Geo Docs: How to set up a Geolocation-aware Git URL
Problem to solve
The first goal of &1466 (closed):
- Fully transparent git configuration for Geo
Here, we will focus on eliminating any git configuration differences needed for users of GitLab Geo. The desired state is that, independent of the location of a user, the git configuration is the same. This would eliminate the need for systems administrators to maintain different configurations in different geo locations. When using git directly, a user would not need to know about Geo because all requests are proxied to the
primary
. This will likely result in a single URL for all git operations e.g.https://git.example.com
. There won't be a distinction betweenprimary
andsecondary
git URLs.This would be a direct continuation of supporting multiple Geo
secondaries
behind a load balancer. The technical solutions to achieve this could be, for example, either a global load balancer or a geo-based DNS service. @mkozono this would be great to investigate and would cover the Git "CDN" aspect.
It is believed to be already technically possible to have a single Git URL send you to the closest Geo node. But you need to set up your DNS solution properly.
Further details
- Audience: Sysadmins setting up Geo
- Reference: https://www.sumologic.com/blog/aws-route-53-global-load-balancing/
Proposal
-
Prove/demo it with Route 53 -
Document it so customers know that this is possible and what is generally needed to achieve it (even if they don't choose Route 53)
Who can address the issue
Anyone who can set up Geo and configure Route 53 or similar service.
Other links/references
cc @fzimmer