Architecture - Terminal 3 Documentation

Topology

+------------------------------------------------+      +-----------------------------------+
| REGION 1                                       |      | REGION 2                          |
| (local data processing & residency required)   |      | (no data residency)               |
|                                                |      |                                   |
|  +----------------------------------+          |      |  +-----------------------------+  |
|  | TEE Cluster 1                    |          |      |  | TEE Cluster 2               |  |
|  |   [Node 1] <--> [Node 2]         |<---------|----->|  |   [Node 3] <--> [Node 4]    |  |
|  +----------------+-----------------+          |      |  +---------------+-------------+  |
|                   ^                            |      |                  ^                |
|                   |                            |      |                  |                |
|                   v                            |      |                  |                |
|  +----------------+-----------------+          |      |                  |                |
|  | Regional Storages                |<---------|------|------------------+                |
|  |   [Content Addressable Storage]  |          |      |                                   |
|  |   [Regulatory Vault]             |          |      |                                   |
|  +----------------------------------+          |      |                                   |
|                                                |      |                                   |
+------------------------------------------------+      +-----------------------------------+

Connections
-----------  
  Cluster 1  <-->  Cluster 2   (cross-region threshold key sharing)  
  Cluster 1  <-->  Regional Storages    (in-region storage)  
  Cluster 2  <-->  Regional Storages    (remote access to Region 1 storages)

Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) Clusters

TEE clusters are the computational layer of T3N. Each TEE cluster is geographically distributed and consists of multiple TEE nodes. Each node holds a key share of the overall threshold key for the whole network. All confidential data processing is performed inside each node’s Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) - secure computational enclaves within processors that deliver enhanced security beyond conventional operating systems.

Regional Storage

TEE nodes and storage are co-located within regions to meet data residency requirements. T3N is storage technology agnostic. Any storage solution can be integrated with T3N to serve different requirements. Currently, it supports two storage options: Content-Addressable Storage (CAS) and Regulatory Vault.

Content-Addressable Storage (CAS)

CAS is a storage system that stores data based on its content rather than its location. It’s a pluggable external storage backend for large data values.

Regulatory Vault

The Regulatory Vault is secure, centralized storage managed by Terminal 3 for regulated partners. It securely holds sensitive KYC data (passports, liveness videos, etc.) specifically for compliance and enforcement purposes. By providing immutable auditability, it acts as a verifiable system of record to prove to regulators that all KYC requirements were met.