and "freeze" the architecture
+
+Notes:
+	* Robert and Koen are missing today, both are critical
+	* Management layer:
+		* IdentityManagement should be clarified as Authorization, Authentication, Accounting (AAA)
+		* The Nix-Panel to used by the operator (our "customer") with high-level parameters
+			* operator's email
+			* DNS zone
+			* booked storage and compute
+			* etc
+		* TBD in how much this will be greenfield, see architecture discussion from a few weeks ago
+		* About the central database (multiples)
+		* Q: what is the datamodel? TBD in more detail.  
+			* State of the system per operator
+			* AAA stuff 
+			* Operator bespoke info
+			* Provider bespoke info
+				* upstream DNS config
+				* Netbox: provider side (physical network layout & hardware) 
+		* Q: What's the role  of NixOps4 here?
+			* Valentin: NixOps4 merely provides a mechanism. The policy is implemented by "resource providers" which are domain-specific and plugged into NixOps4 to CRUD the various data sources
+		* TO DO: There are no "use cases" yet to describe how the services works; e.g setting up a service like Pixelfed etc. Basically a case to describe how the components work together. 
+			* (some discussion on the various representations of the system: component dependency graph, data flow graph for how deployments come together, user stories for the various actors)
+			* Valentin proposes to focus on the component dependencies for now, as the current diagram already mostly represents those 
+				* can sketch user stories on the side
+		* "Nix-configuration" and Proxmos are merely resource providers for NixOps4
+		* TODO: Glossary for definitions (make sure we all speak the same language).
+		* Gheorghe proposes to annotate each box with the component type (e.g. "virtualisation provider") and [at least one, if there are multiple planned] concrete implementation (e.g. "proxmox")
+		* Ronny: there may be services that happen not to run under NixOS but some other Linux distro
+			* We will need another configuration system for those, e.g. Ansible
+				* This would be another resource provider for NixOps4
+			* We shouldNix declare it out of scope, since NixOS is the more natural thing to do, or hack it together with shell scripts if absolutely required
+				* We currently don't have services that aren't - and defintely none that can't be - nixified
+				* Also, centrally managed systems, such as provider-side DNS management, can be handled by the provider classically, e.g. on Debian
+					* Our particular target deSEC would be expensive to package for NixOS, but we need it exactly once per provider and it won't be redeployed
+		* NixOS services:
+			* The only difference between "Services" and "FediServices" is that "FediServices" have federation
+				* More nuanced: Fediverse services are intended to be used by the general public, while the others are more interesting for academic institutions
+					* This is a distinction per work package
+			* Technically, all of them are NixOS modules with configurations that are somewhat specific to our architecture
+			* Unspecified requirement: Backups for all of these
+				* From previous discussions: storage is one of
+					* Service data: Block storage (ZFS), and snapshots are pulled on the provider side
+						* Essentially anything that can't be stored as blob storage
+					* User data: Blob storage (e.g. Garage), could optionally be replicated to compatible services
+						* Q: is this already available in Garage or would we need to build it, and is it relevant to our mission?
+				* Storage needs to be rewired for each service so the data actually lands where it should
+					* Need to decide whether it's worth the time investment on a case-by-case basis
+		* "Core services":
+			* secrets management is more of a concern for deployments (as a NixOps4 resource provider)
+				* Secrets are a resource & need a resource provider plugin.
+				* Which resourceproviders does NixOps need to talk & their context.
+			* The purpose of this block is to signify that some services are mandatory for an operator-side deployment, but they exist already and only need to be interfaced with via NixOps4
+				* For example, there is a DNS management system and an email server, and a deployment merely needs to register with them
+					* TODO: label this in the architecture diagram
+				* TODO: move it into the "Management" block, maybe rename this to "existing" or "pre-defined" services
+			* TODO: clarify mapping between archtectural components and use case actors, refine naming
+			* 
+
+Due to other meetings we had to stop here. We still have to discuss these topics from the agenda: 
+14:15 - 14:35 Status of the project (~20min)
+14:35 - 14:55 Roles & responsibilities (~25min) 
+14:55 - 15:00 FOSSDEM (~5min) 
+