> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.nx1cloud.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Deployment overview

> Understand how NexusOne gets installed into a Kubernetes cluster, and the four deployment models a customer can choose from.

When you purchase NexusOne, you choose the deployment model you want to use to install NexusOne into your Kubernetes cluster.
Whichever model you choose, the installation comes down to the same steps:

1. You write a configuration file and pass it to the `shared_service_deployer.py` script. Refer to [Deploy NexusOne](./deploy-nx1) for details.
2. A Kubernetes job runs the `nx1-deployer` image.
3. The image runs Terraform.
4. Terraform installs a set of NexusOne Helm charts bundled inside the `nx1-deployer` image.
5. NexusOne organizes every component into tiers, such as core, modules, and tenant. Those charts
   deploy NexusOne components, like [Airflow](/platform-components/apache-airflow/airflow-in-nx1),
   into the core and modules tiers of your cluster.

The tenant tier doesn't deploy as part of this run. It's a separate, on-demand request. You ask
Tenant Manager, a component in the modules tier, to create one, and it runs its own Terraform job
just for that tenant, into its own namespace.

## Deployment models

The following table describes the four supported deployment models.

| Model | Who hosts the cluster | Who has cluster access | Who deploys NexusOne | Tooling used |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Self-hosted | You | You | You | Your own CI/CD pipeline, for example Harness. You build the trigger layer; you only consume the `nx1-deployer` image. |
| Nexus Cognitive hosted and operated | Nexus Cognitive team | Nexus Cognitive team | Nexus Cognitive team | Nexus Cognitive's own infrastructure and deployment pipeline. You only access the applications, not the cluster. |
| Nexus Cognitive operated | You | Nexus Cognitive team, granted by you | Nexus Cognitive team | Nexus Cognitive's own deployment pipeline, run directly against your cluster. |
| Client self-service | You | You | You | A deployment script or app that Nexus hands you as a ready-made tool. You don't build custom pipeline tooling around it. |

In summary, here's who each model suits:

* **Self-hosted**: Suits teams that already have their own CI/CD pipeline and want deployment to
  be one more step in it.
* **Nexus Cognitive hosted and operated**: Suits teams that want NexusOne fully managed, with
  Nexus owning the cluster too. You only interact with the applications.
* **Nexus Cognitive operated**: Suits teams that would rather not manage the cluster at all and
  hand the keys to Nexus, but still want it running on their own infrastructure.
* **Client self-service**: Sits in between. You keep full control of your cluster, but you're
  using tooling Nexus built and maintains, rather than building your own.

Whichever model you pick, the result is identical. It's the same image, the same Terraform, the same charts.

## Additional resources

For more information about what that Kubernetes job actually installs, refer to [Deployment architecture](./deployment-architecture).


This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.