StressLess Platform - Scalable Architecture Design

Executive Summary

This document presents a high-level scalable and secure architecture design for the StressLess platform, emphasizing privacy-first voice processing, enterprise-grade security, and global scalability. The architecture supports both PWA and native mobile deployments with local-first processing and GDPR-compliant data handling .[1][2][3]

Architecture Principles

Core Design Principles

Privacy by Design: All sensitive voice processing occurs locally on user devices[1]
Zero Trust Security: Continuous verification with least-privilege access[3][4]
Horizontal Scalability: Cloud-native architecture supporting global expansion
Fault Tolerance: Multi-region deployment with automatic failover[5][6]
GDPR Compliance: Data minimization and user rights by design[2][7]

Technology Stack Overview

Frontend: Progressive Web App + Native Mobile Applications
Edge Computing: Local ML processing with WebAssembly/Native SDKs
Backend: Microservices architecture with Kubernetes orchestration
Database: Multi-tier data architecture with encryption at rest and in transit
Security: Zero-trust network with comprehensive audit logging

High-Level System Architecture

Detailed Component Architecture

Frontend Architecture

Microservices Architecture

Security Architecture

Data Architecture

Deployment Architecture

Integration Architecture

Security Implementation Details

Zero Trust Security Model

Core Principles:

Never Trust, Always Verify: Continuous authentication and authorization
Least Privilege Access: Minimal permissions based on role and context
Assume Breach: Design systems assuming compromise has occurred
Verify Explicitly: Authenticate and authorize every transaction

Implementation Components:

Identity Verification: Multi-factor authentication with biometric support
Device Security: Certificate-based device authentication
Network Segmentation: Micro-segmentation with software-defined perimeters
Data Protection: End-to-end encryption with key rotation

Encryption Strategy

Data at Rest:

Encryption Standards:
  Algorithm: AES-256-GCM
  Key Management: AWS KMS / Azure Key Vault
  Key Rotation: Automated 90-day rotation
  Access Control: Role-based key access
  Backup Encryption: Separate encryption keys

Database Encryption:
  PostgreSQL: Transparent Data Encryption (TDE)
  Column-Level: Sensitive PII fields
  Index Encryption: Encrypted database indexes
  Backup Encryption: Encrypted automated backups

Data in Transit:

Transport Security:
  Protocol: TLS 1.3 (minimum)
  Certificate Management: Automated certificate lifecycle
  Perfect Forward Secrecy: Ephemeral key exchange
  HSTS: Strict Transport Security headers
  Certificate Pinning: Mobile app certificate validation

API Security:
  OAuth 2.0: Token-based authentication
  JWT: Short-lived access tokens (15 minutes)
  Rate Limiting: Adaptive rate limiting per user/IP
  Input Validation: Comprehensive input sanitization
  Output Encoding: XSS protection mechanisms

Privacy by Design Implementation:

Data Minimization:
  Collection: Only necessary data for stress monitoring
  Processing: Purpose limitation enforcement
  Storage: Automated data retention policies
  Sharing: Minimal data sharing with explicit consent

User Rights Management:
  Access (Article 15): Automated data export within 30 days
  Rectification (Article 16): Self-service data correction
  Erasure (Article 17): Complete data deletion capability
  Portability (Article 20): Machine-readable data export
  Objection (Article 21): Opt-out mechanisms

Consent Management:
  Granular Consent: Feature-specific opt-in/opt-out
  Withdrawal: One-click consent withdrawal
  Documentation: Immutable consent audit trails
  Renewal: Periodic consent reconfirmation
  Child Protection: Age verification mechanisms

Scalability and Performance

Auto-Scaling Strategy

Horizontal Pod Autoscaler (HPA):

apiVersion: autoscaling/v2
kind: HorizontalPodAutoscaler
metadata:
  name: stressless-analytics-hpa
spec:
  scaleTargetRef:
    apiVersion: apps/v1
    kind: Deployment
    name: analytics-service
  minReplicas: 3
  maxReplicas: 100
  metrics:
  - type: Resource
    resource:
      name: cpu
      target:
        type: Utilization
        averageUtilization: 70
  - type: Resource
    resource:
      name: memory
      target:
        type: Utilization
        averageUtilization: 80
  - type: Pods
    pods:
      metric:
        name: stress_analysis_requests_per_second
      target:
        type: AverageValue
        averageValue: "100"

Vertical Pod Autoscaler (VPA):

apiVersion: autoscaling.k8s.io/v1
kind: VerticalPodAutoscaler
metadata:
  name: stressless-ml-vpa
spec:
  targetRef:
    apiVersion: apps/v1
    kind: Deployment
    name: ml-processing-service
  updatePolicy:
    updateMode: "Auto"
  resourcePolicy:
    containerPolicies:
    - containerName: ml-processor
      maxAllowed:
        cpu: 8
        memory: 16Gi
      minAllowed:
        cpu: 100m
        memory: 128Mi

Performance Targets

Response Time SLAs:

Performance Metrics:
  Voice Analysis: <3 seconds (95th percentile)
  Dashboard Loading: <2 seconds (99th percentile)
  API Response: <500ms (95th percentile)
  Database Query: <100ms (90th percentile)
  Cache Hit Ratio: >95%

Throughput Targets:
  Concurrent Users: 10,000+ per region
  API Requests: 100,000+ per minute
  Voice Analyses: 1,000+ per minute
  Database Transactions: 50,000+ per second

Availability Targets:
  Overall System: 99.9% uptime
  Core Services: 99.95% uptime
  Data Layer: 99.99% uptime
  CDN: 100% uptime (multi-provider)

Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity

Multi-Region Deployment Strategy

Primary Regions:

US East (Virginia): Primary region for North American users
EU West (Ireland): GDPR-compliant region for European users
Asia Pacific (Singapore): Regional deployment for APAC users

Disaster Recovery Configuration:

Recovery Objectives:
  RTO (Recovery Time): 4 hours maximum
  RPO (Recovery Point): 15 minutes maximum
  Data Replication: Cross-region async replication
  Failover: Automated DNS-based failover

Backup Strategy:
  Database: Continuous backup with point-in-time recovery
  Application Data: Daily encrypted backups
  Configuration: Infrastructure as Code in version control
  Secrets: Encrypted secret backup and rotation

Testing Schedule:
  DR Testing: Quarterly full disaster recovery exercises
  Backup Validation: Monthly backup restoration tests
  Failover Testing: Bi-weekly automated failover tests
  Security Testing: Continuous security scanning and penetration testing

Monitoring and Observability

Comprehensive Monitoring Stack

Application Performance Monitoring (APM):

Metrics Collection:
  - Prometheus: Time-series metrics collection
  - Grafana: Real-time dashboard visualization
  - AlertManager: Intelligent alerting and escalation

Distributed Tracing:
  - Jaeger: End-to-end request tracing
  - OpenTelemetry: Standardized observability framework
  - Service Maps: Visual service dependency mapping

Log Management:
  - ELK Stack: Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana
  - Log Aggregation: Centralized multi-region logging
  - Log Analysis: AI-powered anomaly detection
  - Retention: 90-day log retention with archival

Health Checks:
  - Liveness Probes: Service availability verification
  - Readiness Probes: Traffic routing decisions
  - Startup Probes: Application initialization monitoring
  - External Monitoring: Third-party uptime monitoring

Security Monitoring:

SIEM Integration:
  - Real-time threat detection
  - Behavioral analysis and anomaly detection
  - Incident response automation
  - Compliance reporting and audit trails

Security Metrics:
  - Authentication failures and patterns
  - API abuse and rate limiting violations
  - Data access patterns and anomalies
  - Privacy policy violations and consent issues

This comprehensive architecture design provides a scalable, secure, and compliant foundation for the StressLess platform, supporting both current requirements and future growth while maintaining privacy-first principles and enterprise-grade reliability.

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27 August 2025