ADR-0008: Data residency and region

• Status: Accepted
• Date: 2026-07-25
• Deciders: El

Context

Australian SMBs, a trust-led sale, and some regulated sectors mean where data physically sits is part of the product.

Decision

All client-facing data stays on Australian infrastructure (Vultr Sydney/Melbourne). region is a first-class field on the tenant record from day one. The registry has its own AU-resident backup and a reconciliation pass to detect drift between the registry's picture and the deployed stack.

Consequences

A strong trust story; region baked in avoids a cross-border migration later; provider choice is constrained to those with an AU region.

Alternatives considered

• Non-AU providers (e.g. Hetzner) — rejected: no AU region.
• Retrofitting region-awareness after tenants exist — rejected: migration nightmare.