Feature Overview (aka. Goal Summary)

The goal of this feature is to enhance the existing product documentation by adding a comprehensive Architecture section. This section will include an architecture diagram that illustrates how Red Hat Developer Hub and Backstage.io operate, detailing both frontend and backend deployments. It will also cover how high availability is managed, including cache and database interactions. This addition aims to improve customer understanding of the system's architecture and address recurring queries about deployment and high availability. This should be similar in spirit to the official Backstage Architecture Overview.

User Story

As a Platform Engineer (or Enterprise Architect) responsible for deploying and maintaining Red Hat Developer Hub, I want to access a clear and detailed architecture overview, including a system diagram, so that I can effectively plan our deployment, ensure high availability, and confidently communicate the system's design to internal stakeholders like security and operations teams.

Goals (aka. Expected User Outcomes)

• Provide customers with a clear and detailed visualization of the RHDH and Backstage.io architecture.

• Explain the roles of frontend and backend components in the deployment.

• Illustrate how high availability is achieved, particularly focusing on cache and database mechanisms.

• Reduce the volume of customer support inquiries related to architecture and deployment patterns.

• Review and publish the updated architecture diagram currently in GitLab to the official product documentation

Requirements (aka. Acceptance Criteria)

• Given a user navigates to the RHDH product documentation, When they look at the table of contents, Then a new top-level section titled "Architecture Overview" is present (TBC - work with Docs team to position this section correctly)

• Given the user is viewing the "Architecture Overview" page, When the page loads, Then it displays a detailed architecture diagram outlining the RHDH and Backstage.io system.

• Given the user has limited Architectural knowledge (a layperson), When they view the diagram, Then it should be simple and clear enough for them to understand the overall layout of the system without further training (e.g. avoiding the use of formal UML notation etc. that could alienate the layperson)
• Given the user is viewing the diagram, When they inspect it, Then frontend and backend components are clearly delineated and labeled.

• Given the user is reading the accompanying text, When they look for high availability information, Then there is a clear explanation of how HA is managed, with specific callouts for the database and caching layers.

• Given the engineering team needs to update the diagram, When they look for the source file, Then it is stored in a maintainable format (e.g., SVG, Draw.io) within our GitLab repository.

Out of Scope (Optional)

To ensure this task remains focused, the following are explicitly not part of this feature:

• Step-by-step installation guides for specific cloud providers or platforms. This is an architectural overview, not a deployment manual.

• A deep-dive into the internal code or API of every individual Backstage plugin.

• Detailed performance tuning or resource-sizing recommendations for the database or cache.

Customer Considerations (Optional)

This feature directly addresses a recurring theme from our enterprise customers. Platform teams and architects require this level of documentation for:

• Security Reviews: To get approval from their internal security teams.
• Operational Planning: To understand how to manage, scale, and monitor the application effectively.
• Technology Justification: To confidently explain the choice of RHDH and its enterprise-readiness to their leadership. Failing to provide this information creates a significant adoption barrier for larger, more regulated organizations.
• Non-expert friendly: Ensure the architecture diagram and documentation is crafted in such a was as to be clear and easily interpreted correctly by a non-technical audience, as well as detailed enough for technical users.

Documentation Considerations

Since this feature is the creation of documentation, this section defines the publishing and maintenance process:

• The primary deliverable is the new "Architecture Overview" page within the official product documentation.

• This new page must be linked prominently from the main "Introduction" or "Getting Started" sections to ensure it is discoverable (TBD - work with docs to find the best landing zone for this new item).
• A final review of the diagram and text must be conducted with the lead architect, engineering managers, and product management team to ensure 100% technical accuracy and easy interpretability before publication.

  Who is your target persona?
  

  <Role>
  

  What stage of the user journey are you targeting?
  

  <User journey>
  

  Why is this content important?
  

  <Justification>
  

  What is the main user goal aka job to be done?
  

  As a <role>, I want to <goal>
  

  What high level steps does the user need to take to accomplish the goal?
  

1. <User steps to accomplish goal>
   

What pain points are the user likely to encounter when accomplishing this goal?

<Pain points>

Links to existing content

• <Add link to content>
  

People:

• SME: <SME>
  
• QE: <QE>
  

Release Note: Yes/No

Documentation Outline

• <Documentation outline>