🔬 Playtopia Dev Lab

🏗️ Infrastructure Portal

Containerized development environment with enterprise-grade security

Overview

Playtopia Dev Lab is a comprehensive containerized development environment that enables rapid deployment of web services with enterprise-grade security, automatic SSL, and authentication. Built on Docker Compose with Traefik v3.0 and Authelia, it provides a production-ready infrastructure platform for hosting multiple applications under a unified domain.

🏗️ Core Infrastructure Features

Automatic SSL Certificates: Let’s Encrypt integration with zero-configuration HTTPS
Enterprise Authentication: Authelia with multi-tier access control and session management
Reverse Proxy Routing: Traefik v3.0 with intelligent load balancing and service discovery
Container Orchestration: Docker Compose with custom networking and volume management
Development Tools: Browser-based VS Code, Portainer for Docker management
Static Site Hosting: Hugo-powered documentation and project showcase
Service Templates: Standardized patterns for rapid application deployment

🔐 Security Architecture

Multi-Tier Access Control: Admin, Family, and User permission levels
Session Management: 1-hour expiration with 5-minute inactivity timeout
Rate Limiting: 3 retries, 2-minute find time, 5-minute ban protection
Argon2ID Password Hashing: Industry-standard cryptographic security
Forward Authentication: Seamless integration with all deployed services

🏗️ Technical Architecture

Technology Stack

Component	Technology	Purpose
Reverse Proxy	Traefik v3.0	SSL termination, routing, load balancing
Authentication	Authelia	Enterprise access control and session management
Container Platform	Docker Compose	Service orchestration and networking
Documentation	Hugo Static Site Generator	Project showcase and technical documentation
Development Environment	VS Code Server	Browser-based IDE with remote development
Infrastructure Management	Portainer	Docker container administration interface
SSL Certificates	Let’s Encrypt	Automatic HTTPS certificate generation and renewal

Network Architecture

Custom Bridge Network

networks:
  services-network:
    driver: bridge
    ipam:
      config:
        - subnet: 172.25.0.0/16

Service Discovery Pattern

# Standard service template
service-name:
  build: ./service-directory
  container_name: service-name
  restart: unless-stopped
  networks:
    - services-network
  labels:
    - traefik.enable=true
    - traefik.http.routers.service.rule=Host(`subdomain.playtopia.com.au`)
    - traefik.http.routers.service.entrypoints=websecure
    - traefik.http.routers.service.tls.certresolver=letsencrypt
    - traefik.http.routers.service.middlewares=authelia-auth  # Optional

Core Infrastructure Services

Traefik Reverse Proxy

traefik:
  image: traefik:v3.0
  container_name: traefik
  restart: unless-stopped
  ports:
    - "80:80"
    - "443:443"
  volumes:
    - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro
    - ./data/traefik:/data
  command:
    - --providers.docker=true
    - --certificatesresolvers.letsencrypt.acme.tlschallenge=true
    - --certificatesresolvers.letsencrypt.acme.email=admin@playtopia.com.au

Authelia Authentication Service

authelia:
  image: authelia/authelia:latest
  container_name: authelia
  restart: unless-stopped
  volumes:
    - ./config/authelia:/config
  environment:
    - TZ=Australia/Sydney

Hugo Documentation Platform

hugo:
  build: ./data/hugo
  container_name: hugo
  restart: unless-stopped
  labels:
    - traefik.http.routers.hugo.rule=Host(`playtopia.com.au`)
    - traefik.http.routers.hugo.tls.certresolver=letsencrypt

🚀 Service Deployment Patterns

Standard Static Service Template

Directory Structure

/home/thrax/unified-services/service-name/
├── Dockerfile              # nginx:alpine base image
├── nginx.conf              # Web server configuration with security headers
└── public/                 # Static web assets
    ├── index.html
    ├── css/main.css
    ├── js/app.js
    └── assets/images/

Optimized Dockerfile

FROM nginx:alpine

# Copy static files
COPY public/ /usr/share/nginx/html/

# Copy nginx configuration with security headers
COPY nginx.conf /etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf

# Health check for container monitoring
HEALTHCHECK --interval=30s --timeout=10s --start-period=30s --retries=3 \
  CMD curl -f http://localhost/ || exit 1

EXPOSE 80
CMD ["nginx", "-g", "daemon off;"]

Production nginx.conf Template

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name _;
    root /usr/share/nginx/html;
    index index.html index.htm;
    
    # Security headers
    add_header X-Frame-Options "SAMEORIGIN" always;
    add_header X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff" always;
    add_header Referrer-Policy "strict-origin-when-cross-origin" always;
    add_header X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block" always;
    
    # Gzip compression for performance
    gzip on;
    gzip_vary on;
    gzip_min_length 1024;
    gzip_types text/plain text/css text/xml text/javascript 
               application/javascript application/xml+rss application/json;
    
    # SPA-friendly routing
    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.html;
    }
    
    # Cache static assets for performance
    location ~* \.(jpg|jpeg|png|gif|ico|css|js|woff|woff2|ttf|svg)$ {
        expires 1y;
        add_header Cache-Control "public, immutable";
        access_log off;
    }
    
    # Security: deny access to sensitive files
    location ~ /\. {
        deny all;
        access_log off;
        log_not_found off;
    }
}

Advanced Service Patterns

Multi-Service Applications

# Example: Full-stack application with frontend/backend/database
application-frontend:
  build: ./app/frontend
  depends_on:
    - application-backend
  labels:
    - traefik.http.routers.app.rule=Host(`app.playtopia.com.au`)
    - traefik.http.routers.app.middlewares=authelia-auth

application-backend:
  build: ./app/backend
  depends_on:
    - application-database
  environment:
    - DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:pass@application-database:5432/db

application-database:
  image: postgres:16-alpine
  volumes:
    - app_postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data

📊 Current Service Portfolio

Production Services

Service	URL	Technology Stack	Authentication	Purpose
Hugo Site	`playtopia.com.au`	Hugo + Go templates	❌ Public	Landing page and project showcase
VS Code Server	`dev.playtopia.com.au`	code-server + Node.js	✅ Family+	Browser-based development environment
Portainer	`portainer.playtopia.com.au`	Docker management UI	✅ Admin	Container administration interface
Traefik Dashboard	`traefik.playtopia.com.au`	Traefik v3.0	✅ Admin	Infrastructure monitoring and routing
Match’n Gacha	`gacha.playtopia.com.au`	Phaser.js + HTML5 Canvas	❌ Public	Mobile-optimized puzzle game
Elemedals	`elemedals.playtopia.com.au`	HTML5 Canvas + JavaScript	❌ Public	Elemental match-3 puzzle game
RhythmMech	`rhythm.playtopia.com.au`	Phaser.js + Web Audio API	❌ Public	Anime/mecha rhythm game
Regression Tester Pro	`rtp.playtopia.com.au`	Next.js 14 + Node.js + PostgreSQL	✅ Family+	Testing management platform
MSR Generator	`msr.playtopia.com.au`	React 18 + Node.js + PostgreSQL	✅ Admin	Automated report generation

Development Tools

Tool	Access Level	Purpose
Authelia	Login Portal	Authentication and session management
Jellyfin	Public	Media streaming server
Admin Portals	Protected	Service-specific administration interfaces

🛠️ Development Workflow

Rapid Service Deployment

1. Create Service Directory

cd /home/thrax/unified-services
mkdir new-service && cd new-service

2. Initialize Service Files

# Create standard structure
mkdir public
touch Dockerfile nginx.conf
echo '<!DOCTYPE html><html><head><title>New Service</title></head><body><h1>Hello World</h1></body></html>' > public/index.html

3. Configure Docker Compose

# Add to docker-compose.yml
new-service:
  build: ./new-service
  container_name: new-service
  restart: unless-stopped
  networks:
    - services-network
  labels:
    - traefik.enable=true
    - traefik.http.routers.newservice.rule=Host(`newservice.playtopia.com.au`)
    - traefik.http.routers.newservice.entrypoints=websecure
    - traefik.http.routers.newservice.tls.certresolver=letsencrypt

4. Deploy and Test

# Build and deploy
docker compose build new-service --no-cache
docker compose up -d new-service

# Verify deployment
curl -I https://newservice.playtopia.com.au
docker compose logs -f new-service

Performance Optimization Strategies

Build Optimization

Multi-stage builds: Separate build and runtime environments
Layer caching: Optimize Dockerfile layer ordering for faster rebuilds
Minimal base images: Use Alpine Linux for reduced attack surface and size

Runtime Optimization

Health checks: Automated container health monitoring
Resource limits: CPU and memory constraints for stability
Log management: Structured logging with rotation policies

🔧 Infrastructure Management

Service Management Commands

# Start all services
docker compose up -d

# Start specific service with rebuild
docker compose build service-name --no-cache && docker compose up -d service-name

# View service logs with follow
docker compose logs -f service-name

# Check service health status
docker compose ps

# Restart service
docker compose restart service-name

# Remove service and volumes
docker compose down service-name --volumes

SSL Certificate Management

# Check certificate generation logs
docker compose logs traefik | grep acme

# View current certificates
ls -la data/traefik/acme.json

# Force certificate renewal (if needed)
docker compose restart traefik

Authentication and Access Control

# View authentication logs
docker compose logs authelia

# Check user session status
docker compose exec authelia cat /config/users_database.yml

# Test authentication flow
curl -I https://auth.playtopia.com.au

📊 Development Status

✅ Production Infrastructure Features

Container Orchestration: 100% Complete (Docker Compose with custom networking)
SSL Automation: 100% Complete (Let’s Encrypt with automatic renewal)
Authentication System: 100% Complete (Authelia with multi-tier access control)
Reverse Proxy: 100% Complete (Traefik v3.0 with intelligent routing)
Service Templates: 100% Complete (Standardized deployment patterns)
Development Tools: 100% Complete (VS Code Server, Portainer integration)
Documentation Platform: 100% Complete (Hugo-powered project showcase)

🏗️ Infrastructure Status: ENTERPRISE READY

Playtopia Dev Lab delivers production-grade infrastructure with:

Zero-Downtime Deployments: Rolling updates with health checks and dependencies
Enterprise Security: Multi-layer authentication with session management and rate limiting
Automatic Operations: SSL certificate generation, service discovery, and container orchestration
Developer Experience: Browser-based IDE, streamlined deployment workflow, comprehensive documentation
Scalable Architecture: Microservices pattern with independent scaling and monitoring

Playtopia Dev Lab represents a complete containerized development platform that successfully combines enterprise-grade security, automatic operations, and developer productivity tools into a unified infrastructure solution capable of hosting complex multi-service applications with minimal operational overhead.