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Getting Started

The Cartesian Outpost is a secure, self-hosted component that enables you to keep your customer data within your own infrastructure while leveraging Cartesian's AI capabilities. It acts as a bridge between your application and Cartesian's cloud services, ensuring that sensitive data remains under your control while still allowing you to provide personalized AI experiences to your users.

Prerequisites​

Cache​

The Cartesian Outpost requires a Redis or Valkey cache instance for any production installation that includes more than one Outpost instance. The cache stores information regarding user session states. Data stored in the cache is not production-critical if lost, but it is required for the correct operation of the Outpost.

If you have an existing cache cluster you can use it with the Cartesian Outpost, or you can install a new cache instance. You can also use managed Redis-compatible cache solutions such as Amazon ElastiCache or Azure Cache.

Installing a cache instance is out of scope of this document. For implementation guidance you can refer to these resources:

AWS Bedrock​

When deployed on AWS, the Cartesian Outpost requires integration with AWS Bedrock. This allows Cartesian to process customer data within your AWS environment, eliminating the need to transfer customer service data outside.

Integration Options​

The Cartesian Outpost can be deployed in your infrastructure using one of two methods:

1. Docker Container Hosting​

Docker container hosting is suitable when you:

  • Want a simple, straightforward deployment
  • Are running on a single server or a small cluster
  • Don't need advanced orchestration features
  • Are using container hosting platforms like AWS ECS, Azure Container Instances, or similar services

This method provides more direct control over the container configuration and is ideal for simple deployments.

2. Helm Chart​

The Helm chart deployment is recommended when you:

  • Are running a Kubernetes cluster
  • Need advanced scaling and orchestration capabilities
  • Want automated updates and rollbacks
  • Require integration with Kubernetes-native monitoring and logging
  • Need to manage multiple Outpost instances efficiently

The Helm chart provides a production-ready configuration with best practices for running the Outpost in a Kubernetes environment.

Choose the integration option that best fits your infrastructure and operational requirements. The following sections provide detailed instructions for each deployment method.