Deployment Strategies¶

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Overview¶

This guide compares various deployment strategies for the Simon Stijnen Portfolio website, from simple cloud hosting to self-hosted Kubernetes clusters. Each option is evaluated based on cost, complexity, scalability, and maintenance requirements.

Deployment Comparison¶

Quick Comparison Matrix¶

Platform	Cost	Complexity	Scalability	Maintenance	Best For
Vercel	Free-$$$	⭐ Very Low	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Excellent	⭐ Minimal	Next.js apps, quick start
Netlify	Free-$$	⭐ Very Low	⭐⭐⭐⭐ Great	⭐ Minimal	Static sites, JAMstack
Railway	$-$$	⭐⭐ Low	⭐⭐⭐ Good	⭐⭐ Low	Docker containers
Fly.io	$-$$	⭐⭐ Low	⭐⭐⭐⭐ Great	⭐⭐ Low	Global edge deployment
AWS	$$-$$$	⭐⭐⭐⭐ High	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Excellent	⭐⭐⭐⭐ High	Enterprise, complex apps
DigitalOcean	$-$$	⭐⭐⭐ Medium	⭐⭐⭐ Good	⭐⭐⭐ Medium	Cost-effective VPS
Kubernetes	$$-$$$	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Very High	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Excellent	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Very High	Large-scale, multi-service
Self-Hosted	$-$$	⭐⭐⭐⭐ High	⭐⭐ Limited	⭐⭐⭐⭐ High	Learning, full control

Cost Scale: Free / $ (<$20/mo) / $$ ($20-100/mo) / $$$ (>$100/mo)

Decision Tree¶

graph TD
    Start{Choose Deployment} --> NextJS{Next.js<br/>optimized?}

    NextJS -->|Yes| Vercel[Vercel<br/>Zero config, excellent DX]
    NextJS -->|No preference| Docker{Want<br/>Docker?}

    Docker -->|Yes| Container{Scale<br/>requirements?}
    Docker -->|No| Static{Static or<br/>server-rendered?}

    Container -->|Single region| Railway[Railway/Fly.io<br/>Simple Docker hosting]
    Container -->|Multi-region| AWS[AWS/GCP<br/>Enterprise-grade]
    Container -->|Complex orchestration| K8s[Kubernetes<br/>Full control]

    Static -->|Static only| Netlify[Netlify/Vercel<br/>CDN + static hosting]
    Static -->|Server-rendered| VPS[VPS DigitalOcean<br/>Traditional hosting]

    Start --> Budget{Budget?}
    Budget -->|Free| Free[Vercel/Netlify<br/>Free tier]
    Budget -->|Low $| Railway[Railway/Fly.io<br/>$5-20/mo]
    Budget -->|Medium $$| DO[DigitalOcean<br/>$20-50/mo]
    Budget -->|High $$$| AWS[AWS/GCP<br/>Unlimited scale]

    style Vercel fill:#27ae60,color:#fff
    style Railway fill:#9b59b6,color:#fff
    style AWS fill:#f39c12,color:#fff
    style K8s fill:#e74c3c,color:#fff

Cloud Platform Deployment¶

Vercel (Recommended for Next.js)¶

Best for: Next.js applications, rapid deployment, zero configuration

Advantages¶

✅ Native Next.js Support

Built by Next.js creators
Zero configuration needed
Automatic optimizations

✅ Excellent Developer Experience

Git integration
Automatic deployments
Preview deployments for PRs
Instant rollbacks

✅ Performance

Global Edge Network
Automatic image optimization
Built-in CDN
Edge middleware support

✅ Free Tier

Generous limits
Custom domains
SSL certificates
Analytics included

Deployment Process¶

# Install Vercel CLI
npm install -g vercel

# Deploy from local directory
cd /path/to/website
vercel

# Deploy production
vercel --prod

# Deploy from GitHub (preferred)
# 1. Push to GitHub
# 2. Import project at vercel.com
# 3. Configure (auto-detected for Next.js)
# 4. Deploy

Configuration¶

vercel.json (optional):

{
  "buildCommand": "npm run build",
  "outputDirectory": ".next",
  "framework": "nextjs",
  "regions": ["iad1"],
  "env": {
    "NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL": "https://simonstijnen.com"
  },
  "headers": [
    {
      "source": "/(.*)",
      "headers": [
        {
          "key": "X-Content-Type-Options",
          "value": "nosniff"
        },
        {
          "key": "X-Frame-Options",
          "value": "DENY"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Pricing¶

Tier	Price	Limits
Hobby	Free	100GB bandwidth, 6,000 build minutes
Pro	$20/mo	1TB bandwidth, unlimited builds
Enterprise	Custom	Dedicated infrastructure

Netlify¶

Best for: Static sites, JAMstack applications

Advantages¶

✅ Static Site Excellence

CDN distribution
Atomic deploys
Instant rollbacks

✅ Developer Tools

Split testing
Form handling
Functions (serverless)

✅ Generous Free Tier

100GB bandwidth
Unlimited sites
Custom domains

Deployment Process¶

# Install Netlify CLI
npm install -g netlify-cli

# Login
netlify login

# Initialize
netlify init

# Deploy
netlify deploy --prod

# Or drag and drop build output at netlify.com
npm run build
# Upload .next folder

Configuration¶

netlify.toml:

[build]
  command = "npm run build"
  publish = ".next"

[[redirects]]
  from = "/*"
  to = "/index.html"
  status = 200

[[headers]]
  for = "/*"
  [headers.values]
    X-Frame-Options = "DENY"
    X-Content-Type-Options = "nosniff"
    Referrer-Policy = "strict-origin-when-cross-origin"

Pricing¶

Tier	Price	Limits
Free	$0	100GB bandwidth, 300 build minutes
Pro	$19/mo	1TB bandwidth, unlimited builds
Enterprise	Custom	SLA, priority support

Railway¶

Best for: Docker containers, PostgreSQL databases, simple deployment

Advantages¶

✅ Docker Native

Uses your Dockerfile
No modifications needed
Database included

✅ Developer Experience

Simple CLI
Git integration
Environment variables

✅ Pricing

Pay for what you use
No minimum cost
~$5-10/mo typical

Deployment Process¶

# Install Railway CLI
npm install -g @railway/cli

# Login
railway login

# Initialize project
railway init

# Link to existing project
railway link

# Deploy
railway up

# Or connect GitHub repository
# 1. Go to railway.app
# 2. New Project → Deploy from GitHub
# 3. Select repository
# 4. Auto-detects Dockerfile
# 5. Deploy

Configuration¶

railway.json:

{
  "build": {
    "builder": "DOCKERFILE",
    "dockerfilePath": "Dockerfile"
  },
  "deploy": {
    "numReplicas": 1,
    "sleepApplication": false,
    "restartPolicyType": "ON_FAILURE",
    "restartPolicyMaxRetries": 10
  }
}

Pricing¶

Free Trial: $5 credit
Usage-Based: ~$0.000463/GB-hour (RAM), $0.000231/vCPU-hour
Typical Cost: $5-20/mo for small app

Fly.io¶

Best for: Global edge deployment, Docker containers, low latency

Advantages¶

✅ Global Edge

Deploy to multiple regions
Automatic routing to nearest region
Built-in load balancing

✅ Docker Support

Uses your Dockerfile
Multi-region deployments
Persistent volumes

✅ Performance

Anycast routing
Fast cold starts
Close to users

Deployment Process¶

# Install flyctl
curl -L https://fly.io/install.sh | sh

# Login
fly auth login

# Launch app (interactive setup)
fly launch

# Deploy
fly deploy

# Scale to multiple regions
fly regions add lhr  # London
fly regions add syd  # Sydney
fly regions add iad  # US East

# Scale instances
fly scale count 2

# View status
fly status

Configuration¶

fly.toml:

app = "personal-website"
primary_region = "iad"

[build]
  dockerfile = "Dockerfile"

[env]
  PORT = "3000"
  NODE_ENV = "production"

[http_service]
  internal_port = 3000
  force_https = true
  auto_stop_machines = true
  auto_start_machines = true
  min_machines_running = 1

[[vm]]
  cpu_kind = "shared"
  cpus = 1
  memory_mb = 512

Pricing¶

Free Tier: 3 shared-cpu VMs, 3GB persistent storage
Hobby: ~$5-10/mo for basic app
Paid: $1.94/mo per 256MB RAM

Container Orchestration¶

Amazon ECS/Fargate¶

Best for: AWS ecosystem, serverless containers, enterprise

Architecture¶

graph TD
    A[ALB<br/>Load Balancer] --> B[ECS Service]
    B --> C[Fargate Task 1]
    B --> D[Fargate Task 2]
    B --> E[Fargate Task 3]

    C --> F[ECR<br/>Docker Registry]
    D --> F
    E --> F

    G[Auto Scaling] -.->|CPU/Memory| B
    H[CloudWatch] -.->|Logs| C
    H -.->|Logs| D
    H -.->|Logs| E

    style A fill:#f39c12,color:#fff
    style B fill:#3498db,color:#fff
    style F fill:#e74c3c,color:#fff

Deployment Process¶

# Install AWS CLI
aws configure

# Create ECR repository
aws ecr create-repository --repository-name personal-website

# Build and push Docker image
aws ecr get-login-password --region us-east-1 | \
  docker login --username AWS --password-stdin <account-id>.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com
docker build -t personal-website .
docker tag personal-website:latest <account-id>.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/personal-website:latest
docker push <account-id>.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/personal-website:latest

# Create ECS cluster
aws ecs create-cluster --cluster-name personal-website-cluster

# Register task definition
aws ecs register-task-definition --cli-input-json file://task-definition.json

# Create service
aws ecs create-service \
  --cluster personal-website-cluster \
  --service-name website \
  --task-definition personal-website:1 \
  --desired-count 2 \
  --launch-type FARGATE \
  --network-configuration "awsvpcConfiguration={subnets=[subnet-xxx],securityGroups=[sg-xxx],assignPublicIp=ENABLED}"

Task Definition¶

task-definition.json:

{
  "family": "personal-website",
  "networkMode": "awsvpc",
  "requiresCompatibilities": ["FARGATE"],
  "cpu": "256",
  "memory": "512",
  "containerDefinitions": [
    {
      "name": "website",
      "image": "<account-id>.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/personal-website:latest",
      "portMappings": [
        {
          "containerPort": 3000,
          "protocol": "tcp"
        }
      ],
      "environment": [
        {
          "name": "NODE_ENV",
          "value": "production"
        }
      ],
      "logConfiguration": {
        "logDriver": "awslogs",
        "options": {
          "awslogs-group": "/ecs/personal-website",
          "awslogs-region": "us-east-1",
          "awslogs-stream-prefix": "ecs"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Pricing (Fargate)¶

vCPU: $0.04048/hour
Memory: $0.004445/GB/hour
Example: 0.25 vCPU + 0.5GB = ~$10/mo

Kubernetes¶

Best for: Large-scale applications, multi-service architectures, full control

Architecture¶

graph TD
    A[Ingress<br/>nginx/traefik] --> B[Service<br/>LoadBalancer]
    B --> C[Deployment]
    C --> D[Pod 1<br/>website:latest]
    C --> E[Pod 2<br/>website:latest]
    C --> F[Pod 3<br/>website:latest]

    G[HPA<br/>Horizontal Pod Autoscaler] -.->|Scale| C
    H[ConfigMap] -.->|Config| C
    I[Secret] -.->|Credentials| C
    J[PVC<br/>Persistent Volume] -.->|Storage| C

    style A fill:#f39c12,color:#fff
    style B fill:#3498db,color:#fff
    style C fill:#9b59b6,color:#fff

Kubernetes Manifests¶

deployment.yaml:

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: personal-website
  namespace: production
spec:
  replicas: 3
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: personal-website
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: personal-website
    spec:
      containers:
        - name: website
          image: ghcr.io/simonstnn/website:latest
          ports:
            - containerPort: 3000
          env:
            - name: NODE_ENV
              value: "production"
            - name: PORT
              value: "3000"
          resources:
            requests:
              memory: "256Mi"
              cpu: "250m"
            limits:
              memory: "512Mi"
              cpu: "500m"
          livenessProbe:
            httpGet:
              path: /
              port: 3000
            initialDelaySeconds: 30
            periodSeconds: 10
          readinessProbe:
            httpGet:
              path: /
              port: 3000
            initialDelaySeconds: 5
            periodSeconds: 5

service.yaml:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: personal-website
  namespace: production
spec:
  selector:
    app: personal-website
  ports:
    - protocol: TCP
      port: 80
      targetPort: 3000
  type: LoadBalancer

ingress.yaml:

apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: Ingress
metadata:
  name: personal-website
  namespace: production
  annotations:
    cert-manager.io/cluster-issuer: "letsencrypt-prod"
    nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/ssl-redirect: "true"
spec:
  ingressClassName: nginx
  tls:
    - hosts:
        - simonstijnen.com
      secretName: website-tls
  rules:
    - host: simonstijnen.com
      http:
        paths:
          - path: /
            pathType: Prefix
            backend:
              service:
                name: personal-website
                port:
                  number: 80

hpa.yaml:

apiVersion: autoscaling/v2
kind: HorizontalPodAutoscaler
metadata:
  name: personal-website-hpa
  namespace: production
spec:
  scaleTargetRef:
    apiVersion: apps/v1
    kind: Deployment
    name: personal-website
  minReplicas: 2
  maxReplicas: 10
  metrics:
    - type: Resource
      resource:
        name: cpu
        target:
          type: Utilization
          averageUtilization: 70
    - type: Resource
      resource:
        name: memory
        target:
          type: Utilization
          averageUtilization: 80

Deployment Commands¶

# Apply all manifests
kubectl apply -f k8s/

# Apply specific manifest
kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml

# View status
kubectl get pods -n production
kubectl get svc -n production
kubectl get ingress -n production

# View logs
kubectl logs -f deployment/personal-website -n production

# Scale manually
kubectl scale deployment/personal-website --replicas=5 -n production

# Rolling update
kubectl set image deployment/personal-website \
  website=ghcr.io/simonstnn/website:v2.0.0 \
  -n production

# Rollback
kubectl rollout undo deployment/personal-website -n production

# View rollout status
kubectl rollout status deployment/personal-website -n production

Managed Kubernetes Options¶

Provider	Service	Pricing
AWS	EKS	$0.10/hour + node costs
Google Cloud	GKE	$0.10/hour + node costs
Azure	AKS	Free control plane + node costs
DigitalOcean	DOKS	$12/mo + node costs
Linode	LKE	Free + node costs

Self-Hosted Deployment¶

DigitalOcean Droplet¶

Best for: Cost-effective VPS, full control, learning

Setup Process¶

# 1. Create Droplet
# - OS: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
# - Size: $6/mo (1GB RAM)
# - Region: Nearest to users

# 2. SSH into server
ssh root@your-server-ip

# 3. Install Docker
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o get-docker.sh
sh get-docker.sh

# 4. Install Docker Compose
apt-get install -y docker-compose-plugin

# 5. Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/simonstnn/website.git
cd website

# 6. Run with Docker Compose
docker compose up -d

# 7. Setup Nginx reverse proxy
apt-get install -y nginx certbot python3-certbot-nginx

# 8. Configure Nginx
cat > /etc/nginx/sites-available/website <<'EOF'
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name simonstijnen.com www.simonstijnen.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    }
}
EOF

# 9. Enable site
ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/website /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
nginx -t
systemctl restart nginx

# 10. Setup SSL with Let's Encrypt
certbot --nginx -d simonstijnen.com -d www.simonstijnen.com

# 11. Setup auto-deployment
cat > /root/deploy.sh <<'EOF'
#!/bin/bash
cd /root/website
git pull origin main-v2
docker compose down
docker compose build
docker compose up -d
EOF
chmod +x /root/deploy.sh

Automated Updates¶

Using webhook:

# Install webhook
apt-get install -y webhook

# Create webhook script
cat > /root/webhook-deploy.sh <<'EOF'
#!/bin/bash
cd /root/website
git pull origin main-v2
docker compose up -d --build
EOF
chmod +x /root/webhook-deploy.sh

# Configure webhook
cat > /etc/webhook.conf <<'EOF'
[
  {
    "id": "deploy-website",
    "execute-command": "/root/webhook-deploy.sh",
    "command-working-directory": "/root/website",
    "pass-arguments-to-command": [],
    "trigger-rule": {
      "match": {
        "type": "payload-hash-sha256",
        "secret": "YOUR_SECRET_HERE",
        "parameter": {
          "source": "header",
          "name": "X-Hub-Signature-256"
        }
      }
    }
  }
]
EOF

# Start webhook
webhook -hooks /etc/webhook.conf -verbose -port 9000

GitHub webhook:

Repository Settings → Webhooks → Add webhook
Payload URL: http://your-server:9000/hooks/deploy-website
Content type: application/json
Secret: Same as in webhook.conf
Events: push events

Pricing¶

Provider	Size	Price	Specs
DigitalOcean	Basic	$6/mo	1GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 25GB SSD
DigitalOcean	Regular	$12/mo	2GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 50GB SSD
Linode	Nanode	$5/mo	1GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 25GB SSD
Vultr	Regular	$6/mo	1GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 25GB SSD
Hetzner	CX11	€4/mo	2GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 20GB SSD

Serverless Deployment¶

AWS Lambda + API Gateway¶

Best for: Sporadic traffic, cost optimization, AWS ecosystem

Architecture¶

graph LR
    A[CloudFront CDN] --> B[API Gateway]
    B --> C[Lambda Function]
    C --> D[Next.js Server]

    E[S3 Bucket] --> A
    E -.->|Static Assets| A

    style A fill:#f39c12,color:#fff
    style B fill:#3498db,color:#fff
    style C fill:#e74c3c,color:#fff

Note: Next.js 15 with App Router is not fully compatible with AWS Lambda. Consider using OpenNext or AWS Amplify for better Next.js support.

Edge Deployment¶

Cloudflare Pages/Workers¶

Best for: Global edge deployment, static sites with dynamic elements

Deployment¶

# Install Wrangler CLI
npm install -g wrangler

# Login
wrangler login

# Deploy
wrangler pages deploy .next

# Or connect GitHub repository
# 1. Go to pages.cloudflare.com
# 2. Connect repository
# 3. Configure build:
#    Build command: npm run build
#    Output directory: .next
# 4. Deploy

Pricing¶

Free: Unlimited requests, 100k reads/day
Paid: $5/mo for 10M requests

Choosing a Strategy¶

Use Case Recommendations¶

Personal Portfolio (Current Project)¶

Recommended: Vercel or Railway

Vercel if you prioritize developer experience and Next.js optimization
Railway if you want Docker deployment and database included

Small Business Website¶

Recommended: Vercel, Netlify, or DigitalOcean

Simple deployment
Reasonable costs
Minimal maintenance

High-Traffic Application¶

Recommended: AWS ECS/Fargate or Kubernetes

Auto-scaling
High availability
Enterprise support

Multi-Service Application¶

Recommended: Kubernetes or Docker Compose on VPS

Multiple containers
Service orchestration
Database, cache, queue integration

Learning/Experimentation¶

Recommended: DigitalOcean or Self-hosted

Full control
Learn infrastructure
Low cost

Next Steps¶

Choose Platform: Select deployment strategy based on requirements
Configure CI/CD: Set up automated deployments
Production Setup: Review production configuration
Deploy: Follow platform-specific guide above

Last Updated: February 2026
Platforms Tested: Vercel, Railway, Fly.io, DigitalOcean, AWS ECS
Next.js Version: 15.1.6
Docker Compatibility: All platforms

Deployment Strategies¶

Overview¶

Table of Contents¶

Deployment Comparison¶

Quick Comparison Matrix¶

Decision Tree¶

Cloud Platform Deployment¶

Vercel (Recommended for Next.js)¶

Advantages¶

Deployment Process¶

Configuration¶

Pricing¶

Netlify¶

Advantages¶

Deployment Process¶

Configuration¶

Pricing¶

Railway¶

Advantages¶

Deployment Process¶

Configuration¶

Pricing¶

Fly.io¶

Advantages¶

Deployment Process¶

Configuration¶

Pricing¶

Container Orchestration¶

Amazon ECS/Fargate¶

Architecture¶

Deployment Process¶

Task Definition¶

Pricing (Fargate)¶

Kubernetes¶

Architecture¶

Kubernetes Manifests¶

Deployment Commands¶

Managed Kubernetes Options¶

Self-Hosted Deployment¶

DigitalOcean Droplet¶

Setup Process¶

Automated Updates¶

Pricing¶

Serverless Deployment¶

AWS Lambda + API Gateway¶

Architecture¶

Edge Deployment¶

Cloudflare Pages/Workers¶

Deployment¶

Pricing¶

Choosing a Strategy¶

Use Case Recommendations¶

Personal Portfolio (Current Project)¶

Small Business Website¶

High-Traffic Application¶

Multi-Service Application¶

Learning/Experimentation¶

See Also¶

Next Steps¶