Glossary

What is zero-downtime deployment?

Last updated June 15, 2026
Reviewed by Better-PaaS team

A release process that avoids serving downtime during deploys. Learn what zero-downtime deployment means in self-hosted deployment and Better-PaaS workflows.

Overview

A release process that avoids serving downtime during deploys.

Definition

A release process that avoids serving downtime during deploys.

Real-world example

Better-PaaS starts the new container, waits for the health check to pass, then switches Caddy routing before stopping the old container.

Common mistake

Running database migrations that break the still-serving old version during a rolling deploy.

Better-PaaS in practice

Enabled for apps with working health checks. If health never passes, traffic stays on the previous release and the deploy is marked failed.

FAQ

Is zero-downtime deployment only relevant to Better-PaaS?

No. zero-downtime deployment appears across Docker, cloud platforms, and self-hosted tooling. Better-PaaS exposes the concept in deploy logs, dashboard fields, or docs when it affects your app.