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Deployment models

Unblu can be deployed in a number of ways. The first decision you must make when adopting Unblu is whether to use a managed cloud solution or deploy Unblu on-premises.

Unblu Cloud

The use of cloud software is becoming increasingly widespread in the financial industry. Regulations are adapting to the new technology, and organizations are becoming more familiar with the advantages inherent in the approach.

The Unblu Cloud is Unblu’s software as a service (SaaS) offering. With this service, you receive an account as a tenant on an Unblu system running on Unblu’s own infrastructure in a secure data center. The Unblu Cloud setup is a clustered deployment similar to one that a customer might have on-premises (see below), except that all management and maintenance of the system is handled by Unblu.

The Unblu Cloud offers all the advantages typical of SaaS in general:

  • Lower IT costs

  • Costs are part of operational, not capital, expenditure

  • The software is always up-to-date, with no installation or updates required

  • Easy scalability

Using the Unblu Cloud provides additional benefits:

  • The technical reliability stemming from Unblu’s expertise in our own product and infrastructure

  • Choose between hosting in Switzerland or on the Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

  • Certified according to ISO/IEC 27001:2013, ISO/IEC 27017, ISO/IEC 27018, and SOC 2 Type 1 (GCP deployments only)

  • Compliant with FINMA Guidelines of Circular 2008/7 and SFBC Circular 2005/2 No. 87

In short, if your organization can use the Unblu Cloud, then you should.

The Unblu delivery team can help get you up and running on the Unblu Cloud. For details on getting started with the Unblu Cloud, refer to Unblu Cloud onboarding.

Unblu Cloud operating models

The Unblu Cloud on GCP lets you choose between two different operating models: shared deployments and dedicated deployments.

  • In both operating models, the Unblu Collaboration Server your account is located on runs in a shared Kubernetes cluster.

  • In a dedicated deployment, your Unblu account runs on a dedicated Unblu Collaboration Server in a shared Kubernetes cluster. The Unblu Collaboration Server typically has an account used by Unblu staff to administer the server and a separate account that contains your production environment. The data of your Unblu account is stored in a schema of a dedicated PostgreSQL database.

  • In a shared deployment, the Unblu Collaboration Server your Unblu account is located on is shared with other Unblu customers and runs on a shared Kubernetes cluster. The data of your Unblu account is stored in a database schema shared with other Unblu customers on a PostgreSQL database.

Staging environments in the Unblu Cloud

In the Unblu Cloud, the type of staging environment depends on the deployment model you choose.

  • For dedicated deployments, the Unblu Cloud provisions a separate Unblu Collaboration Server instance as a staging environment. The staging instance of the Unblu Collaboration Server can contain multiple accounts to use in different pre-production stages, for example, development, integration testing, and user acceptance testing (UAT).

  • For shared deployments, the Unblu Cloud provides a separate Unblu Collaboration Server instance as a staging environment. The server is shared with other customers. You can run multiple accounts on the staging server to use in different pre-production stages, for example, development, integration testing, and user acceptance testing (UAT).

Compliance requirements are enforced less restrictively in staging environments than production environments. As a result, you may not use any personally identifiable information (PII) in staging environments. Furthermore, we don’t guarantee a service level for staging environments. Service level agreements (SLA) are only available for production environments.

On-premises deployment options

While the Unblu Cloud offers many benefits, Unblu recognizes that many customers prefer an on-premises installation. You can choose from a variety of deployment options:

  • As a multi-node cluster

  • As a single-node cluster

  • In standalone mode (for development purposes)

Multi-node cluster

The recommended on-premises deployment method is as a Multi-node cluster.

Besides the advantages inherent in the cluster deployment model, the approach also provides you with:

  • Health checks

  • Automatically restart components

  • Metrics and alerting

Unblu supports all recent versions Kubernetes as well as OpenShift.

For information on deploying Unblu on a Kubernetes or OpenShift cluster, refer to Cluster deployment.

Single-node cluster

If you’re concerned about the amount of infrastructure investment required, you may prefer to use single machine rather than the multiple machines typical of a Kubernetes cluster. In that case, you can deploy Unblu on a single-node cluster.

With a single-node cluster, you still have many of the advantages the cluster deployment model offers, such as being able to scale the system seamlessly as your needs grow. If you initially use Unblu without features requiring the Rendering Service, you can add it later.

In short, the single-node cluster is a simplified installation that you can later expand.

Standalone deployment

Standalone deployment of Unblu is only intended for development or testing purposes. For further information, refer to Running Unblu in standalone mode.

Staging environments in on-premises deployments

In on-premises deployments, you can set up your staging environment or environments to suit your requirements.

For cluster deployments, customers often operate separate clusters for staging and production environments. The different staging environments—​for example, development, integration testing, and user acceptance testing (UAT)--are commonly different namespaces in the same cluster.

You need a separate license key for each deployment of Unblu, including deplyments in staging environments. To obtain a license key for a staging environment, contact your Unblu account manager or a member of the Unblu support team.

Data location

Much of the data shared between visitors and agents through Unblu is confidential in nature. It’s therefore important that you understand where that data is stored in different deployment models.

  • If you opt for the Unblu Cloud, data is stored on the infrastructure used by the Unblu Cloud. The Unblu CLoud uses two different IaaS providers: Aspectra in Switzerland and Google Cloud elsewhere.

  • If you run Unblu on your own on-premises infrastructure, the data Unblu handles is stored on your own infrastructure.

  • If you use an IaaS provider such as Amazon AWS, Google Cloud, or Microsoft Azure for the infrastructure you run Unblu on, the data handled by Unblu resides on that infrastructure.