Architecture overview
A Connector is a software component used for data exchange in data spaces. As a dedicated point of data exchange and the enforcement of usage policies, the Connector is the central component of the data space concept. It enables a participant to access the data space.
The Connector-as-a-Service (CaaS) is a data space Connector that is provided as a service in the MDS design.
The CaaS is intended to simplify access to the data space for participants. If this offer is made use of, the participant does not have to install a Connector in their own environment.
The CaaS is based on the current operating version of the MDS Connector and has all its basic functionalities. The CaaS is currently provided in a free version to all MDS members one each in the test and productive environment. The CaaS can be easily requested via the user interface in the MDS portal.
The metadata Broker is a service for displaying and searching metadata of data offers that are available in the data space. The Broker features a crawling mechanism that periodically retrieves data offers from all known Connectors and lists them in the Broker's UI. If a Connector is unreachable, the associated data offers in the Broker are displayed as offline. If the connection cannot be restored for an extended period, the data offers from the Connector will no longer be displayed in the Broker until the Connector is online again. This approach ensures that only actually available data offers are displayed and that temporary unavailability is clearly identifiable.
The Logging House (LH) acts as an intermediary in the data space ecosystem. Connectors can communicate with the logging house via an existing EDC extension. There is a legal obligation for Connectors used in the MDS to use this Logging House extension. The LH logs contract agreements and transactions. This means that the transaction partner, time and description of the asset (metadata) can be traced at the time the contract is signed. Both transaction partners and the MDS as Data Space Authority have access to the log files.
The DAPS is the attribute server that issues OAuth2 access tokens that you need to access the services and data of other Connectors. The protocol enables Connectors to authenticate themselves at the DAPS with their X509 certificate and in return receive an access token with which they can access other Connectors. The requested Connector itself always makes the decision about permitted access, not the DAPS. The DAPS only manages the attributes of the registered Connectors.
The MDS portal includes a wide range of functionalities, which are relevant for participants: rights and roles management, a status overview of the system components (dashboard), news, generating reports, ordering a CaaS, generating a Connector certificate and automatic registration of the Connector in DAPS/Broker.