Where your build runs and your data lives
Every build has to run somewhere and stay up when a customer arrives at an odd hour. This group is that somewhere. It is where the helper behind "Answer the questions you get asked all day" is hosted so it still answers at two in the morning, where the scheduled jobs run day after day, and where your customer data physically sits. When a build needs it, I can keep the data it stores in your own country, because I choose which region the database and server run in. You do not choose these tools. I do, based on what each build needs.
Vercel
The platform that hosts a website and keeps it online, deploying updates and handling a rush of visitors without falling over. It is a common home for a website helper and the site it lives on. Vercel is one of the few tools that expressly allows me to say I use it by name.
VPS
A private server I rent and control outright, for the parts of a build that need to run around the clock or to sit in one place rather than be spread across a shared platform. Because I control the whole server, I also control which region it runs in. That is what lets me keep the data a build stores inside your own country, for example on a server in Australia or Brazil, when that is what a build needs.
Cloudflare
A layer that sits in front of a website to make it faster and shield it from junk traffic and attacks. In plain terms, it helps a helper stay quick and stay up, even on a bad day.
Railway
A platform for hosting apps and databases with very little setup, a quick way to get a piece of a build running.
Supabase Storage
File storage that comes with Supabase: a place to keep the actual documents, images and uploads a build works with. When your files need a home before they can be searched or served, this is one of the places they sit. It pairs naturally with the document search.
Docker
A way of packing a build with everything it needs so it runs the same on my machine as it does on the server. It takes the "it worked on my computer" surprises out of putting something live. You never see it, but it is part of why a build behaves the same once it is deployed.