Server Hosting Options 0:00So, now that you've had just a little teaser of what Laravel Forge is capable of, let's slow down just a bit. Now, as it turns out, when it comes to managing your own servers, we have so many different choices these days. For example, maybe you use something like Linode, or maybe DigitalOcean. These are fantastic, cheap, and scalable options. However, the only problem with them is they assume some level of server administration skills. For example, if, say, a new version of PHP is released, well, if you use something like these tools, it will be your responsibility to perform that update. DIY Server Responsibilities 0:28For example, if, say, a new version of PHP is released, well, if you use something like these tools, it will be your responsibility to perform that update. And the same is going to be true for things like installing extensions, fixing bugs, setting up SSL certificates. All of that stuff will now be your responsibility. So, as a result, there are more dedicated tools that we can use, such as Heroku, or PagodaBox, or even FortRabbit. Now, these are excellent options. They will handle all of that stuff for you, which turns your job mostly into a one-click process, which is pretty cool. Managed Platforms Tradeoffs 0:59They will handle all of that stuff for you, which turns your job mostly into a one-click process, which is pretty cool. Now, the only downside we might see from these options is, well, they come with a cost. And if that cost is worth it to you, then they're excellent choices. Otherwise, what do we do when we want something cheap like DigitalOcean, but maybe we don't want to learn a bunch of new skills, or maybe we just want some way to automate all of these common tasks, like installing a certificate, or adding some environment variables, or firing up a worker, or anything of that nature? Well, that's specifically what Laravel Forge does. I like to think of Laravel Forge as a tool that bridges the gap. How Forge Bridges Gap 1:34Well, that's specifically what Laravel Forge does. I like to think of Laravel Forge as a tool that bridges the gap. So that means, no longer are we using a dedicated tool, instead we are using something like DigitalOcean, or Linode, or any of the options that Forge supports. And going alongside these services, Laravel Forge is sort of like an administration UI on top of them. So in many ways, it's the best of both worlds, as you saw in the introductory teaser lesson. So naturally, the huge advantage to this is, if we use Forge along with one of these services, in our example, we will be using DigitalOcean, we can have a huge amount of power, a huge amount of flexibility, at a very low cost when compared to other options. Next: Set Up Forge 2:11in our example, we will be using DigitalOcean, we can have a huge amount of power, a huge amount of flexibility, at a very low cost when compared to other options. So that's enough of me talking. In the next lesson, we'll get set up with Forge.
