Technical Introduction to Convier

Convier is a webapp served by a Java HTTP server that runs as a single Docker container within your organization’s environment, e.g., as an App Service. No data leaves your network, and Convier does not require to store or copy any data to operate: all data is fetched from your existing databases and services on demand. Data is stored together with saved reports. Reports, if configured, are stored in your existing CRM, or in a database of your choice. Convier also does not require a database server, as configuration is stored locally. Convier runs in your existing Azure tenant/organization or equivalent.

Getting Started

Getting started with Convier consists of three steps:

Installation (Deploy the Docker container, set up Single Sign-On, and assign access to users)
- See:Installation
Data Connection (Connect data sources, open necessary firewalls, configure authentication)
Configuration (Connect data sources to a template configuration or start from scratch)

Resources from Convier are ready to assist with all three steps, including training users once the system is up and running.

System Requirements

Convier is designed to run with minimal resources within a Docker container. It consists of a server component and a browser-based web app that is provided to users by the server.

Server

Hardware

The primary requirement is a physical or virtual machine capable of running Docker. A Linux host is preferred but not required. The Docker container will use storage mounted on the hardware, or a provided database, to persist configuration.

Resources

The estimated required resources depend on the intensity of use and the amount of data being processed.

Concurrent Users	RAM	CPU Cores	Disk Space
1 - 2	4	2	4
2 - 10	8	4	8
11 - 30	16	8	16
31 - 50	20	16	24

Client

Requirements for the hardware/laptop users accessing the Convier web application:

High screen resolution is recommended (minimum 1920 x 1080)
A modern internet browser
At least two CPU cores
4GB of RAM

The web browser must allow cookies for Convier to maintain user sessions.

Security Architecture

A high-level overview of the application architecture with required connection points:

Inbound

The user needs to be able to access the URL of the Convier server running within the organization’s environment, either directly or through a VDI like Citrix.

Outbound

An OIDC provider like Azure AD for user authentication and authorization (If none are available, we can provide one)
The Convier private Docker registry to download software updates (currently https://convier.azurecr.io)
Database connections to relevant data warehouses
HTTP connections to relevant APIs
Database connection to store application configuration (if not using embedded)
Database connection to store audit logging (if not using embedded)

Audit logging

See ‣

Backup

As Convier stores no data, only the configuration database needs to be backed up. When running an App Service with a persisted home folder, this backup is by default performed automatically.

Data Privacy

Convier stores no customer data, which limits the privacy challenges. The configuration database may contain customer data used for testing purposes, but this can be avoided, e.g. by testing on synthetic data in a User Acceptance Testing environment. The contents of this configuration is stored with AES256 encryption, where the symmetric key is provided to the application as an environment variable/secret.