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Diagrid Catalyst

When it comes to running Dapr in production, you have two main options:

Diagrid Catalyst: Catalyst is an application orchestration platform built on top of Dapr that can be hosted by Diagrid or run on a self-managed Kubernetes cluster. Catalyst centralizes the Dapr runtime in a diagrid-operated- or customer-operated- Kubernetes cluster, where the Dapr control plane and sidecars are managed as part of the Catalyst platform. Your applications connect to the Catalyst service, which handles workflow execution, state management, and distributed application coordination.

Dapr self-hosted: This option involves setting up and managing the Dapr runtime across Kubernetes clusters. Your applications connect directly to Dapr sidecars running alongside each application workload. With the self-hosted approach, you are responsible for managing the sidecars, control plane, scalability, and availability of the Dapr system across your clusters.

Learn more about self-hosted Dapr →

Catalyst and self-hosted Dapr have some similarities, as both require your Dapr Clients and applications to establish a connection to the Dapr runtime. Additionally, in both cases, you are responsible for managing and hosting your application code and operating the infrastructure. The choice between self-hosted Dapr and Catalyst depends on your specific requirements, resources, and expertise.

High-level system topology​

There are two major components of the Catalyst system that work together to enable the authoring and executing of distributed applications:

Dapr SDKs​

The Dapr software development kits (SDKs) are available in various languages and can be integrated as a dependency into your new or existing application. They offer developers a comprehensive development framework and APIs, facilitating the creation and management of distributed applications using Dapr building blocks.

Catalyst​

Built on the open source Dapr runtime, Catalyst provides a centralized Dapr runtime that your applications connect to using Dapr SDKs. Operating independently from your application hosting environment, Catalyst oversees the execution process by preserving the source of truth for your workflow execution histories, state management, and distributed application coordination.

Your applications use standard Dapr SDKs to communicate with Catalyst's hosted Dapr runtime, which ensures the durable execution of your distributed applications and services.

Catalyst has multiple hosting options:

☁️Catalyst Online

Fully managed service with everything hosted by Diagrid

🔒Dedicated Dataplane

Private networking (e.g., VNet/VPC integration) managed by Diagrid

🏢Self-Hosted Dataplane

For organizations that want to run the platform themselves with Diagrid support

All dataplane hosting options connect to the same Catalyst control plane, which is managed by Diagrid.

Catalyst offers units of isolation known as Projects. You can provision and use one or more Projects to isolate various applications, workflows, and agents.