Kirby Cluster - Feedback Wanted

The CMS Questions
1

Hey All,
I could use some constructive feedback.

I have a client who needs to serve both translated content and region specific content. The site is not for ecommerce but it will provide general information and link to stores specific to Europe, USA, and Taiwan. They want the site to show promotional messages catered to each of these specific regions, and to likewise recommend where to buy by region. Contact information may need to be localized as well.

I imagine I could do this with a single site that uses Maxmind’s GeoIP database to determine where they are located based upon their IP and conceal/reveal content on that basis. Maybe this is my best option, but it seems like it would be slow for traffic across the globe. So instead I’m thinking to do something else:

  • Host 1 master Kirby instance, and 3 distributed, panel-less Kirby instances located on servers in each region.
  • Using rsync (or git) push content to the 3 distributed instances, with some directory modification so the region-specific content goes where we need it.
  • Use Cloudflare Geo Steering to direct users based upon their DNS queries to the instance that will be localized to their region.

By this method we have one source of truth, and fast content for everyone. Obviously this will be more expensive than hosting one site, and it has some complexity in setup.

Is this crazy? Is there a better way to accomplish what we’re after?

Thanks!

2

The answer depends largely on the requirements and/or expectations of your customer. I would avoid setting up a complex, error-prone, hard-to-maintain setup if it is not strictly necessary, say for legal reasons. But if you need to go this way, I would look for a provider who fulfills all of the 3 points mentioned out of the box, i.e. geo steering/fencing/blocking AND a content delivery network. The easiest solution however would be a landing page which asks the visitor about her regional preferences and redirect to the content accordingly.

For example: From your description, a question arises about where to go if the visitor is neither from Europe, USA nor Taiwan. Would you prefer to dictate it by yourself or let the visitor decide? If you go for a complex setup, the answer to this would be also complex (setup and maintain), while for the easy solution you even do not bother with this - it is the visitors decision.

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3

I’d personally settle for 1 instance that handles the request, and then use a CDN for worldwide distribution. Having to manually set up three Kirby instances just seems very error-prone.

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