From 09e9e4855d7090aa031c7f3da73653e8be43205d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Quinn Curtis Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2023 18:51:38 +1000 Subject: [PATCH] Create DocumentationHosting.md --- .../Platform-Research/DocumentationHosting.md | 95 +++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 95 insertions(+) create mode 100644 Projects/Platform-Research/DocumentationHosting.md diff --git a/Projects/Platform-Research/DocumentationHosting.md b/Projects/Platform-Research/DocumentationHosting.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fe02939 --- /dev/null +++ b/Projects/Platform-Research/DocumentationHosting.md @@ -0,0 +1,95 @@ +# Hosting Thoth Tech Documentation + +## A comprehensive Guide by Quinn Curtis + +Company operations has made great strides in developing the documentation website this trimester, +which means that it is time for deploying the website is our main priority before we can launch. + +## The options + +currently, the best options for hosting the starlight-based documentation website are as follows: + +- Github Pages +- CloudFlare Pages +- Netlify +- Vercel + +while each of these tools is great in their own way, it is important to consider the context of our +website. + +- The documentation website is a static website. We will not need dynamic web hosting. +- It is a very simple Astro application, meaning that there is no real need for SSR, but it would be + nice to have the option for it, should we want to expand the UI or functionality in the future. +- Being a website specific to Thoth Tech, it is unlikely the website will need a ton of bandwidth, + ram, or storage. + +Let's look at our options in a bit more depth. + +### Github Pages + +- Pros + - Github pages is completely free. + - It can be quickly and easily be updated from an existing repo. + - Reliable. Github has an excellent reputation for uptime and stability. +- Cons + - Limited to Github URLs + - Cap on bandwidth per month: 100GB + - Does not support SSR + +### Cloudflare Pages + +- Pros + + - An extremely secure platform backed by one of the most recognizable names in networking. + - It comes with a very strong and compelling free tier. for free you can build a site 500 times + per month, and there is unlimited static requests and bandwidth. + +- Cons + - The most expensive paid option of the bunch. While it is $20/mo at its most basic paid tier, and + that's if you bill it annually. When billed monthly, it comes out to a whopping $25 per month. + - It is also the newest of the bunch, meaning that there is a little less documentation and + support available. + +### Netlify + +- Pros + - Netlify has free (and automated) SSL configuration out of the box. + - It has its own form submission system and user authentication system should we need it down the + line + - Cheapest paid tier. +- Cons + - Paid. There is a free option but it is very limited in scope. The next tier costs 19$ USD per + month to keep running. + - Deployment times are based on payment tier. + +### Vercel + +- Pros + - Also has SSL configuration, but it is a bit more involved. + - Very reliable, and has the quickest deployment time at a free level. +- Cons + - Pushes Next.js integration, not that that's a bad thing, but our project does not use it, so + it's a bit of a waste. + - No form submission or user control built in. + +## Comparing the bunch + +Okay, so now that we have a basic idea of each product, how do they hold up against each other? + +| | Github Pages | Cloudflare Pages | Netlify | Vercel | +| ----------------------------- | ------------ | ---------------- | ------- | ------ | +| Github integration | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | +| Free tier | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | +| Viable Paid Tier | N/A | | ✔️ | ✔️ | +| Custom URLs | | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | +| SSR Support | | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | +| Forms and User Authentication | | | ✔️ | | + +## Conclusions + +While all of these deployment options would fit our needs in one way or another, Netlify stands out +as the winner. Allowing for custom URLs and being able to deploy straight from the company Github +are things that are invaluable to the operations team. The other options just do not keep up when +comparing price to features. Netlify has a great inbuilt system for forms and user control if the +company ever needed them in the future. Given the comparison above and the pros and cons listed, the +operations team will be going with Netlify.