Shared to VPS Level3

[banghouse]

I am about to buy a level 3 VPS and I'm trying to understand the process for moving my sites from my current shared reseller account to a level 3 VPS. I was told by HG phone support that all my sites would be down for up to 48 hrs. while they were being moved to the new server. I was also told that it's not possible for me to sign up for VPS then move the sites myself. That the account would have to be upgraded and that HG admins would have to take my sites offline and move them all to the new server which could take up to 48hrs. This doesn't really seem right to me.

Can someone clarify this for me. Why can't I just buy a Level 3 VPS then move each site and its respective DB via SFTP or SSH then once everything is working like it should just switch the DNS to point to the new host. This seems like the way to do it if I don't want my sites to be offline for 48hrs. or more. Am I missing something? Please advise.

[kingtas]

I don't see why you shouldn't be able to transfer the sites yourself as long as you have backed up the data from the server before the upgrade takes place. Good luck with your VPS.

[GatorSteveN]

Yes, you can move your sites yourself and if both of the hosting plans are up it should hit one or the other during the DNS propagation for little to no downtime.

Reseller accounts and VPS are on different servers.

Do you remember who you talked to? They may have misunderstood what you were asking.

[banghouse]

No I don't remember their name. He seemed kind of young and maybe new to the job. Anyway, I'm trying to set up some kind of plan for myself on how to go about doing this.

So if I understand correctly I should go ahead and buy the VPS and then start transferring sites over then once all sites are switched cancel the reseller account? Or is their some kind of way to do it that doesn't require canceling the old account but instead "upgrades" the existing account into the new one? Still a bit foggy on that part.

Thanks.

[Chimpie]

Gators, feel free to correct me...

What's you have the logins for your new server you can begin uploading your sites to it.
Once everything is moved over, you'll log in to your registrar and change the DNS settings so that the URL(s) is pointing to the new server.
It may take up to 48 hours for the domains to fully propagate.
Once the propagation is over you can delete your shared account.

[fenglangqiye]

I have difficulties in understanding your language . Also what exactly is your email ID?yhm20110416

[striddy]

Originally Posted by fenglangqiye

I am a spammer. Please delete my posts and ban me from this forum.

Another spammer

[GatorTimC]

Hello,

While we do work to prevent spammers from gaining access to our forums, we do have a method to report those that do get through. When you see a spam or fraudulent post, please click on the "Report Post" icon that appears in the top right of the post so that appropriate action may be taken.

Thanks, and enjoy your time in the forums!

[striddy]

Originally Posted by GatorTimC

Hello,

While we do work to prevent spammers from gaining access to our forums, we do have a method to report those that do get through. When you see a spam or fraudulent post, please click on the "Report Post" icon that appears in the top right of the post so that appropriate action may be taken.

Thanks, and enjoy your time in the forums!

Tim, I do report posts that way. I have been for years, and hundreds of them. However, many times the spam post stays visible for many, many hours. Sometimes for days. As you can see, the spam listed above is still here, 3 days after it was posted.

The ones without links don't present much actual harm to the forum members, however, the spam with embedded links can be very harmful if the links take the forum members to sites with viruses or malware. That is why I post the way I do. Hopefully to alert forum visitors not to click on such links.

[banghouse]

Ok so I've purchased the VPS level 3 what next? Where can I go to read how to manage it properly?

[emontano]

I just got a VPS Level 3, in order to move mys sites without downtime, i got a new domain, HG config my new VPS and then moved all my domains. All the transfer process was smooth. Server is working excellent.

All HG technicians worked professionally. Now i'm learning to manage the VPS step by step, reading the forum everyday and when it's necessary having a chat with the techs.

[striddy]

Originally Posted by banghouse

Ok so I've purchased the VPS level 3 what next? Where can I go to read how to manage it properly?

http://support.hostgator.com/article...g-started-page

[eurgbp]

Originally Posted by banghouse

Ok so I've purchased the VPS level 3 what next? Where can I go to read how to manage it properly?

now remove apache OS from VPS
then install NGINX, very awesome event driven async OS
I am using it for many months already, and incredibly happy comparing to Apache experience
hire somebody from odesk to install nginx onto vps

[cclay]

Originally Posted by emontano

I just got a VPS Level 3, in order to move mys sites without downtime, i got a new domain, HG config my new VPS and then moved all my domains. All the transfer process was smooth. Server is working excellent.

Hi,

I'm looking to do the same thing (move from a reseller to a VPS) and hope I can do it, like you, without any downtime for any of my clients. I'm using private name servers (set up through GoDaddy) so it's my understanding that at least none my clients will have to update their DNS information, but I'm still not clear on what happens AFTER the sites have been transferred to the new server but BEFORE the DNS changes propagate (i.e. after I update my name servers to their new IP addresses.)

• What happens if someone updates their website during this period? Someone might make some changes on the old server after their site is transferred but before propagation, no?
• What is the likelihood of e-mails going missing? I can see how messages could arrive at the old server while the client starts retrieving them from the new server.
• How would getting a new domain name help the process?
• Is there an advantage to moving the sites myself? Most are Joomla sites, and if Hostgator technicans can move everything smoothly and for free, I'll be very happy
• If I was to move them myself, what's the best way to back up and restore each site along with its accompanying databases?

Any suggestions or insights would be most appreciated.... I'm really looking forward to moving to a VPS solution, but I'm dreading the possibility of people calling wondering where their e-mails went or what happened to their website updates.

Cheers

Chris

Chris,

Great questions! Let me provide you answers, so that you have a clear understanding of how this can be done to minimize downtime & other related side-effects.

You asked: "What happens if someone updates their website during this period? Someone might make some changes on the old server after their site is transferred but before propagation, no?"

Yes, if changes are made after the files are copied, then the changes will be NOT reflected on the new server. You would have to repeat the move process for this domain to bring it back up-to-date again.

You asked: "What is the likelihood of e-mails going missing? I can see how messages could arrive at the old server while the client starts retrieving them from the new server."

Any mail sent DURING the propagation may be delivered to either server. Therefore, it is important to get all the mail downloaded before DNS changes happen. Sometimes people will even modify their mail account temporarily to get the last few messages off the old server (using the IP address instead of mail.domain.com). Normally the amount of mail that is 'lost' or 'misplaced' is minimal.

You asked, "How would getting a new domain name help the process?"

A new domain could be installed and configured before changing the DNS on the older domains. For emergency use, you could share the new domain name, and let them know that this new domain will be online and functioning if they need to get ahold of you (you would need to create an email address in the cPanel for the new domain).

You asked, "Is there an advantage to moving the sites myself? Most are Joomla sites, and if Hostgator technicans can move everything smoothly and for free, I'll be very happy"

This is exactly why we have a transfers department, to make/get/keep you happy! They can move your Joomla and other site contents, and get everything configured ahead of time for you to test. Then, once you're comfortable, the DNS can be changed over to the new server. The whole point of this process is to save you time, trouble, and effort.

You asked, "If I was to move them myself, what's the best way to back up and restore each site along with its accompanying databases?"

Normally we use cPanel's "Backup" [icon] to create a full-site backup. This backup can then be placed onto the new server, and cPanel can extract the contents into the proper places, for functionality. The cPanel backup includes databases for that account, so that would also be handled in the same process.

Please ask more questions if you have any others about the process. We want to be forthcoming and up-front about all things. We appreciate your business.

[cclay]

Thanks for such a thorough reply! One last question, the only one that comes to mind:

On a reseller account, there's no way to have warnings sent to clients if their e-mail accounts are nearing capacity. In another thread, someone said that dedicated servers have this capability. Would I be able to configure the VPS account to do the same?

I know that people can log into Cpanel to find out how full their mailboxes are, but many of my clients have staff that aren't technically savvy and a reminder that says "your mailbox is 90% full" or whatever would be extremely helpful. Then I'd no longer have panicked customers phoning me asking why their e-mail accounts aren't working properly.

Cheers,
Chris

[cclay]

Thought I'd check in again since it's been 2 or 3 weeks - anyone know the answer to my final question? (see above)

Thanks

Chris

[denlou]

I don't know if it's possible to enable it from WHM but as a last ditch effort you could just whip up a little PHP script run off a cron job to run every 12 hours that could compare the disk space of the folder to the disk space available.

I haven't got to deep into the mail folder structure because it's CPanel specific but I don't see why it couldn't be autonomous so you wouldn't have to add an email address and disk allotment to the script everytime you add an account.

[GatorJacob]

Originally Posted by cclay

Thanks for such a thorough reply! One last question, the only one that comes to mind:

On a reseller account, there's no way to have warnings sent to clients if their e-mail accounts are nearing capacity. In another thread, someone said that dedicated servers have this capability. Would I be able to configure the VPS account to do the same?

I know that people can log into Cpanel to find out how full their mailboxes are, but many of my clients have staff that aren't technically savvy and a reminder that says "your mailbox is 90% full" or whatever would be extremely helpful. Then I'd no longer have panicked customers phoning me asking why their e-mail accounts aren't working properly.

Cheers,
Chris

Hi Chris,

VPS servers are used just for issues like this. VPS servers are usually for sites and applications that require root privileges on a server. They are less powerful so they can be more cost-affordable for those who aren't ready for dedicated hardware yet.

You'll be able to run mostly anything that you could on a dedicated server on your VPS container. Setting up global settings for your instance of WHM would fall under this as well. You can definitely setup alerts to your liking on your container.

I hope this helps!

Keep rockin

[cclay]

Perfect! Thanks

Chris