Best Practices

This guide covers recommended practices for administering SPEAR effectively, maintaining security, and ensuring smooth operations.

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User Management

🎨 User Provisioning Workflow Illustration

Provisioning Workflow

New User Checklist:

1. Create user account with appropriate email
2. Assign to correct group(s)
3. Verify permission level is appropriate
4. Send welcome email with login instructions
5. Schedule onboarding/training session
6. Document user in access register

Principle of Least Privilege

Assign minimum necessary permissions:

Start with lowest access level
↓
Add permissions as role requires
↓
Document justification for elevated access
↓
Review permissions quarterly

User Lifecycle

Stage	Actions
Onboarding	Create account, assign groups, training
Active	Regular permission reviews, access monitoring
Role Change	Update groups, document changes
Offboarding	Disable account, revoke sessions, audit access

Service Accounts

For automated systems:

• Create dedicated accounts with descriptive names
• Use API tokens, not passwords
• Assign minimal required permissions
• Document purpose and owner
• Set token expiration
• Rotate credentials regularly

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Security Hardening

Authentication

Password Policy:

• Minimum 12 characters
• Require complexity (upper, lower, number, special)
• Enable password history (prevent reuse)
• Consider expiration for high-security environments

Session Security:

• Set appropriate timeout (24 hours recommended)
• Enable IP binding for sensitive environments
• Monitor concurrent sessions

OAuth/SSO:

• Use SSO where available
• Restrict to verified email domains
• Enable MFA at identity provider
• Audit OAuth app permissions

Network Security

Recommendation	Implementation
HTTPS Only	Configure Traefik with SSL
IP Restriction	Allowlist for admin access
Rate Limiting	Configure API rate limits
Firewall	Restrict port 8090 access

Data Protection

• Use strong encryption key (32+ characters)
• Store encryption key securely (vault, secrets manager)
• Encrypt backups
• Classify data by sensitivity
• Apply appropriate access controls

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Backup Strategy

🎨 Backup Strategy Diagram Illustration

3-2-1 Rule

• 3 copies of data
• 2 different storage types
• 1 offsite location

Backup Schedule

Type	Frequency	Retention	Destination
Full	Daily	30 days	Local + S3
Incremental	Hourly	7 days	Local
Archive	Monthly	1 year	S3 Glacier

Verification

Monthly:

• Test backup restoration
• Verify backup integrity
• Document test results

Quarterly:

• Full disaster recovery test
• Update recovery procedures
• Review retention policy

Recovery Procedure

Document and test:

1. Identify most recent valid backup
2. Prepare clean environment
3. Restore database
4. Restore file storage
5. Verify application functionality
6. Update DNS/routing if needed
7. Notify users

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Monitoring & Alerting

🖥️ Monitoring Dashboard Example Screenshot

Key Metrics to Monitor

Category	Metrics
Performance	Response time, CPU, memory, disk
Availability	Uptime, error rate
Security	Failed logins, permission changes
Usage	Active users, API calls

Alert Thresholds

Alert	Threshold	Severity
High CPU	> 80% for 5 min	Warning
Low Disk	< 20% free	Warning
Service Down	Health check fails	Critical
Failed Logins	> 5 in 1 hour	Medium
Data Export	Any bulk export	Low

Log Review

Daily:

• Check error logs
• Review security alerts
• Monitor failed logins

Weekly:

• Audit log summary
• Performance trends
• User activity patterns

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Change Management

Configuration Changes

Before making changes:

1. Document current configuration
2. Export settings backup
3. Plan the change
4. Schedule maintenance window (if needed)
5. Notify affected users
6. Implement change
7. Verify functionality
8. Document what changed

Version Updates

Update Procedure:

1. Review release notes
2. Test in staging environment (if available)
3. Create full backup
4. Enable maintenance mode
5. Apply update
6. Run smoke tests
7. Disable maintenance mode
8. Monitor for issues
9. Rollback if needed

Rollback Plan:

1. Stop current version
2. Restore previous binary
3. Restore database backup if needed
4. Start previous version
5. Verify functionality
6. Investigate update failure

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Documentation

What to Document

Document	Purpose	Update Frequency
User Guide	End-user instructions	Per release
Admin Guide	Administrative procedures	Per change
Architecture	System design	Per major change
Runbooks	Operational procedures	Quarterly
Access Register	Who has what access	Per change

Configuration Documentation

Maintain records of:

• All custom settings
• Integration configurations
• Branding customizations
• Template modifications
• API consumers

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Compliance

Access Reviews

Quarterly Review:

1. Export user list with permissions
2. Review each user’s access
3. Verify role appropriateness
4. Remove unnecessary access
5. Document review completion

Audit Log Retention

Regulation	Minimum Retention
SOC 2	1 year
ISO 27001	3 years
HIPAA	6 years
PCI DSS	1 year

Documentation Requirements

Maintain for compliance:

• Access control documentation
• Change management records
• Incident response procedures
• Backup and recovery testing
• Security training records

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Incident Response

🎨 Incident Response Process Flow Illustration

Preparation

1. Define incident categories
2. Establish escalation paths
3. Create response playbooks
4. Test procedures annually
5. Train team members

Response Process

Detection
↓
Triage (severity assessment)
↓
Containment (stop the damage)
↓
Investigation (root cause)
↓
Remediation (fix the issue)
↓
Recovery (restore service)
↓
Post-mortem (document & improve)

Security Incident Playbook

Suspected Breach:

1. Isolate affected systems
2. Preserve evidence (logs, screenshots)
3. Reset affected credentials
4. Notify security team
5. Assess impact
6. Notify affected parties if required
7. Document timeline

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Performance Optimization

Regular Maintenance

Weekly:

• Review error logs
• Check disk space
• Monitor background jobs

Monthly:

• Database optimization (VACUUM)
• Clear temporary files
• Review resource utilization

Quarterly:

• Performance baseline comparison
• Capacity planning review
• Archive old data

Scaling Considerations

When performance degrades:

1. Identify bottleneck (CPU, memory, disk, network)
2. Optimize database queries
3. Increase resources if needed
4. Consider load balancing (future)
5. Archive historical data

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Disaster Recovery

🎨 Disaster Recovery Workflow Illustration

Recovery Objectives

Define for your organization:

Metric	Target	Description
RTO	4 hours	Time to restore service
RPO	1 hour	Maximum acceptable data loss

Recovery Scenarios

Scenario 1: Application Failure

• Restart application
• Check logs for cause
• Restore from backup if needed

Scenario 2: Data Corruption

• Identify corruption extent
• Restore from backup
• Replay any lost transactions

Scenario 3: Infrastructure Failure

• Provision new infrastructure
• Restore from offsite backup
• Update DNS/routing

Testing

• Tabletop Exercise: Quarterly
• Partial Recovery Test: Semi-annually
• Full Recovery Test: Annually

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Training & Communication

Admin Training

Required knowledge:

• User management
• Backup procedures
• Security settings
• Monitoring tools
• Incident response

User Communication

Communicate proactively:

• Planned maintenance windows
• Feature changes
• Security requirements
• Known issues

Communication channels:

• Email announcements
• In-app notifications
• Status page
• Documentation updates

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Summary Checklist

Daily

• Check system health
• Review error logs
• Monitor security alerts

Weekly

• Review audit logs
• Check backup status
• Performance review

Monthly

• Test backup restoration
• Database optimization
• User activity review

Quarterly

• Access permission review
• Security policy review
• Capacity planning
• Documentation update

Annually

• Full disaster recovery test
• Policy review and update
• Vendor/integration review
• Training refresh