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This page describes Orchestra’s technical architecture for developers who want to understand how the system works under the hood.

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System Overview

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                      Your Infrastructure                    │
│  ┌─────────┐  ┌─────────┐  ┌─────────┐                      │
│  │ Web App │  │ Mobile  │  │ Backend │                      │
│  └────┬────┘  └────┬────┘  └────┬────┘                      │
│       └───────────┬┴───────────┘                            │
└───────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────┘
                    │ HTTPS
                    ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    Orchestra Platform                       │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │                    API Gateway                      │   │
│  │            api.orchestrasolutions.com                        │   │
│  └─────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────┘   │
│                            │                                 │
│  ┌─────────────┬───────────┼─────────┬────────────┐     │
│  │             │           │         │            │     │
│  ▼             ▼           ▼         ▼            ▼     │
│ ┌───┐       ┌───┐       ┌───┐      ┌───┐        ┌───┐    │
│ │PG │       │PGA│       │Tok│      │Lib│        │Log│    │
│ └─┬─┘       └───┘       └───┘      └───┘        └───┘    │
│   │                                                        │
│   │  PG  = Payment Gateway Service                        │
│   │  PGA = Payment Gateway Accounts Service               │
│   │  Tok = Tokenization Service                           │
│   │  Lib = Payments Library Service                       │
│   │  Log = Logging & Analytics                            │
└───┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
    │
    │ Provider APIs
    ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                   Payment Providers                          │
│  ┌────────┐  ┌───────┐  ┌──────────┐  ┌─────────┐         │
│  │ Stripe │  │ Adyen │  │ Worldpay │  │  ...    │         │
│  └────────┘  └───────┘  └──────────┘  └─────────┘         │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

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Components

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API Gateway

The entry point for all requests. Handles:
  • TLS termination
  • Authentication (API key validation)
  • Rate limiting
  • Request routing to internal services

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Payment Gateway Service

Processes payment transactions:
  • Translates Orchestra’s unified API to provider-specific formats
  • Routes transactions to the specified Payment Gateway Account
  • Handles provider responses and normalizes them
  • Manages transaction state (authorization, capture, void, refund)

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Payment Gateway Accounts Service

Manages provider connections:
  • Stores encrypted credentials
  • Validates account configuration
  • Handles credential rotation

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Tokenization Service

Secures card data:
  • Encrypts and stores card details
  • Issues tokens for stored cards
  • Retrieves card data for transactions (never exposed to your systems)

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Data Flow: Charge Transaction

1

Request Received

Your server sends a POST to /PaymentGateway/charge with amount, currency, payment gateway account name, and card details (or token).
2

Authentication

API Gateway validates your API key and checks permissions.
3

Account Resolution

Payment Gateway Service looks up the specified Payment Gateway Account to get provider type and credentials.
4

Token Resolution (if applicable)

If you sent a cardToken, Tokenization Service retrieves the stored card data.
5

Provider Call

Payment Gateway Service translates your request to the provider’s format and sends it to the provider’s API.
6

Response Processing

Provider response is normalized to Orchestra’s format and returned to you.

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Security

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Data at Rest

  • All sensitive data (credentials, card numbers) encrypted with AES-256
  • Encryption keys managed via HSM (Hardware Security Module)
  • Database access restricted to service accounts

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Data in Transit

  • All API traffic over TLS 1.2+
  • Provider communications over their required secure protocols
  • No sensitive data in URLs or logs

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PCI Compliance

Orchestra is PCI DSS Level 1 compliant. When you use Orchestra’s tokenization, card data never touches your systems, reducing your PCI scope.

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Reliability

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Availability

  • Multi-region deployment
  • Automatic failover between availability zones
  • 99.9% uptime SLA

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Failover

You can configure multiple Payment Gateway Accounts and implement your own failover logic: 
async function chargeWithFailover(amount, currency, cardToken) {
  const providers = ['stripe-primary', 'adyen-backup'];

  for (const provider of providers) {
    try {
      const result = await charge(amount, currency, provider, cardToken);
      if (result.success) return result;
    } catch (error) {
      console.log(`${provider} failed, trying next`);
    }
  }

  throw new Error('All providers failed');
}

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Latency

Typical response times:
OperationLatency
Tokenization50-100ms
Charge/Authorize200-500ms (depends on provider)
Balance check20-50ms
Provider latency dominates transaction times. Orchestra adds minimal overhead (~20-50ms).

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Next Steps

API Overview

Start integrating

How Orchestra Works

Conceptual overview