Deployment/Providers/Gcp

guidedeploymentCARE 3.0+

Google Cloud Platform offers two distinct paths for deploying Care, depending on what you need to run. You can deploy the full Care application on a managed Kubernetes cluster, or host just the Care frontend as a globally distributed static site. Choose the option that matches your architecture and operational requirements.

Deployment options

Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)

Run the full Care application (backend and frontend) on a managed Kubernetes cluster. Container images are built with Cloud Build and stored in Artifact Registry, then deployed to GKE. This option gives you container orchestration, a microservices-friendly architecture, advanced autoscaling, and the ability to handle complex deployment scenarios.

Choose GKE if you need:

Container orchestration with Kubernetes features
A microservices architecture
Advanced scaling capabilities
Support for complex deployment scenarios

See Deploy on GKE for the full walkthrough.

Google Cloud Storage (GCS)

Host the Care frontend as a static website backed by Cloud CDN and a global HTTP(S) load balancer. This gives you fast global content delivery and a simple, cost-effective deployment for static, single-page-application content.

📝 Note

GCS hosts only the frontend. The Care backend must be deployed elsewhere (for example, on GKE or another provider), and the frontend is configured to talk to that backend's API.

Choose GCS if you need:

Static website hosting
Global content delivery via Cloud CDN
A simple deployment process
A cost-effective, pay-per-use solution

See Host the frontend on GCS for the full walkthrough.

Choosing between GKE and GCS

Requirement	GKE	GCS
Best for	Containerized applications, microservices, full backend + frontend	Static websites, single-page applications (SPAs), frontend-only hosting
Orchestration	Kubernetes (container orchestration)	None (static object hosting)
Scaling	Advanced, cluster-based autoscaling	Automatic via Cloud CDN edge caching
Deployment complexity	Higher — supports complex scenarios	Lower — simple, static deployment
Hosts	Full Care application	Frontend only (backend lives elsewhere)

Cost considerations

GKE: Higher cost, but more flexible and scalable. Suited to running the complete application with full Kubernetes capabilities.
GCS: Lower cost, pay-per-use model. Ideal for serving static frontend content efficiently.

Prerequisites

Before deploying with either option, make sure you have:

The Google Cloud SDK (gcloud) installed
A GCP project with billing enabled
Appropriate IAM permissions
A domain name (if using a custom domain)

Common configuration

Before deploying, ensure the following are in place:

Domain name configured in GCP DNS
SSL certificate (managed by GCP)
Appropriate IAM permissions
Billing enabled on the project