ReputeAPI Architecture¶

System Overview¶

ReputeAPI is built on a modern, cloud-native architecture designed for high availability, low latency, and global scale. Our platform processes millions of DNS queries daily while maintaining sub-second response times.

Core Components¶

1. API Gateway Layer¶

Internet ────▶ Load Balancer ────▶ API Gateway ────▶ Application Services
                     │                   │
                     ▼                   ▼
               Rate Limiting         Authentication
               SSL Termination       Request Routing
               DDoS Protection       Response Caching

Technologies: - Cloudflare - Global CDN and DDoS protection - NGINX - High-performance reverse proxy - Redis - Rate limiting and session storage

2. Application Services¶

Core API Service¶

• Framework: FastAPI (Python)
• Runtime: Python 3.11+ with asyncio
• Architecture: Microservices with domain separation
• Scaling: Horizontal auto-scaling based on CPU/memory

DNS Resolution Service¶

• Multi-region DNS resolvers across 15+ locations
• Intelligent failover with health monitoring
• Custom caching layer for optimal performance
• Recursive resolution for complex SPF includes

Scoring Engine¶

• Real-time analysis of DNS records
• Machine learning models for threat detection
• Weighted scoring algorithm based on security best practices
• Historical trend analysis for security posture tracking

3. Data Layer¶

┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐
│ PostgreSQL  │  │    Redis    │  │ TimescaleDB │
│  (Primary)  │  │   (Cache)   │  │ (Analytics) │
└─────────────┘  └─────────────┘  └─────────────┘

PostgreSQL (Primary Database)¶

• User management and API key storage
• Domain configurations and settings
• Webhook configurations and logs
• High availability with read replicas

Redis (Caching Layer)¶

• DNS response caching (TTL-aware)
• Rate limiting counters per API key
• Session storage for dashboard users
• Real-time metrics aggregation

TimescaleDB (Time-Series Analytics)¶

• Historical score tracking for domains
• Performance metrics and monitoring
• Usage analytics and billing data
• Trend analysis for security insights

4. Background Processing¶

API Request ────▶ Queue ────▶ Workers ────▶ Database
                   │              │
                   ▼              ▼
              Priority Queue   Result Cache
              Retry Logic     Error Handling

Job Types: - Bulk validations for enterprise customers - Webhook deliveries with retry logic - Historical data aggregation for analytics - DNS cache warming for popular domains

DNS Resolution Architecture¶

Global Resolver Network¶

┌─────────────┐   ┌─────────────┐   ┌─────────────┐
│  US-EAST-1  │   │  EU-WEST-1  │   │ ASIA-PAC-1  │
│   Primary   │   │   Primary   │   │   Primary   │
└─────────────┘   └─────────────┘   └─────────────┘
       │                 │                 │
       ▼                 ▼                 ▼
┌─────────────┐   ┌─────────────┐   ┌─────────────┐
│ US-WEST-2   │   │ EU-CENTRAL  │   │ ASIA-PAC-2  │
│  Fallback   │   │  Fallback   │   │  Fallback   │
└─────────────┘   └─────────────┘   └─────────────┘

Smart Resolution Strategy¶

1. Primary Resolution - Query nearest geographic resolver
2. Fallback Resolution - Automatic failover to backup resolvers
3. Consensus Validation - Compare results across multiple resolvers
4. Cache Management - TTL-aware caching with invalidation

Performance Optimizations¶

• Connection pooling for DNS resolver connections
• Parallel queries for SPF include chains
• Intelligent prefetching for common domains
• Circuit breakers for failed resolver protection

Security Architecture¶

API Security¶

Request ────▶ TLS 1.3 ────▶ Rate Limiting ────▶ Auth ────▶ Application
               │                  │               │
               ▼                  ▼               ▼
          Encryption         Quota Check      API Key
          Certificate       Per-Key Limits   Validation

Authentication & Authorization¶

• API Key authentication with HMAC signing
• Role-based access control (RBAC)
• IP whitelisting for enterprise accounts
• Request signing for enhanced security

Rate Limiting¶

• Tiered rate limits based on subscription
• Burst allowance for occasional spikes
• Sliding window algorithm for fairness
• Real-time monitoring and alerting

Data Protection¶

• Zero data retention - DNS queries not stored
• Encryption at rest - AES-256 for sensitive data
• Encryption in transit - TLS 1.3 for all communications
• Access logging - Comprehensive audit trails

Monitoring & Observability¶

Application Monitoring¶

┌─────────────┐   ┌─────────────┐   ┌─────────────┐
│   Metrics   │   │    Logs     │   │   Traces    │
│  (Prometheus│   │ (Structured │   │  (Jaeger)   │
│  + Grafana) │   │    JSON)    │   │             │
└─────────────┘   └─────────────┘   └─────────────┘
       │                 │                 │
       └─────────────────┼─────────────────┘
                         ▼
                ┌─────────────┐
                │  Alerting   │
                │ (PagerDuty) │
                └─────────────┘

Key Metrics¶

Performance Metrics¶

• Response time - P50, P95, P99 latencies
• Throughput - Requests per second
• Error rates - 4xx/5xx response rates
• DNS resolution time - Per-resolver performance

Business Metrics¶

• API usage - Requests per customer
• Score distribution - Security score analytics
• Popular domains - Most validated domains
• Geographic distribution - Request origins

Health Checks¶

• Application health - Service availability
• Database connectivity - Connection pool status
• DNS resolver health - Resolver response times
• External dependencies - Third-party service status

Deployment Architecture¶

Container Orchestration¶

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                  Kubernetes Cluster                 │
├─────────────┬─────────────┬─────────────┬──────────┤
│ API Gateway │    API      │    DNS      │ Workers  │
│   Service   │  Service    │   Service   │ Service  │
│             │             │             │          │
│  (3 pods)   │  (5 pods)   │  (3 pods)   │ (3 pods) │
└─────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┴──────────┘

Infrastructure as Code¶

• Terraform - Infrastructure provisioning
• Helm Charts - Kubernetes deployments
• GitOps - Automated deployments via ArgoCD
• Blue-Green deployments - Zero-downtime updates

Regional Distribution¶

Scalability Design¶

Horizontal Scaling¶

• Stateless services - Easy horizontal scaling
• Database sharding - Partition by customer
• CDN caching - Global response caching
• Auto-scaling policies - CPU/memory thresholds

Performance Targets¶

Future Architecture¶

Planned Enhancements¶

• Edge computing - Deploy to 50+ edge locations
• ML-powered scoring - Enhanced threat detection
• Real-time streaming - WebSocket API support
• Multi-cloud - AWS + GCP redundancy

Technology Roadmap¶

• gRPC APIs - High-performance binary protocol
• GraphQL gateway - Flexible query interface
• Serverless functions - Event-driven processing
• Blockchain verification - Immutable audit logs

Want to integrate with our architecture? Check out our Integration Patterns guide for best practices.