bigchaindb/docs/server/source/production-nodes/node-components.md

Production Node Components

A production BigchainDB node must include:

• BigchainDB Server
• MongoDB Server 3.4+ (mongod)
• Tendermint
• Storage for MongoDB and Tendermint

It could also include several other components, including:

• NGINX or similar, to provide authentication, rate limiting, etc.
• An NTP daemon running on all machines running BigchainDB Server or mongod, and possibly other machines
• Not MongoDB Automation Agent. It's for automating the deployment of an entire MongoDB cluster, not just one MongoDB node within a cluster.
• MongoDB Monitoring Agent
• MongoDB Backup Agent
• Log aggregation software
• Monitoring software
• Maybe more

The relationship between the main components is illustrated below.