Git Hosting & Website Deployment

Choose the repository operating model

Start by deciding who should administer the repository service. GitHub offers hosted Enterprise Cloud and self-hosted Enterprise Server products, as explained in its Enterprise Cloud introduction. GitLab also has managed and self-managed offerings. Compare the specific product and edition that fits your requirements.

Test a complete collaboration task: create a branch, propose a change, request a revision, and inspect the final history. The GitHub, GitLab, and self-hosted comparison helps you evaluate that daily workflow alongside administrative duties.

Match the serving environment to the project

A static site needs its published HTML, styles, scripts, and assets served correctly. A dynamic application also needs the appropriate runtime and supporting services. Check the actual capabilities of a shared hosting account before designing deployment around shell access, build tools, or background processes it may not provide.

A VPS can be an appropriate operating environment when someone owns its configuration and maintenance. Document the services required, where persistent data lives, and how a new release reaches the server. Use the CMS and framework guide to identify the runtime boundary before selecting infrastructure.

Define a small, repeatable release process

1. Select the reviewed commit that should become the release.
2. Build or assemble the publishable output in a controlled environment.
3. Check the output and preserve a way to identify its source revision.
4. Transfer or activate the release using the host's supported method.
5. Verify a real page or request and retain a recovery path.

For a static project, keep local caches, credentials, and repository internals out of the published directory. The static website deployment guide shows how to make the source-to-output boundary explicit.

Understand Nginx and CDN responsibilities

Nginx can serve static files and act as a proxy to an application, as introduced in the official beginner's guide. Its configured document root should point to the intended published files. Review routing and permissions as part of deployment rather than assuming the repository layout is also a suitable web root.

When a CDN is involved, decide how a release changes cached files. Consider stable page addresses, versioned assets, cache lifetimes, and invalidation behavior. Check both a newly loaded page and a previously cached path. Our Nginx and CDN deployment guide develops the release implications.

Assign the work after launch

Someone must own repository access, deployment credentials, build failures, capacity, and recovery. Write down that ownership before an incident makes it urgent. A managed service and a self-hosted system divide duties differently, but neither removes every responsibility from your team. Include the build workers and external storage used by the release process in that inventory.