SentinelDB

This add-on is operated by LogSentinel B.V.

A privacy by design, GDPR-compliant database with per-record encryption

SentinelDB

Last updated April 13, 2020

The SentinelDB add-on is currently in beta.

SentinelDB is a cloud-based datastore that encrypts data per-record and ensures compliance with data protection regulations like GDPR and HIPAA.

Integration with SentinelDB is simple via its RESTful API.

The full documentation is available here, including:

  • Getting Started – explaining the core concepts of SentinelDB and giving a simple API example
  • Architecture – an overview of SentinelDB’s security architecture
  • API reference – a list of all the API methods and their descriptions
  • Features – explaining all features of SentinelDB
  • Compliance FAQ – answering your compliance-related questions about GDPR, HIPAA and similar regulations

Provisioning the add-on

SentinelDB can be attached to a Heroku application via the CLI:

A list of all plans available can be found here.

$ heroku addons:create sentineldb
-----> Adding sentineldb to sharp-mountain-4005... done, v18 (free)

After you provision sentineldb, the SENTINELDB_ORGANIZATION_ID and SENTINELDB_ORGANIZATION_SECRET config vars are available in your app’s configuration. They contains the credentials needed to invoke the SentinelDB API. You can confirm this via the heroku config:get command:

$ heroku config:get SENTINELDB_ORGANIZATION_ID

After you provision SentinelDB, your application should be configured to fully integrate with the add-on.

Local setup

Environment setup

After you provision the add-on, it’s necessary to locally replicate its config vars so your development environment can operate against the service.

Use the Heroku Local command-line tool to configure, run, and manage process types specified in your app’s Procfile. Heroku Local reads configuration variables from a .env file. To view all of your app’s config vars, type heroku config. Use the following command for each value that you want to add to your .env file:

$ heroku config:get SENTINELDB_ORGANIZATION_ID -s  >> .env
$ heroku config:get SENTINELDB_ORGANIZATION_SECRET -s  >> .env

Credentials and other sensitive configuration values should not be committed to source-control. In Git, exclude the .env file with: echo .env >> .gitignore.

For more information, see the Heroku Local article.

Using with any programming language

Integrating SentinelDB is language-independent - you just use your favorite REST client to call our API. You can get started by reading our documentation

Dashboard

For more information on the features available within the SentinelDB dashboard, please see the docs at https://docs.sentineldb.io/.

The SentinelDB dashboard enables you to perform a wide variety of database-related tasks, including:

  • Define your schemas
  • Perform queries
  • See trends in your data
  • Check the audit trail of the data

You can access the dashboard via the CLI:

$ heroku addons:open sentineldb
Opening sentineldb for sharp-mountain-4005

or by visiting the Heroku Dashboard and selecting the application in question. Select SentinelDB from the Add-ons menu.

Migrating between plans

Application owners should carefully manage the migration timing to ensure proper application function during the migration process.

Use the heroku addons:upgrade command to migrate to a new plan.

$ heroku addons:upgrade sentineldb:newplan
-----> Upgrading sentineldb:newplan to sharp-mountain-4005... done, v18 ($49/mo)
       Your plan has been updated to: sentineldb:newplan

Removing the add-on

You can remove sentineldb via the CLI:

This will destroy all associated data and cannot be undone!

$ heroku addons:destroy sentineldb
-----> Removing sentineldb from sharp-mountain-4005... done, v20 (free)

Support

All SentinelDB support and runtime issues should be submitted via one of the Heroku Support channels. Any non-support related issues or product feedback is welcome at contact@logsentinel.com.

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