|
| 1 | +--- |
| 2 | +title: About GitHub Enterprise Server |
| 3 | +intro: "{% data variables.product.product_name %} is a software development platform that you can host in a private environment." |
| 4 | +versions: |
| 5 | + ghes: '*' |
| 6 | +type: overview |
| 7 | +topics: |
| 8 | + - Enterprise |
| 9 | + - Fundamentals |
| 10 | +--- |
| 11 | + |
| 12 | +## About {% data variables.product.product_name %} |
| 13 | + |
| 14 | +{% data reusables.enterprise.ghes-is-a-self-hosted-platform %} Your team can use {% data variables.product.product_name %} to build and ship software using Git version control, powerful APIs, productivity and collaboration tools, and integrations. Developers familiar with {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom_the_website %} can onboard and contribute seamlessly using familiar features and workflows. |
| 15 | + |
| 16 | +{% data reusables.enterprise.ghes-runs-on-your-infrastructure %} |
| 17 | + |
| 18 | +{% data reusables.enterprise.github-distributes-ghes %} For more information, see "[System overview](/admin/overview/system-overview)." |
| 19 | + |
| 20 | +You can choose to deploy {% data variables.product.product_name %} on premises, or to a supported cloud environment. |
| 21 | + |
| 22 | +## Supported environments for deployment |
| 23 | + |
| 24 | +You can deploy {% data variables.product.product_name %} to a virtualization hypervisor within your on-premises datacenter, or to a public cloud service. |
| 25 | + |
| 26 | +{% data variables.product.company_short %} supports the following virtualization hypervisors for on-premises deployment. |
| 27 | + |
| 28 | +- Microsoft Hyper-V |
| 29 | +- OpenStack KVM |
| 30 | +- VMware ESXi |
| 31 | + |
| 32 | +{% data variables.product.company_short %} supports the following services for cloud deployment. |
| 33 | + |
| 34 | +- Amazon Web Services (AWS) |
| 35 | +- Google Cloud Platform (GCP) |
| 36 | +- Microsoft Azure |
| 37 | + |
| 38 | +For more information, see "[Setting up a {% data variables.product.prodname_ghe_server %} instance](/admin/installation/setting-up-a-github-enterprise-server-instance)." |
| 39 | + |
| 40 | +## About releases and upgrades |
| 41 | + |
| 42 | +{% data reusables.enterprise.constantly-improving %} You are responsible for upgrades to your instance. For more information, see "[{% data variables.product.product_name %} releases](/admin/all-releases)." |
| 43 | + |
| 44 | +## About administration |
| 45 | + |
| 46 | +You can configure and monitor {% data variables.product.product_name %} via browser, administrative SSH access, and REST or GraphQL APIs. {% data variables.product.company_short %} has found that people with Linux administration experience are more successful with the deployment and maintainance of {% data variables.product.product_name %}. |
| 47 | + |
| 48 | +You can give certain employees administrative access to {% data variables.product.product_name %}, so they can set up external authentication, configure the instance to meet developer needs, and monitor the instance's activity and performance. To ensure compliance with business rules or regulatory restrictions, administrators can configure policies that control how people use {% data variables.product.product_location %}. For more information, see the following articles. |
| 49 | + |
| 50 | +- "[About authentication for your enterprise](/admin/identity-and-access-management/managing-iam-for-your-enterprise/about-authentication-for-your-enterprise)" |
| 51 | +- "[Configuring your enterprise](/admin/configuration/configuring-your-enterprise)" |
| 52 | +- "[About the {% data variables.product.prodname_enterprise %} API](/admin/overview/about-the-github-enterprise-api)" |
| 53 | +- "[Monitoring your appliance](/admin/enterprise-management/monitoring-your-appliance)" |
| 54 | +- "[Monitoring activity in your enterprise](/admin/monitoring-activity-in-your-enterprise)" |
| 55 | +- "[About enterprise policies](/admin/policies/enforcing-policies-for-your-enterprise/about-enterprise-policies)" |
| 56 | + |
| 57 | +## About optional features |
| 58 | + |
| 59 | +You can configure optional features for {% data variables.product.product_name %} that improve the software development lifecycle for your enterprise. |
| 60 | + |
| 61 | +| Feature | Description | More information | |
| 62 | +| :- | :- | :- | |
| 63 | +| {% data variables.product.prodname_actions %} | Automate CI/CD and development workflows | "[About {% data variables.product.prodname_actions %} for enterprises](/admin/github-actions/getting-started-with-github-actions-for-your-enterprise/about-github-actions-for-enterprises)" | |
| 64 | +| {% data variables.product.prodname_github_connect %} | Benefit from the power of {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom_the_website %} in limited ways | "[About {% data variables.product.prodname_github_connect %}](/admin/configuration/configuring-github-connect/about-github-connect)" | |
| 65 | +| {% data variables.product.prodname_GH_advanced_security %} | Improve code security and quality | "[About {% data variables.product.prodname_GH_advanced_security %}](/get-started/learning-about-github/about-github-advanced-security)" | |
| 66 | +| {% data variables.product.prodname_registry %} | Host software packages for your enterprise | "[Introduction to {% data variables.product.prodname_registry %}](/packages/learn-github-packages/introduction-to-github-packages)" | |
| 67 | + |
| 68 | +## About deployment topologies |
| 69 | + |
| 70 | +By default, {% data variables.product.product_name %} runs as a standalone instance. You can increase the reliability and performance of {% data variables.product.product_name %} by using a different topology for your deployment. |
| 71 | + |
| 72 | +- To mitigate the impact of system or network failures, you can deploy a passive replica instance. During an outage that affects your primary instance, you can manually fail over to the replica instance. For more information, see "[About high availability configuration](/admin/enterprise-management/configuring-high-availability/about-high-availability-configuration)." |
| 73 | +- You can configure multiple active replicas to improve performance for developers who are geographically distant from your primary instance. For more information, see "[About geo-replication](/admin/enterprise-management/configuring-high-availability/about-geo-replication)." |
| 74 | +- Some enterprises with tens of thousands of developers may benefit from a cluster configuration that scales horizontally instead of vertically. For more information, see "[About clustering](/admin/enterprise-management/configuring-clustering/about-clustering)." |
| 75 | + |
| 76 | +## About backups and disaster recovery |
| 77 | + |
| 78 | +To safeguard against data loss or service disruptions for your developers, {% data variables.product.company_short %} strongly recommends that you establish a plan for disaster recovery. You can back up your instance's configuration and user data by deploying and configuring a Linux or Unix host system with {% data variables.product.prodname_enterprise_backup_utilities %}. For more information, see "[Configuring backups on your appliance](/admin/configuration/configuring-your-enterprise/configuring-backups-on-your-appliance)." |
| 79 | + |
| 80 | +Additionally, you can configure a passive replica instance to fail over to in the event of a system or network failure. For more information, see "[About deployment](#about-deployment-topologies)." |
| 81 | + |
| 82 | +## About documentation |
| 83 | + |
| 84 | +Documentation for both administrators and users of {% data variables.product.product_name %} is available on this site, {% data variables.product.prodname_docs %}. |
| 85 | + |
| 86 | +- [Enterprise administrator documentation](/admin) |
| 87 | +- [User documentation](/) |
| 88 | + |
| 89 | +Different versions of {% data variables.product.product_name %} are reflected separately in the documentation on {% data variables.product.prodname_docs %}. For more information, see "[About versions of {% data variables.product.prodname_docs %}](/get-started/learning-about-github/about-versions-of-github-docs)." |
| 90 | + |
| 91 | +## Trying {% data variables.product.product_name %} |
| 92 | + |
| 93 | +You can sign up for a free, 45-day trial of {% data variables.product.product_name %}. For more information, see "[Setting up a trial of {% data variables.product.prodname_ghe_server %}](/get-started/signing-up-for-github/setting-up-a-trial-of-github-enterprise-server)." |
| 94 | + |
| 95 | +## Further reading |
| 96 | + |
| 97 | +- "[Getting started with {% data variables.product.product_name %}](/get-started/onboarding/getting-started-with-github-enterprise-server)" |
| 98 | +- "[About {% data variables.contact.github_support %}](/support/learning-about-github-support/about-github-support)" |
| 99 | +- [ {% data variables.product.prodname_roadmap %} ]( {% data variables.product.prodname_roadmap_link %} ) in the `github/roadmap` repository |
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