Shared responsibility model
This page describes how responsibilities are divided between Akka and the customer when running Akka Automated Operations (AAO) under three deployment models:
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Dedicated: Akka owns and operates the cloud account and runs the platform within it.
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BYOC (Bring Your Own Cloud): AAO runs inside the customer’s cloud account.
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BYOK8s (Bring Your Own Kubernetes): Akka runs inside a Kubernetes cluster the customer provides and operates.
See Choose how you run Akka for how the models compare.
The at-a-glance summary and the per-area sections below assign an owner to each activity. Where the owner or the split differs by model, the Applies to column names the models a row covers, and the activity appears once for each variant; All means the row is the same in every model. For the authoritative row-by-row breakdown, with the full Responsible / Accountable / Consulted / Informed split, see the RACI.
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The policies published on trust.akka.io and the Customer Support Policy take precedence over any summary here. |
Executive summary
Akka Automated Operations is a managed platform. What it covers depends on the deployment model:
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Dedicated: Akka owns and operates the cloud account that hosts the platform and runs everything within: the runtime, operators, encryption, region installation, scaling, patching, platform observability, backups, the in-region network, and the security monitoring over the account. That leaves you the least to run of the three models: you own the applications you build with the Akka SDK, the data they process, any customer-managed encryption keys or TLS certificates you bring, and your side of the operational partnership.
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BYOC: the platform runs inside your cloud account. Akka takes responsibility for the platform itself: the runtime, operators, encryption, region installation, scaling, patching, observability of the platform, backups, and the operational rituals that surround them. You take responsibility for the cloud account, the network you bring, the human identities that access the Akka console, the applications you build with the Akka SDK, and the data those applications process. Because AAO operates inside your cloud account, the model is genuinely shared: Akka manages the platform layer end-to-end, and you manage the layers above and below it.
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BYOK8s: Akka runs inside a Kubernetes cluster you provide and operate. Akka takes responsibility for the platform itself: the runtime, operators, inter-component mTLS, region installation, scaling, patching, observability of the platform, and the operational rituals that surround them. Encryption of customer data (database at rest and in transit, ingress TLS) is your responsibility (see Section 6). You take responsibility for the cloud account, the Kubernetes cluster and its underlying infrastructure, database backups, the network, the human identities that access the Akka console, the applications built with the Akka SDK, and the data those applications process. Because Akka runs inside infrastructure you operate, the model is genuinely shared, and more activities are jointly owned than in the other models.
In every model, some activities are jointly owned, with the lead and consulted parties named explicitly.
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What you own in BYOK8s
In BYOK8s you own the infrastructure beneath the platform, not just the application. Beyond the application, you own:
Akka owns the platform layer: the runtime, operators, inter-component mTLS, region installation, scaling logic, platform observability, and releases. |
Shared responsibility extends to going live. Akka has a set of standards it expects of customer applications before flipping prod traffic on: sizing, observability, CI/CD, functional and non-functional testing, DR (disaster recovery) and rollback rehearsal. The production readiness checklist captures those standards and the sign-off gate Akka recommends before launch.
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Catch-all
Anything not explicitly listed in this document is the customer’s responsibility. This includes customer application code, customer-side operational tooling, and any concern not explicitly assigned to Akka. The customer may request additional operational support from Akka through the standard support channel. |
Layered view of AAO
The customer owns the applications in every model. Beneath them:
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Dedicated: Akka owns and operates the cloud account and the platform layer beneath the applications.
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BYOC: the customer owns the underlying cloud account; Akka manages the platform layer in between.
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BYOK8s: the customer owns the underlying cloud account, Kubernetes cluster, and database; Akka runs inside that cluster and manages the platform components.
| Layer | Applies to | Owner | Responsibilities |
|---|---|---|---|
Customer Applications (Akka SDK services) |
Dedicated |
Customer |
Source, build, deploy; service config and secrets; app ACLs / IAM (JWTs); app observability / SDK logs; customer-managed database encryption keys (CMEK) and BYO TLS certificates where brought |
Customer Applications (Akka SDK services) |
BYOC and BYOK8s |
Customer |
Source, build, deploy; service config and secrets; app ACLs / IAM (JWTs); app observability / SDK logs |
Akka Platform (managed by Akka) |
Dedicated and BYOC |
Akka |
Akka runtime and operators; region Kubernetes cluster; persistence store; container registry; encryption (at rest, in transit, mTLS); backups and restore testing; scaling, patching, releases; Federation Plane integration; platform observability |
Akka Platform (managed by Akka, deployed into the customer’s cluster) |
BYOK8s |
Akka |
Akka runtime and operators; inter-component mTLS; scaling, patching, releases; Federation Plane integration; platform observability |
Cloud Account |
Dedicated |
Akka |
Billing and quotas; account IAM; CIDR allocation, peering; DNS records, IP allowlists; cloud-native audit logs, SIEM, and cloud security posture |
Cloud Account (AWS account / GCP project / Azure subscription) |
BYOC |
Customer |
Billing and quotas; IAM that grants Akka access; CIDR allocation, peering; DNS records, IP allowlists; cloud-native audit logs; customer-managed KMS keys |
Cloud Account, Kubernetes cluster, and database |
BYOK8s |
Customer |
Billing, quotas, dedicated cloud account; Kubernetes cluster (creation, upgrades, capacity); database (creation, upgrades, backups); IAM that grants Akka access into the cluster; CIDR allocation, peering, DNS, IP allowlists; customer-managed KMS keys, cloud audit logs |
How to read this
Each activity in the matrix has an owner, the party that is Responsible and Accountable. The other party may be Consulted or Informed; called out in the description where relevant.
| Owner | Meaning |
|---|---|
Customer |
The customer is Responsible and Accountable for the activity. Akka may be Consulted or Informed. |
Akka |
Akka is Responsible and Accountable for the activity. The customer may be Consulted or Informed. |
Shared |
Akka and the customer share responsibility. The split is described in the row’s description. |
In Dedicated, because Akka owns and operates the cloud infrastructure, there is little customer-side infrastructure to coordinate on, though some aspects, such as sizing and capacity, are still worked through jointly with your Akka team, as is any network you choose to integrate with the Akka region (for example, a transit gateway). In BYOC and BYOK8s, because Akka operates inside infrastructure you control, coordinate with Akka before infrastructure changes that could affect the Region.
Reaching the reliability and availability your deployment is built for depends on both sides meeting the responsibilities below, worked through with your Akka team; your agreement and the Federation Plane SLA Policy remain the authoritative statement of what is committed. See the production readiness overview and the production readiness checklist.
Responsibility summary at a glance
| Area | Applies to | Lead | One-line summary |
|---|---|---|---|
Cloud account and billing |
Dedicated |
Akka |
Akka owns and operates the account, pays the associated bill, and controls the account IAM; the customer’s cost is set by an agreed structure. |
Cloud account and billing |
BYOC |
Customer |
Customer owns the account, pays the bill, controls the IAM that grants Akka access. |
Cloud account, cluster and billing |
BYOK8s |
Customer |
Customer owns the cloud account and Kubernetes cluster, pays the bill, and controls the access Akka uses to operate inside the cluster. |
Networking and DNS |
Dedicated |
Akka |
Akka builds and operates the in-region network, CIDR, peering, allowlists, and DNS; customer coordinates only where it integrates its own network. |
Networking and DNS |
BYOC |
Shared |
Akka builds the in-region network; customer brings CIDR, peering, allowlists, DNS. |
Networking and DNS |
BYOK8s |
Customer |
Customer owns the cluster’s networking end-to-end: CIDR, peering, allowlists, DNS, and private connectivity. |
Account security monitoring |
Dedicated |
Akka |
Akka operates cloud-native audit logging, SIEM, and cloud security posture for the dedicated account. |
Region install and federation |
All |
Akka |
Akka provisions, federates, and validates the Akka region. |
Platform patching and releases |
Dedicated and BYOC |
Akka |
Akka maintains the runtime, infrastructure, and platform components. |
Platform patching and releases |
BYOK8s |
Akka |
Akka maintains the runtime and platform components. |
Kubernetes and database upgrades |
BYOK8s |
Customer |
Customer schedules and runs upgrades after consulting Akka on certified target versions. |
Compute and storage scaling |
Dedicated |
Shared |
Akka auto-scales compute and storage within sizing standards (the database’s compute is sized, not auto-scaled); customer signals expected demand. |
Compute and storage scaling |
BYOC |
Shared |
Akka auto-scales within sizing standards; customer signals expected demand. |
Compute and storage scaling |
BYOK8s |
Shared |
Customer ensures cluster and database can scale, including database storage autogrow or an equivalent, and monitors database disk usage. Akka manages elasticity of the application workloads on top. |
Encryption (customer data) |
BYOK8s |
Customer |
Customer is responsible for database encryption (at rest and in transit) and ingress TLS. |
Encryption (platform-internal) |
BYOK8s |
Akka |
Akka manages mTLS between Akka components, TLS to the Federation Plane, and encryption of FP-synced secrets. |
Encryption (default keys) |
Dedicated and BYOC |
Akka |
Akka encrypts at rest and in transit using cloud-provider KMS by default. |
Encryption (customer-managed keys) |
Dedicated and BYOC |
Customer |
Customer manages key material when CMEK is selected. |
Platform observability |
All |
Akka |
Akka monitors the platform and publishes uptime reports on request. |
Application observability |
All |
Customer |
Customer exports app telemetry to their own observability stack. |
Database backups |
BYOK8s |
Customer |
Customer runs database point-in-time recovery (PITR); Akka is informed. |
K8s resource backups and restore testing |
BYOK8s |
Shared |
Akka uses Velero to back up K8s resources; customer provides the IAM binding and object storage. Restore testing is performed jointly. |
Database and K8s backups |
Dedicated and BYOC |
Akka |
Akka provides database point-in-time recovery, performs restore tests, owns Velero. |
Disaster recovery exercises |
All |
Shared |
Annual or as-agreed joint exercises. |
Multi-region failover |
Dedicated |
Akka |
Akka operates the failover tooling and runbooks; customer is consulted before failover. |
Multi-region failover |
BYOC |
Akka |
Akka provides tooling and runbooks; customer is consulted before failover. |
Multi-region failover |
BYOK8s |
Shared |
Akka and the customer work together on failover; Akka provides the tooling and runbooks. |
Akka console and CLI identity |
All |
Customer |
Customer’s identity provider (IdP) authenticates console/CLI users with MFA. |
Akka platform-side privileged access |
All |
Akka |
Teleport-mediated, session-recorded; logs available to customer on request. |
Compliance posture (SOC 2, pen test) |
All |
Akka |
Akka maintains and publishes compliance evidence on trust.akka.io. |
GDPR / PII for application data |
All |
Customer |
Customer is the controller of application data and handles DSRs (Data Subject Requests). |
Customer applications (SDK services) |
All |
Customer |
Customer owns source, deploy, config, secrets, ACLs end-to-end. |
1. Cloud account
In Dedicated, Akka owns and operates the cloud-provider account that hosts the Akka region. Akka provisions the account, pays the associated bill, holds the account-level IAM, and operates everything inside it; the customer’s cost is set by an agreed structure. The customer does not own or operate the cloud account.
In BYOC and BYOK8s, the customer owns the cloud-provider account that hosts the Akka region. Akka receives narrowly scoped programmatic access to install, operate, and maintain the platform inside that account. The customer can revoke that access at any time.
- At a glance, in Dedicated
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Akka: Provisions, owns, pays for, and operates the dedicated cloud account. Sets quotas and holds all account IAM.
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Customer: Is consulted on expected usage so Akka can size quotas appropriately. Does not own or operate the account.
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- At a glance, in BYOC and BYOK8s
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Customer: Owns the cloud account, pays the bill, and creates the IAM permissions that Akka uses. Can cut off Akka’s access at any time.
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Akka: In BYOC, documents the required permissions and provides the akka-bootstrap utility, and operates within the IAM scope the customer grants, and nothing outside it. In BYOK8s, documents the access Akka requires into the customer’s cluster, and operates within the access the customer grants, and nothing outside it.
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Responsibilities
| Activity | Applies to | Owner | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Cloud account provisioning |
Dedicated |
Akka |
Akka provisions and owns a dedicated cloud account to host the platform, and sets up the account infrastructure and access it needs to run the region. A dedicated account simplifies cost tracking and security boundaries. |
Cloud account provisioning |
BYOC |
Customer |
Customer sets up a dedicated AWS account, GCP project, or Azure subscription for Akka to host the platform in. A dedicated account is recommended to simplify cost tracking and security boundaries; Akka advises against provisioning other resources in it to avoid management conflicts, and anything the customer adds outside this scope is the customer’s responsibility. |
Cloud account provisioning |
BYOK8s |
Customer |
Customer sets up a dedicated AWS account, GCP project, or Azure subscription that hosts the Kubernetes cluster Akka runs in. A dedicated account is recommended to simplify cost tracking and security boundaries; Akka advises against provisioning other resources in it to avoid management conflicts, and anything the customer adds outside this scope is the customer’s responsibility. |
Quotas and service limits |
Dedicated |
Akka |
Akka ensures sufficient quota for compute, storage, and networking in the account it owns. Customer is consulted on expected consumption. |
Quotas and service limits |
BYOC and BYOK8s |
Customer |
Customer ensures sufficient quota for compute, storage, and networking. Akka advises on expected consumption. |
Execute akka-bootstrap |
BYOC |
Customer |
Customer runs the Akka-provided Terragrunt utility to grant Akka programmatic access to the cloud account. |
Terraform state backend |
BYOC |
Customer |
Customer owns and secures the Terraform state backend (cloud storage bucket, locking, encryption) used when running akka-bootstrap. |
Akka permissions |
Dedicated |
Akka |
Akka creates and maintains the IAM permissions used to operate the platform, managing all roles and bindings within the account it owns. |
Akka permissions |
BYOC |
Customer |
Customer creates and maintains the IAM permissions Akka uses. Akka has no permissions outside these and cannot manage anything beyond them. Access can be cut off at any time. |
Dedicated account |
Dedicated |
Akka |
Akka provisions and operates a dedicated cloud account exclusively for the platform. To prevent management conflicts, no additional resources are provisioned in it. |
Billing |
Dedicated |
Akka |
Akka owns and operates the account and pays the associated bill. The customer’s cost is set by an agreed structure. |
Billing |
BYOC and BYOK8s |
Customer |
Customer owns and operates the account and pays the bill. |
2. Networking and connectivity
Akka creates the VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) and all in-region networking using cloud-provider best practices.
In Dedicated, Akka does this within the account it owns. Because Akka owns the account, the surrounding network is Akka’s to operate as well: CIDR allocation, peering, IP allowlists, and DNS. The customer is involved only where it integrates its own network with the Akka region, for example a transit gateway.
In BYOC and BYOK8s, the customer provides the CIDR range and owns the surrounding network: peering or hub-and-spoke topologies, IP allowlists, DNS, and any private-connectivity bridge to the corporate network.
- At a glance, in Dedicated
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Akka: Builds and operates the in-region VPC, load balancers, and certificate issuer, along with CIDR allocation, peering, IP allowlists, and DNS.
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Customer: Coordinates with Akka only where it integrates its own corporate network with the Akka region (for example, a transit gateway), and provides the address ranges Akka uses for allowlists.
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- At a glance, in BYOC and BYOK8s
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Akka: Builds the in-region VPC, load balancers, and certificate issuer. Publishes the connectivity-pattern whitepaper so the customer can choose.
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Customer: Allocates the CIDR block, configures peering or hub-and-spoke to the corporate network, maintains IP allowlists and DNS records.
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Responsibilities
| Activity | Applies to | Owner | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Private connectivity |
Dedicated |
Akka |
Akka operates connectivity within its own VPC. Where the customer integrates its own network (for example, a transit gateway), the parties coordinate on the integration. |
Private connectivity |
BYOK8s |
Customer |
The customer designs, implements, and operates private connectivity into and out of the cluster using whatever pattern fits their environment. |
Ingress/egress |
Dedicated |
Akka |
Akka installs the load balancer and certificate issuer (Let’s Encrypt by default) for the region’s platform APIs and generated application hostnames. Where private connectivity is used, the load balancer uses an automatically generated IP so internal traffic does not traverse the public internet. |
Private connectivity pattern selection |
BYOC |
Customer |
Customer reviews and chooses a private connectivity pattern from the supported AAO patterns. Akka reviews and validates feasibility. |
Connectivity pattern whitepaper |
BYOC and BYOK8s |
Akka |
Akka publishes implementation details for each supported pattern, which the customer reviews when choosing. |
Public ingress/egress |
BYOC and BYOK8s |
Akka |
Akka installs a load balancer for the region and configures a certificate issuer (Let’s Encrypt by default) for platform APIs and generated application hostnames. |
Private ingress/egress |
BYOC and BYOK8s |
Akka |
Where private connectivity is selected, Akka installs the region using the chosen pattern, with an automatically generated load-balancer IP so internal traffic does not traverse the public internet. |
CIDR allocation |
Dedicated |
Akka |
Akka assigns an appropriately sized CIDR block for the account it owns, especially where peering or hub-and-spoke is required. Customer is informed. |
CIDR allocation |
BYOC and BYOK8s |
Customer |
Customer assigns an appropriately sized CIDR block, especially where peering or hub-and-spoke is required. |
VPC peering / hub-and-spoke |
Dedicated |
Akka |
Akka configures peering or hub-and-spoke between the Akka region’s VPC and other networks. Where the connection reaches a customer network, the customer coordinates on their side. Availability depends on cloud provider. |
VPC peering / hub-and-spoke |
BYOC and BYOK8s |
Customer |
Customer configures peering or hub-and-spoke between the Akka region’s VPC and other corporate networks. Availability depends on cloud provider. |
IP allowlist on NAT and load balancers |
Dedicated |
Akka |
Akka configures and maintains the IP allowlist for the NAT (Network Address Translation) gateways and the public load balancer, using the ranges the customer provides. |
IP allowlist on NAT and load balancers |
BYOC |
Customer |
Customer configures and maintains the IP allowlist for the NAT (Network Address Translation) gateways and the public load balancer. |
IP allowlist on NAT and load balancers |
BYOK8s |
Customer |
Customer configures and maintains the IP allowlist for the NAT (Network Address Translation) gateways and the public load balancer. The customer informs Akka of changes that may affect Platform connectivity. |
DNS records |
Dedicated |
Akka |
Akka creates and maintains DNS records for platform machinery and applications in the cloud-provider DNS zones for the installation. Customer is informed. |
DNS records |
BYOC and BYOK8s |
Customer |
Customer creates and maintains DNS records for platform machinery and applications in the cloud-provider DNS zones configured by Akka. |
3. Platform setup and bootstrap
In Dedicated and BYOC, Akka provisions the Akka region into the cloud account (the dedicated account Akka operates, or the customer’s account in BYOC), federates it to the Akka Federation Plane, and runs smoke tests before handing it over. In BYOK8s, Akka installs the platform machinery into the Kubernetes cluster the customer has provisioned, federates it to the Akka Federation Plane, and runs smoke tests before handing it over.
- At a glance, in Dedicated and BYOC
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Akka: Provisions the region (networking, K8s, persistence, registry, observability, operators), installs Teleport for federation, and configures region groups.
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Customer: Identifies region groupings and provides a preferred maintenance window that Akka aims to use for operations that may cause downtime.
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- At a glance, in BYOK8s
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Akka: Installs the platform machinery (Akka runtime, operators, observability) into the customer’s cluster and configures region groups.
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Customer: Provisions the cluster and database, installs Teleport for federation using the short-lived token Akka provides, identifies region groupings, and provides a preferred maintenance window that Akka aims to use for operations that may cause downtime.
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Responsibilities
| Activity | Applies to | Owner | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Platform bootstrapping |
Dedicated and BYOC |
Akka |
Akka provisions the region: networking, Kubernetes cluster, persistence store, registry, observability, and Akka operators. Customer reviews defaults and recommends changes for performance, RTO/RPO, or cost. |
Platform bootstrapping |
BYOK8s |
Akka |
Akka installs the platform machinery (runtime, operators, observability) into the customer’s Kubernetes cluster after the customer provisions the underlying infrastructure. |
Teleport identity-aware proxy |
BYOK8s |
Customer |
The customer installs and maintains the Teleport identity-aware proxy used by the Federation Plane to reach private Kubernetes API servers, including ongoing operational health and version upgrades. Akka provides a short-lived token and the installation command at setup time. See the Teleport appendix. |
Federation via Teleport |
Dedicated and BYOC |
Akka |
Akka installs the Teleport identity-aware proxy used by the Federation Plane to reach private Kubernetes API servers. See Appendix C. |
Kubernetes access via Teleport |
All |
Akka |
Akka uses Teleport for human access to platform infrastructure, with full session recording and audit logging. Access requires explicit justification and approval per the Access Control Policy. |
Region group identification |
All |
Customer |
Customer identifies region groupings appropriate for the workloads (e.g., for cross-region replication scope) and informs Akka. |
Region group configuration |
All |
Akka |
Akka configures region groups on the Federation Plane to match the customer’s groupings. |
Maintenance window |
All |
Customer |
Customer provides a preferred maintenance window. Akka aims to use this window for operations that may cause downtime. |
4. Platform maintenance and releases
Akka manages the lifecycle of the platform itself: patching, runtime/infra releases, and security remediations. In Dedicated and BYOC, that includes Kubernetes and database upgrades. In BYOK8s, the customer operates Kubernetes and database upgrades on their own infrastructure, consulting Akka first on certified versions.
- At a glance, in Dedicated and BYOC
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Akka: Patches infrastructure, upgrades Kubernetes and the database, and ships regular releases of the runtime, region machinery, and Federation Plane.
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Customer: Receives advance notice of any maintenance that causes downtime; Akka aims to schedule such work within the preferred maintenance window.
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- At a glance, in BYOK8s
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Akka: Patches platform infrastructure (JVM, container base image, Akka runtime) and ships regular releases of the runtime, region machinery, and Federation Plane.
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Customer: Schedules and runs K8s and database upgrades after consulting Akka on certified versions. Receives advance notice of Akka-led maintenance.
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Responsibilities
| Activity | Applies to | Owner | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Infrastructure patching and vulnerability management |
Dedicated and BYOC |
Akka |
Akka manages infrastructure patching and vulnerability remediation for the platform, including the JVM, container base image, operating system, and Akka runtime that ship with the customer’s deployed services. Vulnerability reports available from trust.akka.io. |
Infrastructure patching and vulnerability management |
BYOK8s |
Akka |
Akka manages patching and vulnerability remediation for the Platform components, including the JVM, container base image, and Akka runtime that ship with the customer’s deployed services. Vulnerability reports available from trust.akka.io. |
Kubernetes and database upgrades |
Dedicated and BYOC |
Akka |
Akka aims to perform K8s and database upgrades within the preferred maintenance window. Customer is notified prior to any maintenance that causes downtime. |
Kubernetes and database upgrades |
BYOK8s |
Customer |
The customer schedules and runs Kubernetes and database upgrades. The customer must consult Akka in advance so that Akka can certify the target versions against the Platform. Running an unverified version may break Platform functionality and is the customer’s responsibility. |
Releases (runtime, region machinery, Federation Plane) |
All |
Akka |
Akka schedules regular releases to installations covering the Akka runtime, region machinery, and Federation Plane components. |
5. Operations and scaling
Akka auto-scales compute and persistence within the region’s defined sizing standards. In Dedicated, because Akka owns the cloud account, Akka also pays the associated bill and reviews the account’s charges. In BYOC and BYOK8s, the customer retains visibility and control over cost and capacity decisions with business impact. In BYOK8s, Akka elastically scales the application workloads to match traffic, and this depends on the customer ensuring the underlying cluster and database have capacity headroom.
- At a glance
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Akka: Auto-provisions and de-provisions compute and persistence to match utilization. HA (high availability) is the default. Triages and prioritizes customer feature requests. In Dedicated, also pays the cloud bill and reviews the account’s charges.
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Customer: Selects sizing options, and signals expected demand spikes (e.g., performance testing) so Akka can pre-warm. In BYOC and BYOK8s, also reviews their cloud-account spend.
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Responsibilities
| Activity | Applies to | Owner | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Cost controls |
Dedicated |
Akka |
Akka pays the cloud bill and periodically reviews the account subscription and monthly charges. Akka auto-provisions and de-provisions to match utilization; HA is the default posture; sizing options keep cost in check. |
Cost controls |
BYOC and BYOK8s |
Customer |
Customer reviews their cloud-account subscription and monthly charges. Akka auto-provisions and de-provisions to match utilization; HA is the default posture; sizing options keep cost in check. |
Infrastructure scalability |
BYOK8s |
Customer |
Customer is responsible for ensuring scalability of the underlying infrastructure, including compute capacity for node pools and database scaling. |
Scalability planning |
Dedicated and BYOC |
Shared |
Akka monitors utilization and concurrency and auto-scales within sizing standards. Customer notifies Akka in advance of expected rapid expansion or pre-warming needs. |
Application elasticity |
Dedicated and BYOC |
Akka |
Akka dynamically adds and removes compute and persistence to accommodate real-time traffic against the customer’s performance SLA (Service Level Agreement) targets. |
Application elasticity |
BYOK8s |
Akka |
Akka dynamically adds and removes compute and persistence to accommodate real-time traffic against the customer’s performance SLA (Service Level Agreement) targets. This elasticity is contingent on the customer ensuring sufficient cluster compute and database capacity headroom (see Infrastructure scalability). |
Region decommission |
Dedicated and BYOC |
Akka |
On customer request (end of contract, scope change, topology adjustment), Akka follows the documented decommissioning runbook to gracefully remove the region and clean up stale resources. |
Region decommission |
BYOK8s |
Shared |
On customer request (end of contract, scope change, topology adjustment), Akka follows the documented decommissioning runbook to gracefully remove the region from the Federation Plane and clean up stale platform resources. The customer is responsible for deleting the underlying cloud infrastructure. |
Feature requests |
All |
Customer |
Customer submits feature requests via the support channel. Akka triages, prioritizes, and communicates status. |
6. Encryption, keys, and certificates
In Dedicated and BYOC, all data in the application plane is encrypted at rest and in transit. Customers can rely on Akka-managed encryption or bring their own keys for the database.
In BYOK8s, encryption of customer data is the customer’s responsibility: database (at rest and in transit) and ingress TLS in transit (either by providing a certificate issuer or by granting Akka enough access to solve DNS-01 / HTTP-01 challenges). Akka manages encryption internal to the platform: mTLS between Akka components and TLS to the Federation Plane (see Appendix A), and encryption of secrets synced from the Federation Plane (see Appendix B).
In every model, the lifecycle of cryptographic materials follows Akka’s Key Management and Cryptography Policy.
- At a glance, in Dedicated and BYOC
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Akka: Encrypts data in transit (TLS) and at rest using cloud-provider encryption services. Default keys are Akka-managed.
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Customer: Maintains key material in their KMS when CMEK is used; provides TLS certificates for private load balancers or customer-owned domains.
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- At a glance, in BYOK8s
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Customer: Owns customer-data encryption end-to-end: database (at rest and in transit), ingress TLS via certificate issuer or DNS/HTTP-01 access. Manages CMEK key material.
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Akka: Manages encryption internal to the platform: mTLS between Akka components, TLS to the Federation Plane, and encryption of FP-synced secrets.
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Responsibilities
| Activity | Applies to | Owner | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Customer-data encryption |
BYOK8s |
Customer |
The customer is responsible for setting up encryption of customer data: database (at rest and in transit) and ingress TLS (certificate issuer, or DNS-01 / HTTP-01 access for Akka). |
Platform-internal encryption |
BYOK8s |
Akka |
Akka manages encryption internal to the platform: mTLS between Akka components (per the Architecture appendix), TLS to the Federation Plane, and encryption of FP-synced secrets (per the Data protection appendix). |
Encryption in transit and at rest |
Dedicated and BYOC |
Akka |
Akka encrypts customer data in transit (TLS) and at rest using cloud-provider encryption services. Default keys are Akka-managed. |
Cryptographic key management |
All |
Customer |
Lifecycle, rotation, and access control of cryptographic materials follow the Akka Key Management and Cryptography Policy. Cloud-native KMS handles lifecycle for Akka-managed materials. Customer-managed keys (CMEK, BYO certificates) are managed by the customer per the same policy. |
Customer-managed database encryption keys (CMEK) |
All |
Customer |
Where CMEK is selected, customer creates and maintains key material in their KMS and shares the identifier with Akka. Customer is responsible for ensuring continued access to the CMEK. |
Customer-provided TLS certificates |
Dedicated |
Customer |
Where Akka cannot automatically provision TLS (e.g., customer-owned domains), the customer provides certificates or configures cert-manager. Akka validates and deploys. |
Customer-provided TLS certificates |
BYOC and BYOK8s |
Customer |
Where Akka cannot automatically provision TLS (e.g., private load balancers, customer-owned domains), the customer provides certificates or configures cert-manager. Akka validates and deploys. |
7. Observability and monitoring
Monitoring follows the same platform/application boundary as the rest of this model: Akka watches the platform layer it operates, and the customer watches their own applications. In Dedicated, because Akka owns the cloud account, Akka also handles the account’s security monitoring. In BYOC, the customer also watches the access tooling on their side; in BYOK8s, the cluster and the access tooling on their side. Application telemetry flows to whichever observability vendor the customer chooses.
- At a glance
-
-
Akka: Watches the health of the platform it operates, for example its system and infrastructure pods, database health and resource use, platform runtime errors, and internal processing-lag signals, and acts on them as part of running the region. Also tracks platform availability and region telemetry, with uptime reports on request. In Dedicated, also owns cloud-native audit logging, SIEM / security monitoring, and cloud security posture for the dedicated account.
-
Customer: Watches their own Akka applications, for example pod resource use, projection health, and any service-specific metrics, and sets the thresholds that make sense for their services. Exports application telemetry over OTLP. In BYOC and BYOK8s, also configures Teleport alerting on their side and owns cloud-native audit logging on the cloud account. In BYOK8s, also watches the cluster, node, and database infrastructure they operate.
-
|
This lays out the division of responsibility between the platform and application layers. It is not a fixed catalog of alerts, a set of committed thresholds, or a service-level guarantee, the signals and tooling Akka uses to run the platform change over time, and availability and support commitments live in the Akka Federation Plane SLA Policy and the Customer Support Policy. Monitoring of the customer’s own application pods sits with the customer rather than Akka, since they are best placed to define what healthy looks like for their services, and Akka can share recommended metrics and thresholds on request. |
Responsibilities
| Activity | Applies to | Owner | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Platform health monitoring |
All |
Akka |
Akka monitors and responds to the health of the platform it operates, for example its system and infrastructure pods, database health and resource use, platform runtime errors, and internal processing-lag signals. Described generically; the specific signals and tooling change as the platform evolves. |
Platform availability monitoring |
All |
Akka |
Akka monitors and reports availability of the Akka Platform. Uptime reports available on request. Platform availability commitments are governed by the Akka Federation Plane SLA Policy. Availability of customer-deployed services running on the platform is the customer’s responsibility, see Section 12. |
Platform logs (excluding SDK logs) |
All |
Akka |
Akka monitors all platform logs other than SDK logs, which are not ingested into Akka’s observability stack. |
Akka region platform telemetry |
All |
Akka |
Akka monitors region-level metrics and logs and notifies the customer as needed. |
Application monitoring |
All |
Customer |
The customer monitors their own application pods, for example resource use, projection health, and service-specific metrics, and sets the thresholds that matter for their services. Recommended metrics and thresholds are available from Akka on request. |
Teleport access monitoring |
Dedicated |
Akka |
Teleport bridges the Federation Plane to the private Kubernetes API servers. In Dedicated both ends of the bridge sit in infrastructure Akka operates, so Akka configures alerting for Teleport access. |
Teleport access monitoring |
BYOC and BYOK8s |
Customer |
Teleport sits at the boundary between the customer’s infrastructure and Akka’s, so meaningful coverage needs both sides; the customer configures alerting for Teleport access on their side. |
Customer-side platform telemetry (optional) |
BYOC and BYOK8s |
Customer |
Customer may optionally configure their own telemetry over the cluster and database since they own the cloud account. Akka can advise on which components are appropriate to observe externally. |
Cloud-native audit logging |
Dedicated |
Akka |
Akka enables cloud-native audit/security services (e.g., CloudTrail, Cloud Audit Logs, equivalents) for the dedicated account, collects and retains the logs, and investigates suspicious activity, sharing relevant findings with the customer. |
Cloud-native audit logging |
BYOC and BYOK8s |
Customer |
Customer enables cloud-native audit/security services (e.g., CloudTrail, Cloud Audit Logs, equivalents) and notifies Akka if any suspicious SIEM alerts are observed. |
SIEM / security monitoring |
Dedicated |
Akka |
Akka operates SIEM and security monitoring for the dedicated cloud account and notifies the customer of relevant findings. |
Cloud security posture |
Dedicated |
Akka |
Akka owns cloud security posture management (security-service configuration and guardrails) for the dedicated account. |
Application telemetry export |
All |
Customer |
Customer configures export of application logs, metrics, and traces to their observability platform via Akka’s OpenTelemetry (OTLP) exporters, which support any OpenTelemetry-compatible backend. |
8. Backups, disaster recovery, and multi-region
In Dedicated, Akka provides database point-in-time recovery, Kubernetes resource backups, and multi-region failover tooling, and replication topology is chosen with the customer. In BYOC, Akka provides database point-in-time recovery and multi-region failover tooling, and disaster-recovery exercises and replication topology are joint decisions. In BYOK8s, the customer runs the database with point-in-time recovery (PITR) on their infrastructure, and Akka uses Velero for Kubernetes resource backups with infrastructure the customer provides; restore testing, disaster-recovery exercises, and replication topology are joint decisions, and Akka provides multi-region failover tooling.
Multi-region replication is asynchronous. RTO/RPO targets are set by the agreement; see Appendix B and the disaster recovery scenario catalog for what a regional failover can lose.
- At a glance, in Dedicated
-
-
Akka: Provides database point-in-time recovery, Velero-based Kubernetes backups, periodic restore testing, and multi-region failover tooling and runbooks. RTO/RPO targets are set by the agreement.
-
Customer: Specifies replication mode per service; is consulted before failover.
-
- At a glance, in BYOC
-
-
Akka: Provides database point-in-time recovery, Velero K8s backups, periodic restore testing, and multi-region failover tooling and runbooks. RTO/RPO targets are set by the agreement.
-
Customer: Notifies Akka after ad-hoc backups; specifies replication mode per service; is consulted before failover.
-
Shared: Annual disaster-recovery exercise (or as agreed) jointly run by Akka and the customer.
-
- At a glance, in BYOK8s
-
-
Akka: Operates Velero for K8s resource backups (against customer-provided IAM and object storage), provides multi-region failover tooling and runbooks. RTO/RPO targets are set by the agreement.
-
Customer: Configures database point-in-time recovery (PITR), notifies Akka after ad-hoc backups, specifies replication mode per service, is consulted before failover.
-
Shared: Velero (customer provides IAM/storage, Akka operates), restore testing, and the annual or as-agreed disaster-recovery exercise.
-
Responsibilities
| Activity | Applies to | Owner | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Database point-in-time recovery (PITR) |
Dedicated and BYOC |
Akka |
Akka enables continuous point-in-time recovery for the database and notifies the customer once configured. |
Database point-in-time recovery (PITR) |
BYOK8s |
Customer |
Customer configures continuous point-in-time recovery (PITR) for the database in their environment. Akka is informed. Retention of at least 8 days is recommended. |
Ad-hoc database backups |
BYOC and BYOK8s |
Customer |
Customer notifies Akka after taking ad-hoc database backups (e.g., before high-risk changes, or snapshots taken for incident handling). |
Kubernetes resource backups (Velero) |
Dedicated and BYOC |
Akka |
Akka uses Velero to back up stateful Kubernetes resources. |
Kubernetes resource backups (Velero) |
BYOK8s |
Shared |
Akka uses Velero to back up stateful Kubernetes resources. Customer provides the necessary IAM binding and object storage. |
Backup restore testing |
Dedicated |
Akka |
Akka performs periodic restore testing against backups; results are summarized on request. |
Backup restore testing |
BYOC |
Akka |
Akka performs periodic restore testing against backups; results are summarized on request. The Disaster Recovery Exercise row covers joint exercises. |
Backup restore testing |
BYOK8s |
Shared |
Akka and the customer perform periodic restore testing against backups; results are summarized on request. The Disaster Recovery Exercise row covers joint exercises. |
Disaster recovery validation |
Dedicated |
Akka |
Akka periodically validates disaster recovery for the platform it operates. Joint exercises with the customer can be arranged as agreed. |
Disaster recovery exercise |
BYOC and BYOK8s |
Shared |
Akka and the customer work together, annually or as agreed, to simulate a disaster and fully recover from it, ensuring the recovery meets or exceeds the customer’s needs. See the disaster recovery scenario catalog for the per-scenario procedures. |
Cross-region replication configuration |
All |
Shared |
Customer specifies replication mode (e.g., region-pinned, replicated) per service. Akka enables and operates the underlying replication. |
Multi-region failover procedure |
Dedicated |
Akka |
Akka operates the failover tooling and runbooks. The customer is consulted before failover and informed of execution. |
Multi-region failover procedure |
BYOC |
Akka |
Akka provides tooling and runbooks for failover. The customer is consulted before failover and informed of execution. |
Multi-region failover procedure |
BYOK8s |
Shared |
Akka and the customer work together on failover: Akka provides the tooling and runbooks, and the customer is consulted before failover and informed of execution. |
RTO/RPO commitments |
All |
Akka |
RTO/RPO targets are defined in the customer’s agreement. |
9. Identity, access, and permissions
The customer owns enterprise identity for human users and configures access in the Akka console. Akka manages its own non-human identities and any privileged human access into the infrastructure. In Dedicated, Akka also manages the account-level IAM for the dedicated cloud account.
- At a glance
-
-
Customer: Provides the IdP that authenticates console/CLI users, enforces MFA, and manages own users, teams, and role assignments.
-
Akka: Uses Teleport for session-recorded privileged access and provides access-control reports on request. In Dedicated, owns account-level IAM for the dedicated cloud account and manages service accounts within it. In BYOC, manages service accounts within the cloud account. In BYOK8s, operates within the service-account access the customer grants.
-
Responsibilities
| Activity | Applies to | Owner | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Akka IAM integration |
All |
Akka |
Akka Federation Plane integrates with the customer’s identity provider to manage organizations, users, and team access controls. |
IAM (CLI and console) |
All |
Customer |
Customer provides the enterprise identity, authentication, and authorization systems and policies used to access the Akka console and CLI. |
Customer user and team management |
All |
Customer |
Customer manages its own users, teams, and role assignments within the Akka console. |
MFA on Akka Console and CLI |
All |
Customer |
Customer’s IdP enforces MFA for users accessing the Akka console and CLI. Akka enforces MFA on its own internal access. |
Infrastructure access control and IAM (cloud account) |
Dedicated |
Akka |
Akka owns account-level IAM for the dedicated cloud account where the region is installed. |
Infrastructure access control and IAM (cloud account) |
BYOC |
Customer |
Customer runs akka-bootstrap which sets up IAM for the cloud account where the region is installed. |
Infrastructure access control and IAM (cloud account) |
BYOK8s |
Customer |
Customer is responsible for maintaining strict access control to the cloud infrastructure. |
Service accounts and keys |
BYOK8s |
Customer |
Customer creates and manages the service accounts, keys, and IAM bindings required for Platform operation within the cloud account. |
Service accounts and keys (Akka-managed) |
Dedicated |
Akka |
Akka creates and manages the service accounts, keys, and IAM bindings required for platform operation within the dedicated cloud account. |
Service accounts and keys (Akka-managed) |
BYOC |
Akka |
Akka creates and manages the service accounts, keys, and IAM bindings required for platform operation within the customer’s cloud account. |
Privileged access via Teleport |
All |
Akka |
Akka uses Teleport for human access to platform infrastructure, with session recording and audit logging. Access requires explicit justification and approval. Audit logs available to the customer on request. |
Just-in-time access for customer data |
All |
Akka |
Where access to customer-confidential data is required (e.g., for incident handling), Akka requests authorization per the Access Control for Customer-Confidential Data policy. Audit logs available on request. |
Access-control reports |
Dedicated and BYOC |
Akka |
Akka provides access-control reports for the customer’s installation on request. Database-level audit logging available where required. |
Access-control reports |
BYOK8s |
Akka |
Akka provides access-control reports covering Akka’s own privileged access to the customer’s installation, on request. The customer manages their own IAM independently. |
10. Federation Plane procedures and engagement
Akka operates the Federation Plane and the recurring rituals that surround it: incidents, maintenance notifications, operations reviews, customer onboarding/offboarding.
- At a glance
-
-
Akka: Runs the Federation Plane, 24/7 incident response, advance maintenance notice, postmortems, ops sync, and executive review. Response times and notice periods follow the Customer Support Policy.
-
Shared: Onboarding, support and communication channels, customer portal training, and end-of-contract decommission.
-
Responsibilities
| Activity | Applies to | Owner | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Federation Plane disaster recovery |
All |
Akka |
Akka operates the Federation Plane and configures its disaster recovery. If the Federation Plane is unavailable, running Akka applications continue to operate. |
Support and communication channels |
All |
Shared |
At onboarding, Akka and the customer agree on operational and engagement-level communication channels (e.g., shared Slack, distribution lists, cadence). Formal support and incident channels are governed by the Customer Support Policy and the Incident Response row. |
Incident response |
All |
Akka |
Akka provides 24/7 incident response per the Customer Support Policy, which defines the severity classifications and response-time targets. Incidents are opened via support.akka.io, the Akka console, or [email protected]. Subsequent updates per the Incident Management Process. |
Postmortem delivery |
All |
Akka |
Akka delivers post-incident reviews for Severity 1 and 2 incidents within an agreed cadence following resolution. |
Maintenance notifications |
All |
Akka |
Akka notifies the customer in advance of planned maintenance windows that could affect availability, and via release-notify emails for runtime/SDK releases. Notice periods follow the Customer Support Policy. |
Operations sync |
All |
Akka |
Recurring operational review covering system health, maintenance, incidents, and roadmap items relevant to the customer. |
Strategic steering |
All |
Akka |
Periodic alignment session covering usage, capacity, product direction, and customer priorities. |
Executive partnership review |
All |
Akka |
Executive-level partnership review covering relationship health, escalation status, and strategic items. |
Onboarding |
All |
Shared |
Joint onboarding covering account setup, region provisioning, connectivity validation, and acceptance criteria. |
Customer portal access and training |
All |
Shared |
Customer is assigned access to the portal; Akka assigns the region and walks the customer through console, CLI, and ticketing flows. |
Customer offboarding and data return |
All |
Shared |
At end of contract, Akka coordinates region decommission, return or destruction of customer data, and revocation of access per the Data Retention Policy and the terms of the agreement. |
Issue tracking |
All |
Akka |
Akka tracks customer-raised issues and remediation through to closure with status visibility to the customer. |
11. Compliance and audit
Akka maintains the platform’s compliance posture (SOC 2, encryption, vulnerability management, sanctions screening, personnel security). The customer remains the controller of any data their applications process.
- At a glance
-
-
Akka: Maintains SOC 2 Type II, annual third-party pen test, continuous vulnerability scanning, sanctions screening, data-residency commitments, and audit log delivery.
-
Customer: Secures Federation Plane tokens and project access. Is the controller of application PII; handles GDPR Data Subject Requests directly.
-
Responsibilities
| Activity | Applies to | Owner | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
SOC 2 Type II |
All |
Akka |
Akka maintains SOC 2 Type II for the Akka Platform. Report available under NDA via trust.akka.io. SOC 3 is also available as a publicly-shareable companion. |
Penetration testing |
All |
Akka |
Annual third-party penetration testing as part of the SOC 2 audit cycle. Executive summary available under NDA via trust.akka.io. |
Vulnerability scanning |
All |
Akka |
Akka performs continuous vulnerability scanning of platform components and dependencies; findings are tracked to remediation per the Vulnerability Management Policy. Customers are notified of critical and high severity security patches via security advisory emails and the trust center; disclosure occurs no later than the date the patch is made available. |
Personnel security and background checks |
All |
Akka |
Akka performs background checks on personnel with access to customer environments and provides security awareness training, per the Personnel Security Policy. |
Data residency |
All |
Akka |
Customer data is stored within the cloud region(s) configured for the customer’s installation. Multi-region installations replicate within customer-selected regions only. Each customer’s data is isolated in dedicated database resources; no shared data plane across customers. |
Multi-tenant data security (Federation Plane) |
All |
Akka |
Akka secures all customer data located within the Federation Plane. |
Customer data security (Federation Plane tokens and projects) |
All |
Customer |
Customer is responsible for securing Federation Plane tokens and access to projects. |
GDPR / application data |
All |
Customer |
Customer is responsible for how its services handle PII and for ensuring compliance with GDPR or other applicable privacy regulations. Akka acts as neither controller nor processor of data handled by the customer’s services. |
GDPR / Federation Plane data |
All |
Shared |
The Federation Plane does not handle customer application data; it processes only minimal PII consisting of customer user and administrator identities, in accordance with Akka’s GDPR-compliant privacy policy. |
Subprocessor list |
All |
Akka |
Current subprocessor list maintained at trust.akka.io. |
Customer audit log delivery |
All |
Akka |
Akka maintains audit logs of control-plane actions (authentication, project and service lifecycle, IAM and token changes). Logs delivered on request; recurring cadences can be arranged. |
Security questionnaire response |
All |
Akka |
Akka responds to customer CAIQ/SIG and bespoke security questionnaires drawing on the ISMS control library. |
Data breach notification |
All |
Akka |
Akka notifies the customer without undue delay where a breach of Akka-held customer data poses risk, including nature, scope, and remediation. |
Sanctions screening |
All |
Akka |
Customer organizations are screened against sanctions lists periodically. The customer is informed if a screening result requires action. |
End-of-life notification |
All |
Akka |
Akka provides advance notice of any planned product or feature end-of-life with sufficient lead time for migration planning. |
12. Customer applications (Akka SDK services)
Applications that the customer builds with the Akka SDK are owned end-to-end by the customer: source, deployment, configuration, secrets, runtime monitoring, and access control.
- At a glance
-
Customer (end-to-end): Source, build, deploy, version, roll back. Service config and secrets. Application IAM (JWT/JWKS), Service ACLs, security logs. SDLC tooling (IDE, repos, CI/CD). All application observability.
Responsibilities
| Activity | Applies to | Owner | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Application code and dependency patching |
All |
Customer |
Customer reviews their application code and any libraries or dependencies they introduce for security issues and vulnerabilities. The JVM, container base image, OS, and Akka runtime packaged into the deployed service are patched by Akka (see Section 4, Infrastructure patching). |
Service configuration (incl. secrets) |
All |
Customer |
Customer configures services to enable their functionality, including secrets used to access other services. |
Integrations setup (broker, object storage, etc.) |
All |
Customer |
Where services depend on integrations such as message brokers or object storage, the customer configures these for the Akka Project before service deployment. |
Application deployments |
All |
Customer |
Customer owns and manages the lifecycle of Akka SDK applications: build, version, deploy, roll back. |
Source code management |
All |
Customer |
Source code management for Akka service implementations is the customer’s responsibility. |
Service scaling limits |
All |
Customer |
Customer controls service instance counts within configured platform limits. |
Application logs |
All |
Customer |
Metrics and logs from services built with the Akka SDK are sent to the customer’s logging platform and are not ingested into Akka’s observability stack. |
SDK logs |
All |
Customer |
Customer monitors SDK and application logs in their own observability platform. |
Application security logs |
All |
Customer |
Customer can configure dashboards over cloud security logs and stream them to a GSOC (Global Security Operations Center) or observability tool. |
Service ACLs |
All |
Customer |
Customer configures Service ACLs to protect access to non-public service endpoints. |
Application IAM (JWT/JWKS) |
All |
Customer |
Akka SDK supports access scoping through JWTs and JWKS. The customer configures issuer trust, claims, and ACLs appropriate for their application. |
SDLC tooling (IDE, repos, CI/CD) |
All |
Customer |
Customer owns and operates the SDLC environment used to build services running on Akka. Akka ships developer tooling that the customer integrates into their SDLC. |
Appendix A: Architecture in brief
Details
AAO consists of two planes:
-
Federation Plane, a globally-accessible coordination service managed by Akka. Handles organizations, accounts, role assignments, key rotation, access tokens, and application deployment across regions. Designed to be highly resilient. In the rare event that the Federation Plane is unavailable, applications running in the Application Plane continue to operate.
-
Application Plane, one or more federated regions. In Dedicated, each region runs independently inside the dedicated cloud account that Akka owns and operates; in BYOC, inside the customer’s cloud account. Each region contains a Kubernetes cluster, a persistence store, a container registry, and Akka operators for routing, elasticity, deployment, certificate management, key rotation, and cross-region failover. In BYOK8s, each region runs inside a Kubernetes cluster that the customer provides and operates inside their cloud account. The cluster hosts the Akka operators for routing, elasticity, deployment, certificate management, key rotation, and cross-region failover, together with the persistence store. The customer is responsible for the cluster, its upgrades, the database, and their own container registry; Akka manages the Akka components running on top.
Communication between Federation Plane and Application Plane uses TLS with token-based authentication. Inter-region communication between applications uses mutual TLS (mTLS) with per-component certificates.
Appendix B: Data protection in brief
Details
All application data stays within the cloud region and VPC of the installation (the dedicated cloud account in Dedicated, the customer’s cloud account in BYOC and BYOK8s) and is isolated from the Federation Plane. Data at rest is encrypted using the cloud provider’s encryption mechanism. Customers can rely on Akka-managed encryption or use Customer-Managed Encryption Keys (CMEK).
Akka applies an additional encryption layer for sensitive material that is synced from the Federation Plane to regional execution clusters: project secrets, authentication tokens, OpenID refresh tokens, and customer-supplied secrets. Lifecycle, rotation, and access control of cryptographic materials follow the Akka Key Management and Cryptography Policy.
Recovery objectives (RTO/RPO)
RTO and RPO targets are defined in the customer’s agreement. Multi-region replication is asynchronous, so a regional failover can lose the most recent writes that had not yet replicated to the surviving region. The disaster recovery scenario catalog describes each case.
Compliance posture (SOC 2 Type II, annual third-party penetration test, current subprocessor list) is published on trust.akka.io.
Appendix C: Private connectivity via Teleport
Details
Some enterprises require that Kubernetes API servers have no public endpoint. Akka supports this through Teleport, an identity-aware proxy and certificate authority that creates an authenticated, encrypted bridge between the Federation Plane and private Kubernetes clusters.
-
No public Kubernetes API endpoints, API servers remain entirely private.
-
Reverse tunnels, Teleport agents in each region initiate outbound connections to the Teleport proxy; the Federation Plane never connects directly into the region.
-
No long-lived credentials in Dedicated and BYOC, where Akka installs Teleport: the Federation Plane authenticates through workload identity and receives short-lived certificates.
-
Complete audit trail, all authentication and API calls are logged. Audit logs are available to the customer on request.
-
Cloud-portable, works across AWS, GCP, Azure, and on-premises.
Appendix D: Glossary
Glossary
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
AAO |
Akka Automated Operations, Akka’s managed PaaS. It runs inside a cloud account Akka owns and operates (Dedicated), inside the customer’s cloud account (BYOC), or inside a Kubernetes cluster the customer provides and operates (BYOK8s). |
Dedicated |
Deployment model where AAO runs inside a cloud account that Akka owns and operates, the smallest customer-run surface of the three models. |
BYOC |
Bring Your Own Cloud, deployment model where AAO runs inside a cloud account the customer owns, and Akka provisions and operates the Kubernetes cluster inside it. |
BYOK8s |
Bring Your Own Kubernetes, deployment model where Akka runs inside a Kubernetes cluster the customer provides and operates. |
Akka SDK |
The software development kit used to build Akka services (APIs, workflows, streaming consumers, timers, views). |
Application Plane |
The runtime environment within a region that hosts Akka applications. In Dedicated it runs inside the Akka-operated cloud account; in BYOC and BYOK8s, inside the customer’s cloud account. |
Federation Plane |
The global coordination service managed by Akka that federates regions, handles accounts/billing, and orchestrates cross-region operations. |
Region |
A single Akka Application Plane installation inside a cloud-provider region. |
Region Group |
A logical grouping of regions used to scope cross-region replication and routing. |
CMEK |
Customer-Managed Encryption Key. When used, the customer’s KMS provides the key material that Akka uses to encrypt the database. |
Federation Plane SLA Policy |
The policy on trust.akka.io that defines platform availability commitments. |
Customer Support Policy |
The policy on trust.akka.io that defines severity classifications, response time SLOs, and escalation procedures. |
Teleport |
An identity-aware proxy and certificate authority used to bridge the Federation Plane to private Kubernetes API servers. |
RTO / RPO |
Recovery Time Objective / Recovery Point Objective. Targets are defined in the customer’s agreement. |
FDE |
Forward Deployed Engineer. The named Akka engineer assigned to your account who guides production readiness and stays engaged through operations. |
SRE |
Site Reliability Engineering. Akka’s operations function responsible for platform health, incident response, and runbook execution. |
DR |
Disaster Recovery. The plan and procedures for restoring service after a region or platform-level outage. |
SLA |
Service Level Agreement. The contractual commitment Akka makes to the customer (see Federation Plane SLA Policy). |
VPC |
Virtual Private Cloud. The isolated network where the Akka region is deployed: in the Akka-operated cloud account in Dedicated, in your cloud account in BYOC and BYOK8s. |
CIDR |
Classless Inter-Domain Routing. The notation Akka uses to scope the IP address range allocated to a region. |
DSR |
Data Subject Request. A request made under GDPR or similar privacy regulation to access, correct, or delete personal data. |
IAM |
Identity and Access Management. The system controlling who can access what, covering both cloud-account access and Akka console access. |
ACL |
Access Control List. Akka SDK construct restricting which callers can invoke a given service or endpoint. |
JWT / JWKS |
JSON Web Token / JSON Web Key Set. Token format and key publication mechanism used for application authentication. |
IdP |
Identity Provider. The customer’s enterprise identity system (Okta, Entra, etc.) federated with the Akka console. |
KMS |
Key Management Service. The cloud-provider service that stores and manages encryption keys. |
NAT |
Network Address Translation. Gateway used for outbound traffic from a VPC. |
GSOC |
Global Security Operations Center. The customer’s security operations function consuming application security logs. |
SOC 2 |
Service Organization Controls 2. Audit framework Akka maintains for security and availability. |
HA |
High Availability. Architecture pattern designed to remain operational despite individual component failures. |
CAIQ |
Consensus Assessments Initiative Questionnaire. The Cloud Security Alliance’s standard cloud-security questionnaire used by enterprise procurement. |
SIG |
Standard Information Gathering. The Shared Assessments Group’s standard security and risk questionnaire used by enterprise procurement. |
ISMS |
Information Security Management System. The set of policies, procedures, and controls Akka uses to manage information security risk; the basis for SOC 2 attestation. |
OTLP |
OpenTelemetry Protocol. Standard wire format for emitting traces, metrics, and logs to observability backends. |
Appendix E: Where to find more
Details
-
trust.akka.io, SOC 2 Type II, SOC 3, subprocessor list, current compliance evidence, applicable policies.
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support.akka.io or [email protected], Customer Support Portal and email channel for opening cases.
This document is maintained as a living reference and updated periodically as Akka’s platform and operational practices evolve. To receive notifications of material updates, email [email protected].
Where this document and any Akka policy on trust.akka.io diverge, the policy on trust.akka.io takes precedence.