GlobalNation.tv (GNTV) — Enterprise Creator Portal, Custom Headless CMS & Distributed Streaming Architecture
Full-stack enterprise media and creator management platform built with Next.js 15 App Router, Node.js/Express, dual-database Prisma ORM, a custom block-based headless CMS (migrated off Payload CMS), and multi-environment Docker deployments on AWS EC2.
Code-Verified Platform Scale
Verified figures extracted from active repository structure and deployment infrastructure.
System Architecture & Decoupled Topology
Decoupled microservices architecture enforcing strict database isolation, edge caching, and multi-branch environments.
Frontend Web Application
High-performance public video streaming experience and an authenticated administrative creator portal with a custom liquid glassmorphism design system and an interactive Visual Page Builder Studio.
API Microservice
Decoupled REST API backend featuring modular controllers, dual-Prisma clients, real-time WebSocket server for cross-device authentication, and background worker processes.
Dual-Database Layer
Strict separation between a Core Identity Database (user credentials, RBAC, shows, channels, subscriptions) and dedicated Branch-Scoped CMS Databases for content versioning without credential exposure.
Cloud Storage & Edge CDN
Centralized media asset bucket for image and video uploads with canonical global CDN URL delivery, paired with automated gzip-compressed database snapshot archives.
Caching & Async Workers
Redis ephemeral caching and BullMQ task queues for background jobs, integrated with on-demand Incremental Static Regeneration (ISR) cache tag invalidation upon CMS publishing.
Third-Party Integrations
Native in-portal Zoho Projects task lifecycle & Zoho Desk AI support bot, Stripe creator subscription management with Connect onboarding, and LiveKit WebRTC real-time video rooms.
Infrastructure & DevOps
Isolated multi-branch deployments across AWS EC2 with branch-specific port mappings, environment secret isolation, and Nginx reverse proxy routing.
Key Engineering Contributions
Primary subsystems architected, implemented, and maintained in production.
Monolithic Payload CMS Deprecation & Custom Headless CMS
Engineered a complete migration away from a heavy monolithic Payload CMS runtime into a custom, high-performance headless CMS with draft/published versioning, revision history, and ISR cache revalidation. Eliminated third-party CMS vendor lock-in, reduced frontend runtime overhead on public pages, and enabled clean branch-isolated database development without cross-environment contamination.
Multi-Branch Database Synchronization & Cryptographic Delta Engine
Designed and implemented a safe, one-way database synchronization engine replicating content and portal metadata between development and replica environments featuring SHA-1 row hashing, target state tracking, and strict account exclusion filters. Enabled seamless content promotion and staging verification without mutating read-only source databases, clashing live payment tokens, or overwriting localized changes.
Enterprise UI Kit & Visual Page Builder Studio
Architected a modular, themeable component system (80+ specialized dashboard components) adhering to a strict 'rebuild, never wrap' standard, paired with an interactive Visual Page Builder Studio allowing block reordering and real-time live preview. Replaced fragmented legacy UI code with an enterprise design system driven by dynamic CSS token variables empowering non-technical staff to visually construct pages.
Deep Zoho Projects & Desk Native Portal Integration
Implemented a native, full-featured project management and customer support portal interface directly inside GNTV, integrating Zoho Projects (task lifecycles, assignee mapping, subtask hierarchies) and Zoho Desk (knowledge-base AI answers before ticket creation). Kept creators and team members entirely within the branded portal experience without requiring external Zoho client logins or licensing overhead.
Automated Cloud Backup & Media Management Pipeline
Built an automated database backup engine dumping branch-scoped MySQL instances into compressed gzip archives uploaded directly to Bunny.net cloud storage, complete with automated cron scheduling, retention rotation, and one-click restore. Guaranteed disaster recovery and content snapshots before large migrations with zero reliance on ephemeral local container storage.
Multi-Environment Docker Orchestration & Infrastructure Security
Coordinated multi-branch containerized deployments across AWS EC2 instances, managing isolated port mappings, per-environment credentials, read-only database service accounts, and production performance tuning. Guaranteed that experimental features and active engineering on staging and development branches could never compromise or disrupt live production traffic.
Hardest Problems Solved
Complex synchronization, zero-downtime decoupling, and cache invalidation challenges.
Dual-Database Isolation & Cryptographic Delta Sync Engine
Bridging a legacy monolithic authentication database with multiple branch-scoped CMS databases required building an automated one-way promotion engine that strictly guarantees zero source database mutations. I solved this by implementing a SHA-1 row-hashing comparison pipeline backed by a target state baseline table and strict entity exclusion matrices that protect customized stakeholder accounts and channel IDs, detecting and preserving local target edits while omitting transient payment and session tables.
Monolithic Payload CMS Decoupling with Zero Public Downtime
Retiring an embedded Payload CMS runtime in favor of custom Next.js 15 App Router pages and an Express/Prisma API microservice required migrating complex content models without breaking live routes or rich-text styling. I solved this by reverse-engineering Payload's internal schemas, developing automated Node.js migration scripts to convert nested Lexical block JSON structures and Bunny CDN asset URLs into normalized Prisma tables, and enforcing an architectural rule that eliminated all runtime Payload fallbacks.
Multi-Environment ISR Cache Invalidation Across Network Boundaries
Publishing content in the administrative dashboard needed to immediately bust edge and Next.js frontend cache tags across isolated environments without incurring server reboots or stale content reads. I solved this by architecting an end-to-end webhook revalidation pipeline passing cryptographic authentication headers from Express publishing controllers to Next.js route handlers (/api/cms/revalidate), resolving cross-container Docker network topologies and providing an in-portal universal cache purge UI.