Choosing a Deployment Option

Decision guide to help you select the right deployment method for your needs

Quick Decision Tree 

Are you just trying TrustGraph for the first time?
├─ YES → Docker Compose (15 minutes)
└─ NO ↓

Is this for production use?
├─ NO (dev/test) ↓
│  ├─ Need Kubernetes? → Minikube
│  └─ Simple setup? → Docker Compose
└─ YES (production) ↓

   Do you need high availability and scaling?
   ├─ NO (small scale) ↓
   │  ├─ On AWS? → AWS EC2 Single Instance
   │  └─ Elsewhere? → Docker Compose
   └─ YES (enterprise scale) ↓

      Which cloud are you using?
      ├─ AWS → AWS RKE
      ├─ Azure → Azure AKS
      ├─ GCP → Google Cloud Platform
      ├─ Need GPU acceleration? → Intel/Tiber Cloud
      └─ Budget-conscious? → Scaleway

Comparison Matrix

By Use Case

Deployment First Try Dev/Test Small Prod Enterprise GPU Workloads
Docker Compose ✅ Best ✅ Great ⚠️ Limited ❌ No ❌ No
Minikube ⚠️ Complex ✅ Great ❌ No ❌ No ❌ No
AWS EC2 ❌ Slow ✅ Good ✅ Good ⚠️ Limited ❌ No
AWS RKE ❌ Complex ⚠️ Costly ✅ Good ✅ Best ⚠️ Possible
Azure AKS ❌ Complex ⚠️ Costly ✅ Good ✅ Best ⚠️ Possible
GCP ❌ Complex ✅ Good ✅ Good ✅ Best ✅ Great
Intel/Tiber ❌ Complex ⚠️ Specialty ✅ Good ✅ Good ✅ Best
Scaleway ❌ Complex ✅ Good ✅ Good ⚠️ Limited ❌ No

By Technical Requirements

Deployment Setup Time Complexity HA Support Auto-Scale Cost
Docker Compose 15 min Low ❌ ❌ Free
Minikube 30 min Medium ❌ ❌ Free
AWS EC2 1 hour Low ❌ ❌ $
AWS RKE 2-3 hours High ✅ ✅ $$$
Azure AKS 2-3 hours High ✅ ✅ $$$
GCP 2-3 hours High ✅ ✅ $$
Intel/Tiber 2-4 hours High ✅ ✅ \(-\)$
Scaleway 2-3 hours Medium ✅ ✅ $

Legend:

  • ✅ = Excellent support
  • ⚠️ = Limited or conditional
  • ❌ = Not supported
  • $ = Low cost, \(= Medium,\)$ = High

Detailed Deployment Profiles

Docker Compose

Best for: First-time users, POCs, local development, small teams

Strengths:

  • ✅ Fastest setup (15 minutes)
  • ✅ Simplest architecture
  • ✅ Easy to tear down and restart
  • ✅ No cloud costs
  • ✅ Complete control

Limitations:

  • ❌ Single machine only
  • ❌ No automatic scaling
  • ❌ No built-in HA
  • ❌ Manual backup/restore

Resource Requirements:

  • 8GB RAM minimum
  • 4 CPU cores minimum
  • 20GB disk space
  • Docker or Podman

When to choose:

  • First time trying TrustGraph
  • Local development
  • Small document sets (<10k documents)
  • Budget constraints
  • Learning and experimentation

Migration path: Can export data and migrate to cloud deployments later.

Minikube

Best for: Kubernetes learning, K8s deployment testing

Strengths:

  • ✅ Real Kubernetes environment
  • ✅ Test K8s manifests locally
  • ✅ Good for learning
  • ✅ No cloud costs

Limitations:

  • ❌ Single node
  • ❌ Resource intensive
  • ❌ Not for production
  • ❌ Complex setup

Resource Requirements:

  • 16GB RAM recommended
  • 8 CPU cores recommended
  • 50GB disk space
  • Minikube, kubectl

When to choose:

  • Learning Kubernetes
  • Testing K8s deployments before cloud
  • Validating manifests
  • K8s-based development workflow

AWS EC2 Single Instance

Best for: Simple AWS deployments, small production workloads

Strengths:

  • ✅ Simple AWS deployment
  • ✅ Cost-effective for small scale
  • ✅ Easy to manage
  • ✅ AWS integration

Limitations:

  • ❌ No automatic scaling
  • ❌ Single point of failure
  • ❌ Limited to instance size
  • ⚠️ Manual backup required

Resource Requirements:

  • t3.xlarge or larger
  • 50GB+ EBS volume
  • Security groups configured
  • AWS account

When to choose:

  • Small AWS deployments
  • <100 concurrent users
  • Development/staging on AWS
  • Simple operational model
  • Cost-conscious production

Cost estimate: $100-200/month for t3.xlarge

AWS RKE (Production Kubernetes)

Best for: Enterprise AWS deployments, high availability

Strengths:

  • ✅ Full HA support
  • ✅ Auto-scaling
  • ✅ Production-grade
  • ✅ AWS managed services integration
  • ✅ RKE2 security hardening

Limitations:

  • ⚠️ Complex setup
  • ⚠️ Higher cost
  • ⚠️ Requires K8s expertise
  • ⚠️ Operational overhead

Resource Requirements:

  • Multiple EC2 instances
  • RDS, EBS, ELB
  • VPC configuration
  • Terraform knowledge helpful

When to choose:

  • Production deployments on AWS
  • Need high availability
  • Scaling requirements
  • Compliance requirements
  • Enterprise features needed

Cost estimate: $500-2000+/month depending on scale

Azure AKS

Best for: Azure-committed organizations, enterprise deployments

Strengths:

  • ✅ Managed Kubernetes
  • ✅ Azure integration
  • ✅ Enterprise support
  • ✅ HA and scaling
  • ✅ Azure Active Directory integration

Limitations:

  • ⚠️ Complex setup
  • ⚠️ Higher cost
  • ⚠️ Azure vendor lock-in
  • ⚠️ Requires K8s expertise

Resource Requirements:

  • AKS cluster
  • Azure Storage
  • Load balancers
  • Azure account

When to choose:

  • Already on Azure
  • Enterprise Azure commitment
  • Need Microsoft support
  • Azure service integration

Cost estimate: $500-2000+/month

Google Cloud Platform

Best for: GCP users, ML/AI workloads, VertexAI integration

Strengths:

  • ✅ GKE managed Kubernetes
  • ✅ VertexAI integration
  • ✅ ML/AI optimized
  • ✅ Free credits available
  • ✅ Good for AI projects

Limitations:

  • ⚠️ Complex setup
  • ⚠️ GCP vendor lock-in
  • ⚠️ Requires K8s expertise

Resource Requirements:

  • GKE cluster
  • Cloud Storage
  • Load balancers
  • GCP account

When to choose:

  • Already on GCP
  • Using VertexAI for LLMs
  • ML/AI focused projects
  • Google technology stack

Cost estimate: $400-1800+/month (free credits help)

Intel / Tiber Cloud

Best for: GPU-accelerated workloads, high-performance computing

Strengths:

  • ✅ GPU acceleration
  • ✅ Intel optimizations
  • ✅ High performance
  • ✅ Specialized hardware

Limitations:

  • ⚠️ Complex setup
  • ⚠️ Specialized platform
  • ⚠️ Variable pricing

Resource Requirements:

  • Intel GPU instances
  • Specialized configuration
  • Intel platform familiarity

When to choose:

  • Need GPU acceleration
  • High-performance requirements
  • Large-scale processing
  • Intel hardware preference

Cost estimate: Variable, contact for pricing

Scaleway

Best for: Budget-conscious deployments, EU data residency

Strengths:

  • ✅ Lower cost than major clouds
  • ✅ European data centers
  • ✅ GDPR compliance
  • ✅ Kubernetes support

Limitations:

  • ⚠️ Smaller ecosystem
  • ⚠️ Less mature than major clouds
  • ⚠️ Limited regions

Resource Requirements:

  • Scaleway Kubernetes
  • Object storage
  • Load balancers
  • Scaleway account

When to choose:

  • Budget constraints
  • EU data residency required
  • European operations
  • Cost-effective scaling

Cost estimate: $200-1000+/month

Decision Factors

By Scale

<1,000 documents:

  • Docker Compose (local)
  • AWS EC2 Single (cloud)

1,000 - 50,000 documents:

  • Docker Compose (powerful machine)
  • AWS EC2 Single Instance
  • Scaleway

50,000 - 500,000 documents:

  • AWS RKE
  • Azure AKS
  • GCP
  • Scaleway

500,000+ documents:

  • AWS RKE (with scaling)
  • Azure AKS (with scaling)
  • GCP (with scaling)
  • Intel/Tiber (with GPU)

By Budget

$0 (free):

  • Docker Compose
  • Minikube

<$200/month:

  • AWS EC2 Single Instance
  • Scaleway (small)

$200-1000/month:

  • Scaleway (medium)
  • GCP (with free credits)
  • AWS RKE (minimal)

$1000+/month:

  • AWS RKE (production)
  • Azure AKS (production)
  • GCP (production)
  • Intel/Tiber

By Team Expertise

Beginner:

  • Docker Compose

Intermediate:

  • AWS EC2 Single Instance
  • Minikube
  • Scaleway

Advanced:

  • AWS RKE
  • Azure AKS
  • GCP
  • Intel/Tiber

Migration Paths

From Docker Compose to Cloud

  1. Export your data using backup tools
  2. Set up cloud deployment
  3. Import data to cloud instance
  4. Validate and cutover

From Single Instance to Kubernetes

  1. Move to managed K8s (AKS, GKE, or RKE)
  2. Use Kubernetes manifests
  3. Implement HA and scaling
  4. Migrate data

Between Cloud Providers

  1. Export knowledge graphs and configurations
  2. Deploy to new cloud
  3. Import data
  4. Reconfigure integrations

Next Steps

Ready to Deploy?

  1. Selected your option? → Go to the specific deployment guide
  2. Still unsure? → Start with Docker Compose to try it out
  3. Need help deciding? → Ask in community support

Before Production

Review these critical guides:

Get Started