Documentation Hosting

Documentation hosting provides infrastructure for making design system documentation accessible to users. Hosting decisions affect documentation performance, availability, and maintenance. Choosing appropriate hosting ensures documentation serves users reliably and efficiently.

What Is Documentation Hosting

Documentation hosting is the infrastructure that serves documentation content to users. For design system documentation, this typically means hosting static websites generated from documentation source files. Hosting provides storage, content delivery, and domain management.

Hosting requirements for documentation include reliable availability, good performance across geographic regions, support for documentation features like routing and redirects, and reasonable cost at documentation scale. Security considerations include HTTPS support and access control where needed.

How Documentation Hosting Works

Static site hosting serves pre-built documentation files. Popular options include Netlify, Vercel, GitHub Pages, AWS S3 with CloudFront, and similar services. These platforms store documentation files and serve them through content delivery networks for global performance.

Platform features beyond basic hosting add value. Preview deployments create environments for reviewing changes. Continuous deployment automatically publishes from source repositories. Serverless functions enable dynamic features when needed. Build caching speeds deployment.

Configuration controls hosting behavior. Custom domains connect organizational domains to hosted documentation. Redirects manage URL changes during documentation reorganization. Headers control caching and security. Environment variables support build-time configuration.

Key Considerations

• Static hosting suits most documentation with good performance and low cost
• CDN distribution ensures good performance across geographic regions
• Platform features like preview deployments and continuous deployment add value
• Configuration options should meet documentation routing and redirect needs

Common Questions

What hosting platforms work well for design system documentation?

Popular documentation hosting platforms include Netlify and Vercel, which provide excellent developer experience with preview deployments, continuous deployment, and generous free tiers. GitHub Pages offers simple hosting for GitHub repositories. AWS Amplify and similar cloud provider options integrate with existing cloud infrastructure. Self-hosted options provide maximum control for organizations with specific requirements. Platform selection depends on existing infrastructure, feature needs, and team preferences.

How do teams handle documentation hosting for internal versus public documentation?

Internal documentation may require access control unavailable on public hosting. Options include self-hosted solutions behind corporate networks, platforms supporting authentication integration, or private network deployment. Public documentation typically uses standard static hosting without access restrictions. Some organizations maintain both internal and public documentation with different hosting configurations for each.

Summary

Documentation hosting provides infrastructure for serving documentation to users. Static hosting with CDN distribution serves most documentation needs effectively. Platform features like preview deployments and continuous deployment improve documentation workflows. Hosting selection should match organizational requirements and existing infrastructure.