Let's deploy via Git
This is a pretty neat hack, but not really good for a true production deployment system. Rsync is a far superior alternative. That being said, git should definitely be incorporated into the workflow such that, for example, you have a "live" branch which always reflects what is to be on production frontend nodes. From there you do 1) git pull origin live 2) rsync to live servers 3) build/configure/restart/etc. Set -e on that script obviously...<p>Edit: I should also mention, if you are stuck on something like restricted hosting with CPanel which severely limits your deployment options (some of my clients are in this boat), then <a href="http://ftploy.com/" rel="nofollow">http://ftploy.com/</a> is a really cool solution. But you should really get your ass off cpanel asap.<p>Double edit: Some of the replies below have made some good points that I had not considered which weaken my argument. So while I'm now more ambivalent than dismissive towards the idea of using git to deploy, there are several modifications that should be made to this particular system to make it production-ready. See avar's and mark_l_watson's comments below and mikegirouard's comment elsewhere for some ideas.