Article Outline

1. Introduction

• Purpose: Provide a high-level overview of the Woodland OT project and its goals.

• Audience: Developers, DevOps engineers, and users of the Woodland OT system.

2. Project Overview

• What is Woodland OT?: Description of the project, its objectives, and its importance.

• Key Features: Highlight the main features and functionalities of Woodland OT.

3. AWS Environment Overview

• Why AWS?: Explain why AWS was chosen as the platform for Woodland OT.

• Environment Structure: Describe the overall structure of the AWS environment.

  • Simplicity and Agility: Current use of the root account for management and plans for future IAM implementation as the team grows.

4. Sections for Different Audiences

• For Developers: What developers need to know about the environment.

• For DevOps Engineers: What DevOps engineers need to know about the environment.

• For Users: What users need to know about accessing and using Woodland OT.

Article Content

1. Introduction

Welcome to the Woodland OT project! This document provides a comprehensive overview of the Woodland OT system and the AWS environment that supports it. Whether you are a developer, a DevOps engineer, or a user, this guide will help you understand the project’s purpose, key features, and the underlying infrastructure.

2. Project Overview

What is Woodland OT?

Woodland OT is an environment designed to manage and optimize operational technology initiatives for Woodland Development Corp. Before the implementation of Woodland OT, Woodland had limited visibility into its data. With this new environment, Woodland now has the ability to centralize its data model, generate comprehensive reports, and provide actionable insights to improve operational efficiency.

The primary goal of Woodland OT is to enhance the efficiency and reliability of OT systems. By centralizing data and providing advanced analytical tools, Woodland can streamline operations, make data-driven decisions, and improve overall productivity. This environment empowers Woodland's workforce with immediate access to critical data, leading to better operational decisions and optimized OPEX (Operating Expenses) spending.

Key Features

• Data Centralization: Consolidate data from various sources into a single, coherent data model.

• Reporting and Analytics: Generate comprehensive reports and provide analytical tools for data-driven decision-making.

• User Management: Securely handle user authentication and profile management.

• Automated Deployment: Facilitate the automated deployment of services with robust security features.

• Monitoring and Notifications: Provide real-time monitoring and notifications to ensure system health and performance.

3. AWS Environment Overview

Why AWS?

AWS was chosen as the platform for Woodland OT due to its scalability, reliability, and comprehensive suite of services. AWS enables us to quickly deploy and manage resources, ensuring that our system is both agile and cost-effective.

Environment Structure

Currently, the AWS environment for Woodland OT is managed using a simplified approach. As the sole manager, Flaresoft Solutions accesses and manages the environment via the root account to maintain agility and simplicity. However, as the team expands, we will transition to a more structured approach using IAM, AWS Organizations, or possibly SAML/Cognito for identity management.

Simplicity and Agility

• Current Management: Using the root account for all management tasks.

• Future Plans: Implement IAM roles and policies, set up AWS Organizations for multiple accounts, and consider SAML or Cognito for user authentication.

Environment Segmentation

The environment is currently split into two sections:

• Woodland OT: Houses generic Woodland OT initiatives.

• Woodland SaskPower Integration: Houses Woodland's SaskPower data integration. This was chosen to be separate as it was the first project and didn’t want to build out Woodland OT initially.

Though there is no clear logical or physical segregation in networking/architecture, these two areas use different repositories and database schemas but are intertwined and use each other.

Repositories and Code Management

• Woodland OT:

  • Repository: woodland-ot-database – holds the code for the Woodland OT database structure.

• Woodland SaskPower Integration:

  • Repositories:

    • saskpower-data-database: Database structure.

    • saskpower-data-front-end: Front-end UI code.

    • saskpower-data-integration: Back-end code.

Technology Stack

• Database: PostgreSQL hosted on AWS Aurora for all databases.

• Front-End: React, hosted in AWS Amplify.

• Back-End: Node.js, hosted in AWS Elastic Beanstalk.

• Communication: Front-end communicates with the back-end via AWS API Gateway.

Environments

There are two primary environments currently hosted in AWS: DEV and PROD. Almost every element in AWS has been duplicated to achieve this separation. However, PostgreSQL is currently using one server and multiple databases to manage DEV/PROD environments. Plans to split to multiple clusters are in place to ensure agility and cost efficiency, but for now, one cluster is used.

4. Sections for Different Audiences

To cater to the needs of different users, the knowledge base is divided into sections tailored for specific audiences.

For Developers

• Development Environment: How to set up and access the development environment.

• Codebase and Repositories: Structure of the codebase and access to repositories.

• Deployment Procedures: Steps to deploy code and manage releases.

• Infrastructure Management: Overview of the AWS infrastructure and key components.

• Monitoring and Logging: Tools and practices for monitoring system health and performance.

• Security and Compliance: Best practices for maintaining security and compliance.

For Users

• Accessing Woodland OT: How to access the system and manage user profiles.

• Using Key Features: Guide to using the main features of Woodland OT.

• Support and Resources: How to get support and access additional resources.

Contact Information

The domain is managed in Cloudflare by Flaresoft Solutions. The code repositories are hosted in GitHub and also managed by Flaresoft Solutions. Should access be required to any of these accounts, please send an email to woodland.support@flaresoft.solutions.