Database planning

The PostgreSQL database is a critical, client-provided component. It serves as the central source of truth for the platform. Ensuring correct configuration, resilience, and accessibility is a primary client responsibility.

Before installation, you must provision a PostgreSQL database instance that meets the following requirements:

• Minimum version: The platform requires PostgreSQL v14+ or higher.
• Required plugins: You must install, enable, and make accessible to the application user the following plugins:
  • hstore
  • uuid-ossp
  • plpgsql
• Schema management: You are responsible for creating the initial database and the user credentials. The Ripple Custody application manages its own schema within that database upon successful connection.

As this is a client-managed component, you are fully responsible for the end-to-end lifecycle of the database. This includes:

• Deployment and lifecycle: Initial deployment, version upgrades, and decommissioning.
• High Availability (HA): Ensuring the database is highly available. We strongly recommend a production-grade 3-node cluster with synchronous replication and automated failover. Use Patroni or a managed cloud service.
• Backup and disaster recovery (DR): You are responsible for all database backup, replication, and DR procedures. Database backups must be time-synced with backups of the notary's anti-rewind file (ARF).

Enterprise network environments typically use a "default-deny" security posture. Your internal network and firewall teams must explicitly enable all required communication paths.

Verify that nodes in the OpenShift/Kubernetes cluster have network access to the database instance/cluster endpoint.

Critical network consideration:

In on-premises environments, the application cluster, the database, and the HSM may not be on the same network segment. They are often on different logical or even physical networks.

Assume that a connection from the application to the HSM spans two separate internal networks. This connection will fail unless you open a specific route. Also validate any required connections from your internal network to external services, such as Ripple or blockchain node providers.

• Deployment model: Self-managed PostgreSQL cluster OR managed cloud service.
• HA topology: 3-node cluster with synchronous replication planned.
• Backup strategy: Backup frequency, retention, and time-sync with ARF backups defined.

• PostgreSQL cluster provisioned (v14 or higher)
• Required plugins enabled: hstore, uuid-ossp, plpgsql
• Database created with application user credentials
• Connection string documented: host, port, database, username
• Firewall rules updated: Kubernetes cluster to PostgreSQL endpoint
• SSL/TLS configuration documented (certificate, CA, mode)

For Helm values, SSL modes, schema isolation, and cloud database examples, see PostgreSQL configuration.

Next: Message queue planning.