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Connector Overview

Connectors are specialized adapter microservices designed to translate events from the NSPS into format-specific requests required for interaction with external network systems. Each ES integration necessitates a dedicated connector implementation, ensuring flexibility and specialization.

Role and Key Responsibilities

The NSPS connector plays a critical role in ensuring seamless data exchange between the internal NSPS platform and various external services. Its primary functions include:

  • Receiving Events from NSPS: The connector acts as the ingestion point for enriched events sent by NSPS.
  • Data Transformation and Mapping: Converting data from the internal NSPS event format into the appropriate format required by the target ES.
  • Authentication: Verifying the Bearer token with which NSPS signs its requests to the connector, and ensuring authorized data transfer to the ES using appropriate authentication mechanisms (e.g., token, OAuth, etc.).
  • Error Handling and Status Reporting: Effectively managing errors that occur during event processing or interaction with the ES, and reporting status accordingly.
  • Logging of Interactions: Maintaining detailed records of all interactions with the ES for auditing, monitoring, and debugging purposes.

The "One Connector – One External System" Principle

A fundamental design principle for NSPS connectors is the one-to-one relationship between a connector and an external system. This means that each integration with the ES requires the development and deployment of a separate connector. This approach ensures:

  • Specialization: The connector can be precisely tailored to the unique requirements and API of a specific external system.
  • Isolation: Problems or changes in one integration do not affect others.
  • Maintainability: The connector's codebase is smaller and easier to understand, test, and update.