Network operator project planning

When planning a Corda deployment as a Business Network Operator, there are several considerations:

• Deployment environments
• Notary compatibility
• HSM compatibility
• Database compatibility
• Corda Enterprise Network Manager deployment

When deploying a private network, the Business Network Operator is responsible for all major components of the Corda network. In most enterprise deployments of Corda this includes:

• Nodes
• An HA notary cluster
• An HA Corda Firewall
• An HSM
• The certificate hierarchy of the network

The Business Network Operator also deploys Corda Enterprise Network Manager in a private network. This deployment includes an identity manager and a network map.

When deploying a public network, the Network Operator is responsible for all major components of the Corda network.

Deployment environments

Business Network Operators will need several deployments of Corda Enterprise, at least including:

• A development environment including minimal network infrastructure.
• A testing environment including a basic network, without HA notary, Corda Firewall, or HSMs.
• A UAT environment, that includes the full network infrastructure, with a shared HSM, and HA Corda Firewall.
• The production environment, including an HA notary cluster, HA Corda Firewalls on all nodes, HSMs, and network services.

Node sizing and databases

When defining the requirements of a node, it is important to define the resources that the node will require. While every Corda deployment will have different requirements - depending on the CorDapps and business model of the parties - the following table gives approximate sizings for typical node deployments.

All Corda Nodes have a database. A range of third-party databases are supported by Corda, shown in the following table:

Notary databases

Hardware Security Modules (HSM)