Add latest changes from gitlab-org/gitlab@15-11-stable-eev15.11.0-rc42

7 files changed, 247 insertions, 155 deletions

diff --git a/doc/administration/reference_architectures/10k_users.md b/doc/administration/reference_architectures/10k_users.md
index 1934ca6bff0..e70d012507f 100644
--- a/doc/administration/reference_architectures/10k_users.md
+++ b/doc/administration/reference_architectures/10k_users.md
@@ -31,8 +31,8 @@ full list of reference architectures, see
 | Gitaly<sup>5 6</sup>                     | 3     | 16 vCPU, 60 GB memory   | `n1-standard-16` | `m5.4xlarge`   |
 | Praefect<sup>5</sup>                     | 3     | 2 vCPU, 1.8 GB memory   | `n1-highcpu-2`   | `c5.large`     |
 | Praefect PostgreSQL<sup>1</sup>          | 1+    | 2 vCPU, 1.8 GB memory   | `n1-highcpu-2`   | `c5.large`     |
-| Sidekiq                                  | 4     | 4 vCPU, 15 GB memory    | `n1-standard-4`  | `m5.xlarge`    |
-| GitLab Rails                             | 3     | 32 vCPU, 28.8 GB memory | `n1-highcpu-32`  | `c5.9xlarge`   |
+| Sidekiq<sup>7</sup>                      | 4     | 4 vCPU, 15 GB memory    | `n1-standard-4`  | `m5.xlarge`    |
+| GitLab Rails<sup>7</sup>                 | 3     | 32 vCPU, 28.8 GB memory | `n1-highcpu-32`  | `c5.9xlarge`   |
 | Monitoring node                          | 1     | 4 vCPU, 3.6 GB memory   | `n1-highcpu-4`   | `c5.xlarge`    |
 | Object storage<sup>4</sup>               | -     | -                       | -                | -              |
 
@@ -53,6 +53,8 @@ full list of reference architectures, see
 6. Gitaly has been designed and tested with repositories of varying sizes that follow best practices. However, large
    repositories or monorepos that don't follow these practices can significantly impact Gitaly requirements. Refer to
    [Large repositories](index.md#large-repositories) for more information.
+7. Can be placed in Auto Scaling Groups (ASGs) as the component doesn't store any [stateful data](index.md#autoscaling-of-stateful-nodes).
+   However, for GitLab Rails certain processes like [migrations](#gitlab-rails-post-configuration) and [Mailroom](../incoming_email.md) should be run on only one node.
 <!-- markdownlint-enable MD029 -->
 
 NOTE:
@@ -417,6 +419,11 @@ spread connections equally in practice.
 
 ## Configure Consul
 
+Next, we set up the Consul servers.
+
+NOTE:
+Consul must be deployed in an odd number of 3 nodes or higher. This is to ensure the nodes can take votes as part of a quorum.
+
 The following IPs will be used as an example:
 
 - `10.6.0.11`: Consul 1
@@ -801,6 +808,9 @@ Using [Redis](https://redis.io/) in scalable environment is possible using a **P
 topology with a [Redis Sentinel](https://redis.io/docs/manual/sentinel/) service to watch and automatically
 start the failover procedure.
 
+NOTE:
+Redis clusters must each be deployed in an odd number of 3 nodes or higher. This is to ensure Redis Sentinel can take votes as part of a quorum. This does not apply when configuring Redis externally, such as a cloud provider service.
+
 Redis requires authentication if used with Sentinel. See
 [Redis Security](https://redis.io/docs/manual/security/) documentation for more
 information. We recommend using a combination of a Redis password and tight
@@ -1336,6 +1346,9 @@ This is how this would work with a Omnibus GitLab PostgreSQL setup:
 Praefect is the router and transaction manager for Gitaly Cluster and all connections to Gitaly go through
 it. This section details how to configure it.
 
+NOTE:
+Consul must be deployed in an odd number of 3 nodes or higher. This is to ensure the nodes can take votes as part of a quorum.
+
 Praefect requires several secret tokens to secure communications across the Cluster:
 
 - `<praefect_external_token>`: Used for repositories hosted on your Gitaly cluster and can only be accessed by Gitaly clients that carry this token.
@@ -1510,9 +1523,7 @@ Due to Gitaly having notable input and output requirements, we strongly
 recommend that all Gitaly nodes use solid-state drives (SSDs). These SSDs
 should have a throughput of at least 8,000
 input/output operations per second (IOPS) for read operations and 2,000 IOPS for
-write operations. These IOPS values are initial recommendations, and may be
-adjusted to greater or lesser values depending on the scale of your
-environment's workload. If you're running the environment on a Cloud provider,
+write operations. If you're running the environment on a Cloud provider,
 refer to their documentation about how to configure IOPS correctly.
 
 Gitaly servers must not be exposed to the public internet, as Gitaly's network
@@ -2089,11 +2100,9 @@ the [HTTPS documentation](https://docs.gitlab.com/omnibus/settings/ssl.html).
    sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:db:configure
    ```
 
-   If you encounter a `rake aborted!` error message stating that PgBouncer is
-   failing to connect to PostgreSQL, it may be that your PgBouncer node's IP
-   address is missing from PostgreSQL's `trust_auth_cidr_addresses` in `gitlab.rb`
-   on your database nodes. Before proceeding, see
-   [PgBouncer error `ERROR:  pgbouncer cannot connect to server`](../postgresql/replication_and_failover.md#pgbouncer-error-error-pgbouncer-cannot-connect-to-server).
+   Note that this requires the Rails node to be configured to connect to the primary database
+   directly, [bypassing PgBouncer](../postgresql/pgbouncer.md#procedure-for-bypassing-pgbouncer).
+   After migrations have completed, you must configure the node to pass through PgBouncer again.
 
 1. [Configure fast lookup of authorized SSH keys in the database](../operations/fast_ssh_key_lookup.md).
 
@@ -2189,15 +2198,15 @@ and scalable.
 
 There are two ways of specifying object storage configuration in GitLab:
 
-- [Consolidated form](../object_storage.md#consolidated-object-storage-configuration): A single credential is
+- [Consolidated form](../object_storage.md#configure-a-single-storage-connection-for-all-object-types-consolidated-form): A single credential is
   shared by all supported object types.
-- [Storage-specific form](../object_storage.md#storage-specific-configuration): Every object defines its
+- [Storage-specific form](../object_storage.md#configure-each-object-type-to-define-its-own-storage-connection-storage-specific-form): Every object defines its
   own object storage [connection and configuration](../object_storage.md#connection-settings).
 
 The consolidated form is used in the following examples when available.
 
 NOTE:
-When using the [storage-specific form](../object_storage.md#storage-specific-configuration)
+When using the [storage-specific form](../object_storage.md#configure-each-object-type-to-define-its-own-storage-connection-storage-specific-form)
 in GitLab 14.x and earlier, you should enable [direct upload mode](../../development/uploads/index.md#direct-upload).
 The previous [background upload](../../development/uploads/index.md#direct-upload) mode,
 which was deprecated in 14.9, requires shared storage such as NFS.
diff --git a/doc/administration/reference_architectures/25k_users.md b/doc/administration/reference_architectures/25k_users.md
index 08cb6e2cdff..19a79657218 100644
--- a/doc/administration/reference_architectures/25k_users.md
+++ b/doc/administration/reference_architectures/25k_users.md
@@ -31,8 +31,8 @@ full list of reference architectures, see
 | Gitaly<sup>5 6</sup>                     | 3     | 32 vCPU, 120 GB memory  | `n1-standard-32` | `m5.8xlarge` |
 | Praefect<sup>5</sup>                     | 3     | 4 vCPU, 3.6 GB memory   | `n1-highcpu-4`   | `c5.xlarge`  |
 | Praefect PostgreSQL<sup>1</sup>          | 1+    | 2 vCPU, 1.8 GB memory   | `n1-highcpu-2`   | `c5.large`   |
-| Sidekiq                                  | 4     | 4 vCPU, 15 GB memory    | `n1-standard-4`  | `m5.xlarge`  |
-| GitLab Rails                             | 5     | 32 vCPU, 28.8 GB memory | `n1-highcpu-32`  | `c5.9xlarge` |
+| Sidekiq<sup>7</sup>                      | 4     | 4 vCPU, 15 GB memory    | `n1-standard-4`  | `m5.xlarge`  |
+| GitLab Rails<sup>7</sup>                 | 5     | 32 vCPU, 28.8 GB memory | `n1-highcpu-32`  | `c5.9xlarge` |
 | Monitoring node                          | 1     | 4 vCPU, 3.6 GB memory   | `n1-highcpu-4`   | `c5.xlarge`  |
 | Object storage<sup>4</sup>               | -     | -                       | -                | -            |
 
@@ -53,6 +53,8 @@ full list of reference architectures, see
 6. Gitaly has been designed and tested with repositories of varying sizes that follow best practices. However, large
    repositories or monorepos that don't follow these practices can significantly impact Gitaly requirements. Refer to
    [Large repositories](index.md#large-repositories) for more information.
+7. Can be placed in Auto Scaling Groups (ASGs) as the component doesn't store any [stateful data](index.md#autoscaling-of-stateful-nodes).
+   However, for GitLab Rails certain processes like [migrations](#gitlab-rails-post-configuration) and [Mailroom](../incoming_email.md) should be run on only one node.
 <!-- markdownlint-enable MD029 -->
 
 NOTE:
@@ -434,6 +436,11 @@ spread connections equally in practice.
 
 ## Configure Consul
 
+Next, we set up the Consul servers.
+
+NOTE:
+Consul must be deployed in an odd number of 3 nodes or higher. This is to ensure the nodes can take votes as part of a quorum.
+
 The following IPs will be used as an example:
 
 - `10.6.0.11`: Consul 1
@@ -818,6 +825,9 @@ Using [Redis](https://redis.io/) in scalable environment is possible using a **P
 topology with a [Redis Sentinel](https://redis.io/docs/manual/sentinel/) service to watch and automatically
 start the failover procedure.
 
+NOTE:
+Redis clusters must each be deployed in an odd number of 3 nodes or higher. This is to ensure Redis Sentinel can take votes as part of a quorum. This does not apply when configuring Redis externally, such as a cloud provider service.
+
 Redis requires authentication if used with Sentinel. See
 [Redis Security](https://redis.io/docs/manual/security/) documentation for more
 information. We recommend using a combination of a Redis password and tight
@@ -1353,6 +1363,9 @@ This is how this would work with a Omnibus GitLab PostgreSQL setup:
 Praefect is the router and transaction manager for Gitaly Cluster and all connections to Gitaly go through
 it. This section details how to configure it.
 
+NOTE:
+Praefect must be deployed in an odd number of 3 nodes or higher. This is to ensure the nodes can take votes as part of a quorum.
+
 Praefect requires several secret tokens to secure communications across the Cluster:
 
 - `<praefect_external_token>`: Used for repositories hosted on your Gitaly cluster and can only be accessed by Gitaly clients that carry this token.
@@ -1527,9 +1540,7 @@ Due to Gitaly having notable input and output requirements, we strongly
 recommend that all Gitaly nodes use solid-state drives (SSDs). These SSDs
 should have a throughput of at least 8,000
 input/output operations per second (IOPS) for read operations and 2,000 IOPS for
-write operations. These IOPS values are initial recommendations, and may be
-adjusted to greater or lesser values depending on the scale of your
-environment's workload. If you're running the environment on a Cloud provider,
+write operations. If you're running the environment on a Cloud provider,
 refer to their documentation about how to configure IOPS correctly.
 
 Gitaly servers must not be exposed to the public internet, as Gitaly's network
@@ -2108,11 +2119,9 @@ the [HTTPS documentation](https://docs.gitlab.com/omnibus/settings/ssl.html).
    sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:db:configure
    ```
 
-   If you encounter a `rake aborted!` error message stating that PgBouncer is
-   failing to connect to PostgreSQL, it may be that your PgBouncer node's IP
-   address is missing from PostgreSQL's `trust_auth_cidr_addresses` in `gitlab.rb`
-   on your database nodes. Before proceeding, see
-   [PgBouncer error `ERROR:  pgbouncer cannot connect to server`](../postgresql/replication_and_failover.md#pgbouncer-error-error-pgbouncer-cannot-connect-to-server).
+   Note that this requires the Rails node to be configured to connect to the primary database
+   directly, [bypassing PgBouncer](../postgresql/pgbouncer.md#procedure-for-bypassing-pgbouncer).
+   After migrations have completed, you must configure the node to pass through PgBouncer again.
 
 1. [Configure fast lookup of authorized SSH keys in the database](../operations/fast_ssh_key_lookup.md).
 
@@ -2207,15 +2216,15 @@ and scalable.
 
 There are two ways of specifying object storage configuration in GitLab:
 
-- [Consolidated form](../object_storage.md#consolidated-object-storage-configuration): A single credential is
+- [Consolidated form](../object_storage.md#configure-a-single-storage-connection-for-all-object-types-consolidated-form): A single credential is
   shared by all supported object types.
-- [Storage-specific form](../object_storage.md#storage-specific-configuration): Every object defines its
+- [Storage-specific form](../object_storage.md#configure-each-object-type-to-define-its-own-storage-connection-storage-specific-form): Every object defines its
   own object storage [connection and configuration](../object_storage.md#connection-settings).
 
 The consolidated form is used in the following examples when available.
 
 NOTE:
-When using the [storage-specific form](../object_storage.md#storage-specific-configuration)
+When using the [storage-specific form](../object_storage.md#configure-each-object-type-to-define-its-own-storage-connection-storage-specific-form)
 in GitLab 14.x and earlier, you should enable [direct upload mode](../../development/uploads/index.md#direct-upload).
 The previous [background upload](../../development/uploads/index.md#direct-upload) mode,
 which was deprecated in 14.9, requires shared storage such as NFS.
diff --git a/doc/administration/reference_architectures/2k_users.md b/doc/administration/reference_architectures/2k_users.md
index d87e8270dcb..f31cf6f4ab6 100644
--- a/doc/administration/reference_architectures/2k_users.md
+++ b/doc/administration/reference_architectures/2k_users.md
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ For a full list of reference architectures, see
 | PostgreSQL<sup>1</sup>     | 1     | 2 vCPU, 7.5 GB memory  | `n1-standard-2` | `m5.large`   | `D2s v3` |
 | Redis<sup>2</sup>          | 1     | 1 vCPU, 3.75 GB memory | `n1-standard-1` | `m5.large`   | `D2s v3` |
 | Gitaly<sup>5</sup>         | 1     | 4 vCPU, 15 GB memory   | `n1-standard-4` | `m5.xlarge`  | `D4s v3` |
-| GitLab Rails               | 2     | 8 vCPU, 7.2 GB memory  | `n1-highcpu-8`  | `c5.2xlarge` | `F8s v2` |
+| GitLab Rails<sup>6</sup>   | 2     | 8 vCPU, 7.2 GB memory  | `n1-highcpu-8`  | `c5.2xlarge` | `F8s v2` |
 | Monitoring node            | 1     | 2 vCPU, 1.8 GB memory  | `n1-highcpu-2`  | `c5.large`   | `F2s v2` |
 | Object storage<sup>4</sup> | -     | -                      | -               | -            | -        |
 
@@ -45,6 +45,8 @@ For a full list of reference architectures, see
 5. Gitaly has been designed and tested with repositories of varying sizes that follow best practices. However, large
    repositories or monorepos that don't follow these practices can significantly impact Gitaly requirements. Refer to
    [Large repositories](index.md#large-repositories) for more information.
+6. Can be placed in Auto Scaling Groups (ASGs) as the component doesn't store any [stateful data](index.md#autoscaling-of-stateful-nodes).
+   However, for GitLab Rails certain processes like [migrations](#gitlab-rails-post-configuration) and [Mailroom](../incoming_email.md) should be run on only one node.
 <!-- markdownlint-enable MD029 -->
 
 NOTE:
@@ -423,9 +425,7 @@ Due to Gitaly having notable input and output requirements, we strongly
 recommend that all Gitaly nodes use solid-state drives (SSDs). These SSDs
 should have a throughput of at least 8,000
 input/output operations per second (IOPS) for read operations and 2,000 IOPS
-for write operations. These IOPS values are initial recommendations, and may be
-adjusted to greater or lesser values depending on the scale of your
-environment's workload. If you're running the environment on a Cloud provider,
+for write operations. If you're running the environment on a Cloud provider,
 refer to their documentation about how to configure IOPS correctly.
 
 Be sure to note the following items:
@@ -774,11 +774,9 @@ the [HTTPS documentation](https://docs.gitlab.com/omnibus/settings/ssl.html).
    sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:db:configure
    ```
 
-   If you encounter a `rake aborted!` error message stating that PgBouncer is
-   failing to connect to PostgreSQL, it may be that your PgBouncer node's IP
-   address is missing from PostgreSQL's `trust_auth_cidr_addresses` in `gitlab.rb`
-   on your database nodes. Before proceeding, see
-   [PgBouncer error `ERROR:  pgbouncer cannot connect to server`](../postgresql/replication_and_failover.md#pgbouncer-error-error-pgbouncer-cannot-connect-to-server).
+   Note that this requires the Rails node to be configured to connect to the primary database
+   directly, [bypassing PgBouncer](../postgresql/pgbouncer.md#procedure-for-bypassing-pgbouncer).
+   After migrations have completed, you must configure the node to pass through PgBouncer again.
 
 1. [Configure fast lookup of authorized SSH keys in the database](../operations/fast_ssh_key_lookup.md).
 
@@ -904,15 +902,15 @@ and scalable.
 
 There are two ways of specifying object storage configuration in GitLab:
 
-- [Consolidated form](../object_storage.md#consolidated-object-storage-configuration): A single credential is
+- [Consolidated form](../object_storage.md#configure-a-single-storage-connection-for-all-object-types-consolidated-form): A single credential is
   shared by all supported object types.
-- [Storage-specific form](../object_storage.md#storage-specific-configuration): Every object defines its
+- [Storage-specific form](../object_storage.md#configure-each-object-type-to-define-its-own-storage-connection-storage-specific-form): Every object defines its
   own object storage [connection and configuration](../object_storage.md#connection-settings).
 
 The consolidated form is used in the following examples when available.
 
 NOTE:
-When using the [storage-specific form](../object_storage.md#storage-specific-configuration)
+When using the [storage-specific form](../object_storage.md#configure-each-object-type-to-define-its-own-storage-connection-storage-specific-form)
 in GitLab 14.x and earlier, you should enable [direct upload mode](../../development/uploads/index.md#direct-upload).
 The previous [background upload](../../development/uploads/index.md#direct-upload) mode,
 which was deprecated in 14.9, requires shared storage such as NFS.
diff --git a/doc/administration/reference_architectures/3k_users.md b/doc/administration/reference_architectures/3k_users.md
index c28799ed459..a01eaee10d3 100644
--- a/doc/administration/reference_architectures/3k_users.md
+++ b/doc/administration/reference_architectures/3k_users.md
@@ -40,8 +40,8 @@ For a full list of reference architectures, see
 | Gitaly<sup>5 6</sup>                      | 3     | 4 vCPU, 15 GB memory  | `n1-standard-4` | `m5.xlarge`  |
 | Praefect<sup>5</sup>                      | 3     | 2 vCPU, 1.8 GB memory | `n1-highcpu-2`  | `c5.large`   |
 | Praefect PostgreSQL<sup>1</sup>           | 1+    | 2 vCPU, 1.8 GB memory | `n1-highcpu-2`  | `c5.large`   |
-| Sidekiq                                   | 4     | 2 vCPU, 7.5 GB memory | `n1-standard-2` | `m5.large`   |
-| GitLab Rails                              | 3     | 8 vCPU, 7.2 GB memory | `n1-highcpu-8`  | `c5.2xlarge` |
+| Sidekiq<sup>7</sup>                       | 4     | 2 vCPU, 7.5 GB memory | `n1-standard-2` | `m5.large`   |
+| GitLab Rails<sup>7</sup>                  | 3     | 8 vCPU, 7.2 GB memory | `n1-highcpu-8`  | `c5.2xlarge` |
 | Monitoring node                           | 1     | 2 vCPU, 1.8 GB memory | `n1-highcpu-2`  | `c5.large`   |
 | Object storage<sup>4</sup>                | -     | -                     | -               | -            |
 
@@ -62,6 +62,8 @@ For a full list of reference architectures, see
 6. Gitaly has been designed and tested with repositories of varying sizes that follow best practices. However, large
    repositories or monorepos that don't follow these practices can significantly impact Gitaly requirements. Refer to
    [Large repositories](index.md#large-repositories) for more information.
+7. Can be placed in Auto Scaling Groups (ASGs) as the component doesn't store any [stateful data](index.md#autoscaling-of-stateful-nodes).
+   However, for GitLab Rails certain processes like [migrations](#gitlab-rails-post-configuration) and [Mailroom](../incoming_email.md) should be run on only one node.
 <!-- markdownlint-enable MD029 -->
 
 NOTE:
@@ -640,8 +642,13 @@ are supported and can be added if needed.
 
 ## Configure Consul and Sentinel
 
-Now that the Redis servers are all set up, let's configure the Sentinel
-servers. The following IPs will be used as an example:
+Now that the Redis servers are all set up, let's configure the Consul + Sentinel
+servers.
+
+NOTE:
+Consul and Redis Sentinel must be deployed in an odd number of 3 nodes or higher. This is to ensure the nodes can take votes as part of a quorum.
+
+The following IPs will be used as an example:
 
 - `10.6.0.11`: Consul/Sentinel 1
 - `10.6.0.12`: Consul/Sentinel 2
@@ -1288,6 +1295,9 @@ This is how this would work with a Omnibus GitLab PostgreSQL setup:
 Praefect is the router and transaction manager for Gitaly Cluster and all connections to Gitaly go through
 it. This section details how to configure it.
 
+NOTE:
+Praefect must be deployed in an odd number of 3 nodes or higher. This is to ensure the nodes can take votes as part of a quorum.
+
 Praefect requires several secret tokens to secure communications across the Cluster:
 
 - `<praefect_external_token>`: Used for repositories hosted on your Gitaly cluster and can only be accessed by Gitaly clients that carry this token.
@@ -1462,9 +1472,7 @@ Due to Gitaly having notable input and output requirements, we strongly
 recommend that all Gitaly nodes use solid-state drives (SSDs). These SSDs
 should have a throughput of at least 8,000
 input/output operations per second (IOPS) for read operations and 2,000 IOPS for
-write operations. These IOPS values are initial recommendations, and may be
-adjusted to greater or lesser values depending on the scale of your
-environment's workload. If you're running the environment on a Cloud provider,
+write operations. If you're running the environment on a Cloud provider,
 refer to their documentation about how to configure IOPS correctly.
 
 Gitaly servers must not be exposed to the public internet, as Gitaly's network
@@ -2073,11 +2081,9 @@ the [HTTPS documentation](https://docs.gitlab.com/omnibus/settings/ssl.html).
    gitlab-rake gitlab:db:configure
    ```
 
-   If you encounter a `rake aborted!` error message stating that PgBouncer is
-   failing to connect to PostgreSQL, it may be that your PgBouncer node's IP
-   address is missing from PostgreSQL's `trust_auth_cidr_addresses` in `gitlab.rb`
-   on your database nodes. Before proceeding, see
-   [PgBouncer error `ERROR:  pgbouncer cannot connect to server`](../postgresql/replication_and_failover.md#pgbouncer-error-error-pgbouncer-cannot-connect-to-server).
+   Note that this requires the Rails node to be configured to connect to the primary database
+   directly, [bypassing PgBouncer](../postgresql/pgbouncer.md#procedure-for-bypassing-pgbouncer).
+   After migrations have completed, you must configure the node to pass through PgBouncer again.
 
 1. [Configure fast lookup of authorized SSH keys in the database](../operations/fast_ssh_key_lookup.md).
 
@@ -2180,15 +2186,15 @@ and scalable.
 
 There are two ways of specifying object storage configuration in GitLab:
 
-- [Consolidated form](../object_storage.md#consolidated-object-storage-configuration): A single credential is
+- [Consolidated form](../object_storage.md#configure-a-single-storage-connection-for-all-object-types-consolidated-form): A single credential is
   shared by all supported object types.
-- [Storage-specific form](../object_storage.md#storage-specific-configuration): Every object defines its
+- [Storage-specific form](../object_storage.md#configure-each-object-type-to-define-its-own-storage-connection-storage-specific-form): Every object defines its
   own object storage [connection and configuration](../object_storage.md#connection-settings).
 
 The consolidated form is used in the following examples when available.
 
 NOTE:
-When using the [storage-specific form](../object_storage.md#storage-specific-configuration)
+When using the [storage-specific form](../object_storage.md#configure-each-object-type-to-define-its-own-storage-connection-storage-specific-form)
 in GitLab 14.x and earlier, you should enable [direct upload mode](../../development/uploads/index.md#direct-upload).
 The previous [background upload](../../development/uploads/index.md#direct-upload) mode,
 which was deprecated in 14.9, requires shared storage such as NFS.
diff --git a/doc/administration/reference_architectures/50k_users.md b/doc/administration/reference_architectures/50k_users.md
index 3f2771dda29..d4423ef4f9f 100644
--- a/doc/administration/reference_architectures/50k_users.md
+++ b/doc/administration/reference_architectures/50k_users.md
@@ -31,8 +31,8 @@ full list of reference architectures, see
 | Gitaly<sup>5 6</sup>                     | 3     | 64 vCPU, 240 GB memory  | `n1-standard-64` | `m5.16xlarge` |
 | Praefect<sup>5</sup>                     | 3     | 4 vCPU, 3.6 GB memory   | `n1-highcpu-4`   | `c5.xlarge`   |
 | Praefect PostgreSQL<sup>1</sup>          | 1+    | 2 vCPU, 1.8 GB memory   | `n1-highcpu-2`   | `c5.large`    |
-| Sidekiq                                  | 4     | 4 vCPU, 15 GB memory    | `n1-standard-4`  | `m5.xlarge`   |
-| GitLab Rails                             | 12    | 32 vCPU, 28.8 GB memory | `n1-highcpu-32`  | `c5.9xlarge`  |
+| Sidekiq<sup>7</sup>                      | 4     | 4 vCPU, 15 GB memory    | `n1-standard-4`  | `m5.xlarge`   |
+| GitLab Rails<sup>7</sup>                 | 12    | 32 vCPU, 28.8 GB memory | `n1-highcpu-32`  | `c5.9xlarge`  |
 | Monitoring node                          | 1     | 4 vCPU, 3.6 GB memory   | `n1-highcpu-4`   | `c5.xlarge`   |
 | Object storage<sup>4</sup>               | -     | -                       | -                | -             |
 
@@ -53,6 +53,8 @@ full list of reference architectures, see
 6. Gitaly has been designed and tested with repositories of varying sizes that follow best practices. However, large
    repositories or monorepos that don't follow these practices can significantly impact Gitaly requirements. Refer to
    [Large repositories](index.md#large-repositories) for more information.
+7. Can be placed in Auto Scaling Groups (ASGs) as the component doesn't store any [stateful data](index.md#autoscaling-of-stateful-nodes).
+   However, for GitLab Rails certain processes like [migrations](#gitlab-rails-post-configuration) and [Mailroom](../incoming_email.md) should be run on only one node.
 <!-- markdownlint-enable MD029 -->
 
 NOTE:
@@ -426,6 +428,11 @@ spread connections equally in practice.
 
 ## Configure Consul
 
+Next, we set up the Consul servers.
+
+NOTE:
+Consul must be deployed in an odd number of 3 nodes or higher. This is to ensure the nodes can take votes as part of a quorum.
+
 The following IPs will be used as an example:
 
 - `10.6.0.11`: Consul 1
@@ -811,6 +818,9 @@ Using [Redis](https://redis.io/) in scalable environment is possible using a **P
 topology with a [Redis Sentinel](https://redis.io/docs/manual/sentinel/) service to watch and automatically
 start the failover procedure.
 
+NOTE:
+Redis clusters must each be deployed in an odd number of 3 nodes or higher. This is to ensure Redis Sentinel can take votes as part of a quorum. This does not apply when configuring Redis externally, such as a cloud provider service.
+
 Redis requires authentication if used with Sentinel. See
 [Redis Security](https://redis.io/docs/manual/security/) documentation for more
 information. We recommend using a combination of a Redis password and tight
@@ -1349,6 +1359,9 @@ This is how this would work with a Omnibus GitLab PostgreSQL setup:
 Praefect is the router and transaction manager for Gitaly Cluster and all connections to Gitaly go through
 it. This section details how to configure it.
 
+NOTE:
+Praefect must be deployed in an odd number of 3 nodes or higher. This is to ensure the nodes can take votes as part of a quorum.
+
 Praefect requires several secret tokens to secure communications across the Cluster:
 
 - `<praefect_external_token>`: Used for repositories hosted on your Gitaly cluster and can only be accessed by Gitaly clients that carry this token.
@@ -1523,9 +1536,7 @@ Due to Gitaly having notable input and output requirements, we strongly
 recommend that all Gitaly nodes use solid-state drives (SSDs). These SSDs
 should have a throughput of at least 8,000
 input/output operations per second (IOPS) for read operations and 2,000 IOPS for
-write operations. These IOPS values are initial recommendations, and may be
-adjusted to greater or lesser values depending on the scale of your
-environment's workload. If you're running the environment on a Cloud provider,
+write operations. If you're running the environment on a Cloud provider,
 refer to their documentation about how to configure IOPS correctly.
 
 Gitaly servers must not be exposed to the public internet, as Gitaly's network
@@ -2107,11 +2118,9 @@ the [HTTPS documentation](https://docs.gitlab.com/omnibus/settings/ssl.html).
    sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:db:configure
    ```
 
-   If you encounter a `rake aborted!` error message stating that PgBouncer is
-   failing to connect to PostgreSQL, it may be that your PgBouncer node's IP
-   address is missing from PostgreSQL's `trust_auth_cidr_addresses` in `gitlab.rb`
-   on your database nodes. Before proceeding, see
-   [PgBouncer error `ERROR:  pgbouncer cannot connect to server`](../postgresql/replication_and_failover.md#pgbouncer-error-error-pgbouncer-cannot-connect-to-server).
+   Note that this requires the Rails node to be configured to connect to the primary database
+   directly, [bypassing PgBouncer](../postgresql/pgbouncer.md#procedure-for-bypassing-pgbouncer).
+   After migrations have completed, you must configure the node to pass through PgBouncer again.
 
 1. [Configure fast lookup of authorized SSH keys in the database](../operations/fast_ssh_key_lookup.md).
 
@@ -2206,15 +2215,15 @@ and scalable.
 
 There are two ways of specifying object storage configuration in GitLab:
 
-- [Consolidated form](../object_storage.md#consolidated-object-storage-configuration): A single credential is
+- [Consolidated form](../object_storage.md#configure-a-single-storage-connection-for-all-object-types-consolidated-form): A single credential is
   shared by all supported object types.
-- [Storage-specific form](../object_storage.md#storage-specific-configuration): Every object defines its
+- [Storage-specific form](../object_storage.md#configure-each-object-type-to-define-its-own-storage-connection-storage-specific-form): Every object defines its
   own object storage [connection and configuration](../object_storage.md#connection-settings).
 
 The consolidated form is used in the following examples when available.
 
 NOTE:
-When using the [storage-specific form](../object_storage.md#storage-specific-configuration)
+When using the [storage-specific form](../object_storage.md#configure-each-object-type-to-define-its-own-storage-connection-storage-specific-form)
 in GitLab 14.x and earlier, you should enable [direct upload mode](../../development/uploads/index.md#direct-upload).
 The previous [background upload](../../development/uploads/index.md#direct-upload) mode,
 which was deprecated in 14.9, requires shared storage such as NFS.
diff --git a/doc/administration/reference_architectures/5k_users.md b/doc/administration/reference_architectures/5k_users.md
index 43d63d4f08e..627812f5647 100644
--- a/doc/administration/reference_architectures/5k_users.md
+++ b/doc/administration/reference_architectures/5k_users.md
@@ -37,8 +37,8 @@ costly-to-operate environment by using the
 | Gitaly<sup>5 6</sup>                      | 3     | 8 vCPU, 30 GB memory    | `n1-standard-8` | `m5.2xlarge` |
 | Praefect<sup>5</sup>                      | 3     | 2 vCPU, 1.8 GB memory   | `n1-highcpu-2`  | `c5.large`   |
 | Praefect PostgreSQL<sup>1</sup>           | 1+    | 2 vCPU, 1.8 GB memory   | `n1-highcpu-2`  | `c5.large`   |
-| Sidekiq                                   | 4     | 2 vCPU, 7.5 GB memory   | `n1-standard-2` | `m5.large`   |
-| GitLab Rails                              | 3     | 16 vCPU, 14.4 GB memory | `n1-highcpu-16` | `c5.4xlarge` |
+| Sidekiq<sup>7</sup>                       | 4     | 2 vCPU, 7.5 GB memory   | `n1-standard-2` | `m5.large`   |
+| GitLab Rails<sup>7</sup>                  | 3     | 16 vCPU, 14.4 GB memory | `n1-highcpu-16` | `c5.4xlarge` |
 | Monitoring node                           | 1     | 2 vCPU, 1.8 GB memory   | `n1-highcpu-2`  | `c5.large`   |
 | Object storage<sup>4</sup>                | -     | -                       | -               | -            |
 
@@ -59,6 +59,8 @@ costly-to-operate environment by using the
 6. Gitaly has been designed and tested with repositories of varying sizes that follow best practices. However, large
    repositories or monorepos that don't follow these practices can significantly impact Gitaly requirements. Refer to
    [Large repositories](index.md#large-repositories) for more information.
+7. Can be placed in Auto Scaling Groups (ASGs) as the component doesn't store any [stateful data](index.md#autoscaling-of-stateful-nodes).
+   However, for GitLab Rails certain processes like [migrations](#gitlab-rails-post-configuration) and [Mailroom](../incoming_email.md) should be run on only one node.
 <!-- markdownlint-enable MD029 -->
 
 NOTE:
@@ -637,8 +639,13 @@ are supported and can be added if needed.
 
 ## Configure Consul and Sentinel
 
-Now that the Redis servers are all set up, let's configure the Sentinel
-servers. The following IPs are used as an example:
+Now that the Redis servers are all set up, let's configure the Consul + Sentinel
+servers.
+
+NOTE:
+Consul and Redis Sentinel must be deployed in an odd number of 3 nodes or higher. This is to ensure the nodes can take votes as part of a quorum.
+
+The following IPs will be used as an example:
 
 - `10.6.0.11`: Consul/Sentinel 1
 - `10.6.0.12`: Consul/Sentinel 2
@@ -1285,6 +1292,9 @@ This is how this would work with a Omnibus GitLab PostgreSQL setup:
 Praefect is the router and transaction manager for Gitaly Cluster and all connections to Gitaly go through
 it. This section details how to configure it.
 
+NOTE:
+Praefect must be deployed in an odd number of 3 nodes or higher. This is to ensure the nodes can take votes as part of a quorum.
+
 Praefect requires several secret tokens to secure communications across the Cluster:
 
 - `<praefect_external_token>`: Used for repositories hosted on your Gitaly cluster and can only be accessed by Gitaly clients that carry this token.
@@ -1459,9 +1469,7 @@ Due to Gitaly having notable input and output requirements, we strongly
 recommend that all Gitaly nodes use solid-state drives (SSDs). These SSDs
 should have a throughput of at least 8,000
 input/output operations per second (IOPS) for read operations and 2,000 IOPS for
-write operations. These IOPS values are initial recommendations, and may be
-adjusted to greater or lesser values depending on the scale of your
-environment's workload. If you're running the environment on a Cloud provider,
+write operations. If you're running the environment on a Cloud provider,
 refer to their documentation about how to configure IOPS correctly.
 
 Gitaly servers must not be exposed to the public internet, as Gitaly's network
@@ -2068,11 +2076,9 @@ the [HTTPS documentation](https://docs.gitlab.com/omnibus/settings/ssl.html).
    gitlab-rake gitlab:db:configure
    ```
 
-   If you encounter a `rake aborted!` error message stating that PgBouncer is
-   failing to connect to PostgreSQL, it may be that your PgBouncer node's IP
-   address is missing from PostgreSQL's `trust_auth_cidr_addresses` in `gitlab.rb`
-   on your database nodes. Before proceeding, see
-   [PgBouncer error `ERROR:  pgbouncer cannot connect to server`](../postgresql/replication_and_failover.md#pgbouncer-error-error-pgbouncer-cannot-connect-to-server).
+   Note that this requires the Rails node to be configured to connect to the primary database
+   directly, [bypassing PgBouncer](../postgresql/pgbouncer.md#procedure-for-bypassing-pgbouncer).
+   After migrations have completed, you must configure the node to pass through PgBouncer again.
 
 1. [Configure fast lookup of authorized SSH keys in the database](../operations/fast_ssh_key_lookup.md).
 
@@ -2175,15 +2181,15 @@ and scalable.
 
 There are two ways of specifying object storage configuration in GitLab:
 
-- [Consolidated form](../object_storage.md#consolidated-object-storage-configuration): A single credential is
+- [Consolidated form](../object_storage.md#configure-a-single-storage-connection-for-all-object-types-consolidated-form): A single credential is
   shared by all supported object types.
-- [Storage-specific form](../object_storage.md#storage-specific-configuration): Every object defines its
+- [Storage-specific form](../object_storage.md#configure-each-object-type-to-define-its-own-storage-connection-storage-specific-form): Every object defines its
   own object storage [connection and configuration](../object_storage.md#connection-settings).
 
 The consolidated form is used in the following examples when available.
 
 NOTE:
-When using the [storage-specific form](../object_storage.md#storage-specific-configuration)
+When using the [storage-specific form](../object_storage.md#configure-each-object-type-to-define-its-own-storage-connection-storage-specific-form)
 in GitLab 14.x and earlier, you should enable [direct upload mode](../../development/uploads/index.md#direct-upload).
 The previous [background upload](../../development/uploads/index.md#direct-upload) mode,
 which was deprecated in 14.9, requires shared storage such as NFS.
diff --git a/doc/administration/reference_architectures/index.md b/doc/administration/reference_architectures/index.md
index e4d07558306..f40c8fc3c67 100644
--- a/doc/administration/reference_architectures/index.md
+++ b/doc/administration/reference_architectures/index.md
@@ -47,9 +47,9 @@ The following Cloud Native Hybrid reference architectures, where select recommen
 
 The first choice to consider is whether a Self Managed approach is correct for you and your requirements.
 
-Running any application in production is complex, and the same applies for GitLab. While we aim to make this as smooth as possible, there are still the general complexities. This depends on the design chosen, but typically you'll need to manage all aspects such as hardware, operating systems, networking, storage, security, GitLab itself, and more.
+Running any application in production is complex, and the same applies for GitLab. While we aim to make this as smooth as possible, there are still the general complexities. This depends on the design chosen, but typically you'll need to manage all aspects such as hardware, operating systems, networking, storage, security, GitLab itself, and more. This includes both the initial setup of the environment and the longer term maintenance.
 
-As such, it's recommended that you have a working knowledge of running applications in production when deciding on going down this route. For users who want a more managed solution it's recommended to instead explore our other offerings such as [GitLab SaaS](../../subscriptions/gitlab_com/index.md) or [GitLab Dedicated](../../subscriptions/gitlab_dedicated/index.md).
+As such, it's recommended that you have a working knowledge of running and maintaining applications in production when deciding on going down this route. If you aren't in this position, our [Professional Services](https://about.gitlab.com/services/#implementation-services) team offers implementation services, but for those who want a more managed solution long term, it's recommended to instead explore our other offerings such as [GitLab SaaS](../../subscriptions/gitlab_com/index.md) or [GitLab Dedicated](../../subscriptions/gitlab_dedicated/index.md).
 
 ## Deciding which architecture to use
 
@@ -72,15 +72,13 @@ With standalone setups, especially single node environments, there are [various
 
 ### High Availability (HA)
 
-High Availability ensures every component in the GitLab setup can handle failures through various mechanisms. To achieve this however is complex, and the environments required can be sizable.
+High Availability ensures every component in the GitLab setup can handle failures through various mechanisms. However, to achieve this is complex and the environments required can be sizable.
 
 For environments serving 3,000 or more users we generally recommend that a HA strategy is used as at this level outages have a bigger impact against more users. All the architectures in this range have HA built in by design for this reason.
 
-For users who still need to have HA for a lower number of users this can also be achieved with an adjusted [3K architecture](3k_users.md#supported-modifications-for-lower-user-counts-ha).
-
 #### Do you need High Availability (HA)?
 
-As mentioned above, achieving HA does come at a cost. The environment's required are sizable as each component needs to be multiplied, which comes with additional actual and maintenance costs.
+As mentioned above, achieving HA does come at a cost. The environment requirements are sizable as each component needs to be multiplied, which comes with additional actual and maintenance costs.
 
 For a lot of our customers with fewer than 3,000 users, we've found a backup strategy is sufficient and even preferable. While this does have a slower recovery time, it also means you have a much smaller architecture and less maintenance costs as a result.
 
@@ -89,13 +87,17 @@ In general then, we'd only recommend you employ HA in the following scenarios:
 - When you have 3,000 or more users.
 - When GitLab being down would critically impact your workflow.
 
+#### Scaled-down High Availability (HA) approaches
+
+If you still need to have HA for a lower number of users, this can be achieved with an adjusted [3K architecture](3k_users.md#supported-modifications-for-lower-user-counts-ha).
+
 #### Zero Downtime Upgrades
 
 [Zero Downtime Upgrades](../../update/zero_downtime.md) are available for standard Reference Architecture environments with HA (Cloud Native Hybrid is not supported at this time). This allows for an environment to stay up during an upgrade, but the process is more complex as a result and has some limitations as detailed in the documentation.
 
-When going through this process it's worth noting that there may still be brief moments of downtime when the HA mechanisms tale effect.
+When going through this process it's worth noting that there may still be brief moments of downtime when the HA mechanisms take effect.
 
-In most cases the downtime required for doing an upgrade in general shouldn't be substantial, so this is only recommended if it's a key requirement for you.
+In most cases the downtime required for doing an upgrade shouldn't be substantial, so this is only recommended if it's a key requirement for you.
 
 ### Cloud Native Hybrid (Kubernetes HA)
 
@@ -163,7 +165,7 @@ Before implementing a reference architecture, refer to the following requirement
 
 These reference architectures were built and tested on Google Cloud Platform (GCP) using the
 [Intel Xeon E5 v3 (Haswell)](https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/cpu-platforms)
-CPU platform as a baseline ([Sysbench benchmark](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/quality/performance/-/wikis/Reference-Architectures/GCP-CPU-Benchmarks)).
+CPU platform as a lowest common denominator baseline ([Sysbench benchmark](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/quality/performance/-/wikis/Reference-Architectures/GCP-CPU-Benchmarks)).
 
 Newer, similarly-sized CPUs are supported and may have improved performance as a result. For Omnibus GitLab environments,
 ARM-based equivalents are also supported.
@@ -237,8 +239,8 @@ for more information and guidance.
 [Praefect requires its own database server](../gitaly/praefect.md#postgresql) and
 that to achieve full High Availability, a third-party PostgreSQL database solution is required.
 
-We hope to offer a built in solutions for these restrictions in the future but, in the meantime, a non HA PostgreSQL server
-can be set up using Omnibus GitLab, the specifications reflect. Refer to the following issues for more information:
+We hope to offer a built-in solution for these restrictions in the future. In the meantime, a non-HA PostgreSQL server
+can be set up using Omnibus GitLab as the specifications reflect. Refer to the following issues for more information:
 
 - [`omnibus-gitlab#5919`](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/omnibus-gitlab/-/issues/5919).
 - [`gitaly#3398`](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitaly/-/issues/3398).
@@ -324,10 +326,12 @@ When selecting a database service, it should run a standard, performant, and [su
 - Read Replicas for [Database Load Balancing](../postgresql/database_load_balancing.md).
 - Cross Region replication for [GitLab Geo](../geo/index.md).
 
-Several cloud provider services are known not to support the above or have been found to have other issues and aren't recommended:
+#### Unsupported database services
+
+Several database cloud provider services are known not to support the above or have been found to have other issues and aren't recommended:
 
 - [Amazon Aurora](https://aws.amazon.com/rds/aurora/) is incompatible and not supported. See [14.4.0](../../update/index.md#1440) for more details.
-- [Azure Database for PostgreSQL Single Server](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/products/postgresql/#overview) (Single / Flexible) is **strongly not recommended** for use due to notable performance / stability issues or missing functionality. See [Recommendation Notes for Azure](#recommendation-notes-for-azure) for more details.
+- [Azure Database for PostgreSQL Single Server](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/products/postgresql/#overview) (Single / Flexible) is not supported for use due to notable performance / stability issues or missing functionality. See [Recommendation Notes for Azure](#recommendation-notes-for-azure) for more details.
 - [Google AlloyDB](https://cloud.google.com/alloydb) and [Amazon RDS Multi-AZ DB cluster](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/multi-az-db-clusters-concepts.html) have not been tested and are not recommended. Both solutions are specifically not expected to work with GitLab Geo.
   - [Amazon RDS Multi-AZ DB instance](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/Concepts.MultiAZSingleStandby.html) is a separate product and is supported.
 
@@ -337,10 +341,55 @@ Due to performance issues that we found with several key Azure services, we only
 
 In addition to the above, you should be aware of the additional specific guidance for Azure:
 
-- **We outright strongly do not recommend [Azure Database for PostgreSQL Single Server](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/postgresql/single-server/overview-single-server)** specifically due to significant performance and stability issues found. **For GitLab 14.0 and higher the service is not supported** due to it only supporting up to PostgreSQL 11.
-  - A new service, [Azure Database for PostgreSQL Flexible Server](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/postgresql/flexible-server/) has been released. [Internal testing](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/quality/reference-architectures/-/issues/91) has shown that it does look to perform as expected, but this hasn't been validated in production, so generally isn't recommended at this time. Additionally, as it's a new service, you may find that it's missing some functionality depending on your requirements.
+- [Azure Database for PostgreSQL Single Server](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/products/postgresql/#overview) (Single / Flexible) is not supported for use due to notable performance / stability issues or missing functionality.
+- A new service, [Azure Database for PostgreSQL Flexible Server](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/postgresql/flexible-server/) has been released. [Internal testing](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/quality/reference-architectures/-/issues/91) has shown that it does look to perform as expected, but this hasn't been validated in production, so generally isn't recommended at this time. Additionally, as it's a new service, you may find that it's missing some functionality depending on your requirements.
 - [Azure Blob Storage](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/products/storage/blobs/) has been found to have [performance limits that can impact production use at certain times](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/344861). However, this has only been seen in our largest architectures (25k+) so far.
 
+## Deviating from the suggested reference architectures
+
+As a general guideline, the further away you move from the reference architectures,
+the harder it is to get support for it. With any deviation, you're introducing
+a layer of complexity that adds challenges to finding out where potential
+issues might lie.
+
+The reference architectures use the official GitLab Linux packages (Omnibus
+GitLab) or [Helm Charts](https://docs.gitlab.com/charts/) to install and configure the various components. The components are
+installed on separate machines (virtualized or bare metal), with machine hardware
+requirements listed in the "Configuration" column and equivalent VM standard sizes listed
+in GCP/AWS/Azure columns of each [available reference architecture](#available-reference-architectures).
+
+Running components on Docker (including Docker Compose) with the same specs should be fine, as Docker is well known in terms of support.
+However, it is still an additional layer and may still add some support complexities, such as not being able to run `strace` easily in containers.
+
+### Unsupported designs
+
+While we endeavour to try and have a good range of support for GitLab environment designs, there are certain approaches we know definitively not to work, and as a result are not supported. Those approaches are detailed in the following sections.
+
+#### Stateful components in Kubernetes
+
+[Running stateful components in Kubernetes, such as Gitaly Cluster, is not supported](https://docs.gitlab.com/charts/installation/#configure-the-helm-chart-to-use-external-stateful-data).
+
+Gitaly Cluster is only supported to be run on VMs as Git itself doesn't match well with the Kubernetes design and attempting to run it can lead to significant and complex issues.
+[Refer to epic 6127 for more information](https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-org/-/epics/6127).
+
+This also applies to other third-party stateful components such as Postgres and Redis, but you can explore other third-party solutions for those components if desired such as supported Cloud Provider services unless called out specifically as unsupported.
+
+#### Autoscaling of stateful nodes
+
+As a general guidance, only _stateless_ components of GitLab can be run in Autoscaling groups, namely GitLab Rails
+and Sidekiq.
+
+Other components that have state, such as Gitaly, are not supported in this fashion (for more information, see [issue 2997](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitaly/-/issues/2997)).
+
+This also applies to other third-party stateful components such as Postgres and Redis, but you can explore other third-party solutions for those components if desired such as supported Cloud Provider services unless called out specifically as unsupported.
+
+#### Spreading one environment over multiple data centers
+
+Deploying one GitLab environment over multiple data centers is not supported due to potential split brain edge cases
+if a data center were to go down. For example, several components of the GitLab setup, namely Consul, Redis Sentinel and Praefect require an odd number quorum to function correctly and splitting over multiple data centers can impact this notably.
+
+For deploying GitLab over multiple data centers or regions we offer [GitLab Geo](https://about.gitlab.com/solutions/geo/) as a comprehensive solution.
+
 ## Validation and test results
 
 The [Quality Engineering team](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/quality/quality-engineering/)
@@ -427,34 +476,34 @@ table.test-coverage th {
     <tr>
     <th scope="row">1k</th>
     <td><a href="https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/quality/performance/-/wikis/Benchmarks/Latest/1k">Weekly</a></td>
-    <td></td>
-    <td></td>
-    <td></td>
-    <td></td>
+    <td style="background-color:lightgrey"></td>
+    <td style="background-color:lightgrey"></td>
+    <td style="background-color:lightgrey"></td>
+    <td style="background-color:lightgrey"></td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
     <th scope="row">2k</th>
     <td><a href="https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/quality/performance/-/wikis/Benchmarks/Latest/2k">Weekly</a></td>
-    <td></td>
-    <td></td>
-    <td></td>
-    <td></td>
+    <td style="background-color:lightgrey"></td>
+    <td style="background-color:lightgrey"></td>
+    <td style="background-color:lightgrey"></td>
+    <td><i>Planned</i></td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
     <th scope="row">3k</th>
     <td><a href="https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/quality/performance/-/wikis/Benchmarks/Latest/3k">Weekly</a></td>
-    <td></td>
-    <td></td>
+    <td style="background-color:lightgrey"></td>
+    <td style="background-color:lightgrey"></td>
     <td><a href="https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/quality/performance/-/wikis/Benchmarks/Latest/3k_hybrid_aws_services">Weekly</a></td>
-    <td></td>
+    <td style="background-color:lightgrey"></td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
     <th scope="row">5k</th>
     <td><a href="https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/quality/performance/-/wikis/Benchmarks/Latest/5k">Weekly</a></td>
-    <td></td>
-    <td></td>
-    <td></td>
-    <td></td>
+    <td style="background-color:lightgrey"></td>
+    <td style="background-color:lightgrey"></td>
+    <td style="background-color:lightgrey"></td>
+    <td style="background-color:lightgrey"></td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
     <th scope="row">10k</th>
@@ -462,29 +511,33 @@ table.test-coverage th {
     <td><a href="https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/quality/performance/-/wikis/Benchmarks/Latest/10k_hybrid">Weekly</a></td>
     <td><a href="https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/quality/performance/-/wikis/Benchmarks/Latest/10k_aws">Weekly</a></td>
     <td><a href="https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/quality/performance/-/wikis/Benchmarks/Latest/10k_hybrid_aws_services">Weekly</a></td>
-    <td><a href="https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/quality/performance/-/wikis/Past-Results/10k">Ad-Hoc</a></td>
+    <td style="background-color:lightgrey"></td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
     <th scope="row">25k</th>
     <td><a href="https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/quality/performance/-/wikis/Benchmarks/Latest/25k">Weekly</a></td>
-    <td></td>
-    <td></td>
-    <td></td>
-    <td><a href="https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/quality/performance/-/wikis/Past-Results/25k">Ad-Hoc</a></td>
+    <td style="background-color:lightgrey"></td>
+    <td style="background-color:lightgrey"></td>
+    <td style="background-color:lightgrey"></td>
+    <td style="background-color:lightgrey"></td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
     <th scope="row">50k</th>
     <td><a href="https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/quality/performance/-/wikis/Benchmarks/Latest/50k">Weekly</a></td>
-    <td></td>
-    <td><a href="https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/quality/performance/-/wikis/Past-Results/50k">Ad-Hoc (inc Cloud Services)</a></td>
-    <td></td>
-    <td></td>
+    <td style="background-color:lightgrey"></td>
+    <td style="background-color:lightgrey"></td>
+    <td style="background-color:lightgrey"></td>
+    <td style="background-color:lightgrey"></td>
   </tr>
 </table>
 
 ## Cost to run
 
-The following table details the cost to run the different reference architectures across GCP, AWS, and Azure. Bare-metal costs are not included here as it varies widely depending on each customer configuration.
+As a starting point, the following table details initial costs for the different reference architectures across GCP, AWS, and Azure via Omnibus.
+
+NOTE:
+Due to the nature of Cloud Native Hybrid, it's not possible to give a static cost calculation.
+Bare-metal costs are also not included here as it varies widely depending on each configuration.
 
 <table class="test-coverage">
   <col>
@@ -492,91 +545,93 @@ The following table details the cost to run the different reference architecture
   <colgroup span="2"></colgroup>
   <tr>
     <th rowspan="2">Reference<br/>Architecture</th>
-    <th style="text-align: center" colspan="2" scope="colgroup">GCP</th>
-    <th style="text-align: center" colspan="2" scope="colgroup">AWS</th>
-    <th style="text-align: center" colspan="2" scope="colgroup">Azure</th>
+    <th style="text-align: center" scope="colgroup">GCP</th>
+    <th style="text-align: center" scope="colgroup">AWS</th>
+    <th style="text-align: center" scope="colgroup">Azure</th>
   </tr>
   <tr>
     <th scope="col">Omnibus</th>
-    <th scope="col">Cloud Native Hybrid</th>
     <th scope="col">Omnibus</th>
-    <th scope="col">Cloud Native Hybrid</th>
     <th scope="col">Omnibus</th>
   </tr>
     <tr>
     <th scope="row">1k</th>
     <td><a href="https://cloud.google.com/products/calculator#id=a6d6a94a-c7dc-4c22-85c4-7c5747f272ed">Calculated cost</a></td>
-    <td></td>
     <td><a href="https://calculator.aws/#/estimate?id=b51f178f4403b69a63f6eb33ea425f82de3bf249">Calculated cost</a></td>
-    <td></td>
     <td><a href="https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/calculator/?shared-estimate=1adf30bef7e34ceba9efa97c4470417b">Calculated cost</a></td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
     <th scope="row">2k</th>
     <td><a href="https://cloud.google.com/products/calculator#id=0d3aff1f-ea3d-43f9-aa59-df49d27c35ca">Calculated cost</a></td>
-    <td></td>
     <td><a href="https://calculator.aws/#/estimate?id=3b3e3b81953737132789591d3a5179521943f1c0">Calculated cost</a></td>
-    <td></td>
     <td><a href="https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/calculator/?shared-estimate=25f66c35ba454bb98fb4034a8a50bb8c">Calculated cost</a></td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
     <th scope="row">3k</th>
     <td><a href="https://cloud.google.com/products/calculator/#id=15fc2bd9-5b1c-479d-bc46-d5ce096b8107">Calculated cost</a></td>
-    <td></td>
     <td><a href="https://calculator.aws/#/estimate?id=7e94eb8712f6845fdeb05e61f459598a91dac3cb">Calculated cost</a></td>
-    <td></td>
     <td><a href="https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/calculator/?shared-estimate=24ac11fd947a4985ae9c9a5142649ad3">Calculated cost</a></td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
     <th scope="row">5k</th>
     <td><a href="https://cloud.google.com/products/calculator/#id=9a798136-53f2-4c35-be43-8e1e975a6663">Calculated cost</a></td>
-    <td></td>
     <td><a href="https://calculator.aws/#/estimate?id=ad4c9db623a214c92d780cd9dff33f444d62cf02">Calculated cost</a></td>
-    <td></td>
     <td><a href="https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/calculator/?shared-estimate=bcf23017ddfd40649fdc885cacd08d0c">Calculated cost</a></td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
     <th scope="row">10k</th>
     <td><a href="https://cloud.google.com/products/calculator#id=cbe61840-31a1-487f-88fa-631251c2fde5">Calculated cost</a></td>
-    <td></td>
     <td><a href="https://calculator.aws/#/estimate?id=3e2970f919915a6337acea76a9f07655a1ecda4a">Calculated cost</a></td>
-    <td></td>
     <td><a href="https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/calculator/?shared-estimate=5748068be4864af6a34efb1cde685fa1">Calculated cost</a></td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
     <th scope="row">25k</th>
     <td><a href="https://cloud.google.com/products/calculator#id=b4b8b587-508a-4433-adc8-dc506bbe924f">Calculated cost</a></td>
-    <td></td>
     <td><a href="https://calculator.aws/#/estimate?id=32acaeaa93366110cd5fbf98a66a8a141db7adcb">Calculated cost</a></td>
-    <td></td>
     <td><a href="https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/calculator/?shared-estimate=24f878f20ee64b5cb64de459d34c8128">Calculate cost</a></td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
     <th scope="row">50k</th>
     <td><a href="https://cloud.google.com/products/calculator/#id=48b4d817-d6cd-44b8-b069-0ba9a5d123ea">Calculated cost</a></td>
-    <td></td>
     <td><a href="https://calculator.aws/#/estimate?id=5a0bba1338e3577d627ec97833dbc80ac9615562">Calculated cost</a></td>
-    <td></td>
     <td><a href="https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/calculator/?shared-estimate=4dd065eea2194d70b44d6d897e81f460">Calculated cost</a></td>
   </tr>
 </table>
 
-## Deviating from the suggested reference architectures
+## Maintaining a Reference Architecture environment
 
-As a general guideline, the further away you move from the Reference Architectures,
-the harder it is to get support for it. With any deviation, you're introducing
-a layer of complexity that adds challenges to finding out where potential
-issues might lie.
+Maintaining a Reference Architecture environment is generally the same as any other GitLab environment is generally covered in other sections of this documentation.
 
-The reference architectures use the official GitLab Linux packages (Omnibus
-GitLab) or [Helm Charts](https://docs.gitlab.com/charts/) to install and configure the various components. The components are
-installed on separate machines (virtualized or bare metal), with machine hardware
-requirements listed in the "Configuration" column and equivalent VM standard sizes listed
-in GCP/AWS/Azure columns of each [available reference architecture](#available-reference-architectures).
+In this section you'll find links to documentation for relevant areas as well as any specific Reference Architecture notes.
 
-Running components on Docker (including Compose) with the same specs should be fine, as Docker is well known in terms of support.
-However, it is still an additional layer and may still add some support complexities, such as not being able to run `strace` easily in containers.
+### Upgrades
+
+Upgrades for a Reference Architecture environment is the same as any other GitLab environment.
+The main [Upgrade GitLab](../../update/index.md) section has detailed steps on how to approach this.
+
+[Zero-downtime upgrades](#zero-downtime-upgrades) are also available.
+
+NOTE:
+You should upgrade a Reference Architecture in the same order as you created it.
+
+### Scaling an environment
+
+Scaling a GitLab environment is designed to be as seamless as possible.
+
+In terms of the Reference Architectures, you would look to the next size and adjust accordingly.
+Most setups would only need vertical scaling, but there are some specific areas that can be adjusted depending on the setup:
+
+- If you're scaling from a non-HA environment to an HA environment, various components are recommended to be deployed in their HA forms:
+  - Redis to multi-node Redis w/ Redis Sentinel
+  - Postgres to multi-node Postgres w/ Consul + PgBouncer
+  - Gitaly to Gitaly Cluster w/ Praefect
+- From 10k users and higher, Redis is recommended to be split into multiple HA servers as it's single threaded.
+
+Conversely, if you have robust metrics in place that show the environment is over-provisioned you can apply the same process for
+scaling downloads. It's recommended to take an iterative approach when scaling downwards however to ensure there are no issues.
+
+### How to monitor your environment
 
-Other technologies, like [Docker swarm](https://docs.docker.com/engine/swarm/)
-are not officially supported, but can be implemented at your own risk. In that
-case, GitLab Support is not able to help you.
+To monitor your GitLab environment, you can use the tools
+[bundled with GitLab](../monitoring/index.md), but it's also possible to use third-party
+options if desired.