A comprehensive guide to deploying Ollama in production using Docker Compose, covering the full infrastructure stack: multiple Ollama instances behind an Nginx least-connections load balancer, a Redis response cache using cache-aside pattern (keyed on hashed prompt+model+temperature), a FastAPI gateway that checks cache before forwarding requests and exposes Prometheus metrics, and Grafana dashboards for observability. The guide includes a complete docker-compose.yml, custom entrypoint script for pre-pulling models, security hardening (API key auth, TLS, network segmentation), resilience patterns (health-check-driven restarts, OLLAMA_KEEP_ALIVE tuning), and honest guidance on when vLLM or managed APIs are better choices.
Table of contents
How to Deploy Ollama in Production with DockerTable of ContentsArchitecture Overview: What Production Self-Hosting Actually RequiresThe Foundation: Dockerizing Ollama for ProductionResponse Caching with Redis: Eliminating Redundant InferenceLoad Balancing with Nginx: Scaling HorizontallyMonitoring with Prometheus and Grafana: Observability for LLM WorkloadsThe Complete Docker Compose Stack: Putting It All TogetherHardening for Production: Security, Resilience, and Performance TuningWhen to Use This (and When Not To)Your Self-Hosted LLM Is Now Production-ReadySort: