Hosting Models

Trails in This Module

1. Trail 1

   What Happens When You Deploy an Application

   Can the team operate this service after launch with the people, access, budget, and recovery time it actually has? Define the repeatable path from approved source to production, including configuration, migration, verification, and rollback.

   Open Trail

2. Trail 2

   Domains, DNS, and SSL

   Can the team operate this service after launch with the people, access, budget, and recovery time it actually has? Keep domain ownership with the company and document DNS control, certificate renewal, and recovery access.

   Open Trail

3. Trail 3

   Development, Staging, and Production

   Can the team operate this service after launch with the people, access, budget, and recovery time it actually has? Separate environments when the consequence of testing against live users or data justifies the added operating cost.

   Open Trail

4. Trail 4

   Shared Hosting, Managed Platforms, and VPS

   Compare common hosting models and understand the operational work hidden behind each option.

   Open Trail

5. Trail 5

   Deploying Node.js Applications to a VPS

   Can the team operate this service after launch with the people, access, budget, and recovery time it actually has? Use a VPS only with explicit responsibility for patching, process recovery, secrets, logs, backups, and release automation.

   Open Trail

6. Trail 6

   Deploying PHP Applications

   Can the team operate this service after launch with the people, access, budget, and recovery time it actually has? Choose shared or managed PHP hosting when its constraints fit, and verify version, extensions, queues, cron, and deployment access.

   Open Trail

7. Trail 7

   Reverse Proxies and Process Managers

   Can the team operate this service after launch with the people, access, budget, and recovery time it actually has? Define routing, health, restart, logging, and certificate responsibilities as part of the deployment design.

   Open Trail

8. Trail 8

   Environment Variables and Secrets

   Can the team operate this service after launch with the people, access, budget, and recovery time it actually has? Separate configuration from source code and store secrets in controlled, rotatable, environment-specific systems.

   Open Trail

9. Trail 9

   Databases, File Storage, and Backups

   Can the team operate this service after launch with the people, access, budget, and recovery time it actually has? Map every durable data category to an owner, storage service, backup schedule, retention rule, and restore test.

   Open Trail

10. Trail 10

    Monitoring and Observability

    Can the team operate this service after launch with the people, access, budget, and recovery time it actually has? Monitor user-critical outcomes and alert a named responder with enough context to act.

    Open Trail

11. Trail 11

    Rollbacks and Failed Deployments

    Can the team operate this service after launch with the people, access, budget, and recovery time it actually has? Define and rehearse rollback for code, configuration, and schema changes before a high-consequence release.

    Open Trail

12. Trail 12

    Choosing Infrastructure for an MVP

    Can the team operate this service after launch with the people, access, budget, and recovery time it actually has? Prefer managed simplicity unless a documented constraint requires server-level control.

    Open Trail

13. Trail 13

    Estimating Infrastructure Cost

    Can the team operate this service after launch with the people, access, budget, and recovery time it actually has? Model a normal month, a growth case, and a failure or recovery event with clear cost owners and thresholds.

    Open Trail