Upgrading...

[jive]

Hello Folks,
I am currently using a hostgator account but would like to use another one and gradually upgrade that one as I need the resources. I would like to eventually progress into dedicated. I just have two questions:

1. Will my clients experience any downtime when I upgrade, say from gold to diamond

2.Will my clients experience any downtime if I moved from reseller to dedicated say from diamond to basic dedicated....

Thanks for any help...

[slapshotw]

Upgrading within the reseller packages, no downtime at all. Switching servers--- you're going to ask somebody else here how they handle that. If they can move your IP address and whatnot.

[ldearing]

im a bit intereseted in this one also... i would imagine you would need both your reseller and your new dedi up for a short overlaping time..... hopefully serra or some of the others with this type of experience will jump in here. will jump in here... ive seen some posts about moving things around and migrations that can probably be searched.

[Serra]

Yes, you MUST overlap. I'd plan for at least two weeks. I've done a big move in a shorter amount of time, but it works best if you plan to have two weekends to do moves. Order a dedicated on a Tuesday, you should have it by Friday, then spend the first weekend setting up, moving and testing accounts. Then the next week with further testing and tweaking, followed by a big move that weekend. Then turn off the shared hosting.

HostGator will work with you on the upgrade and they will even do the transfer if you want. Transfers take FOREVER to get started and take about a minute. (When HG does them for you). I don't recommend that though. Its a nice idea and they do a good job, but you'll want to do it yourself.

I've got a few threads in the dedicated forum that tell you extactly how to setup your server and how to move from reseller to dedicated hosting. Learn from my experience.

The important thing to remember is that HostGator will tell you that you will get your dedicated server in about 24 hours... they told me that THREE TIMES and each time, they were full of crap... It takes 3 to 4 days, don't get our hopes up for any less... Plan for 4 days. Plan for two weekends to transfer your stuff. (If you have 30-40 accounts, some with SSL and stuff). If you have fewer than 20, then you can do it in a weekend.

I have moved 70 accounts of my own, and 30 of 2 reseller's accounts in less than 6 hours with zero downtime, but I've got some practice!

Remember that any account with a dedicated IP will like have down time when you move, as when the IP changes, it will appear to disapper to the users.

If you need more specific help, I'm glad to help.

[slapshotw]

Serra,

So just to make sure, you did the configserver package and all the firewalls and such before moving any accounts over (even for testing), right?

Thanks,
-Matt

[Serra]

Yes, the configserver cpanel service is very important. Mailscanner if the machine is more than a basic.

[jive]

Serra,

Thanks for your reply. If I wanted hostgator to transfer, how long does it take for them to get to it?

If I wanted them to replicate my exact settings from my reseller to my dedicated, and do the transfer for me can they do that with no downtime?

[vtrain]

Originally Posted by Serra

[snip] Mailscanner if the machine is more than a basic.

quietFinn will answer this


Vtrain

[Serra]

Originally Posted by vtrain

quietFinn will answer this

We have a difference of opinion on that one, you are correct. I PERSONALLY observed my basic machine with zero accounts on it pegged to the max with mailscanner running. YMMV.

Thanks for your reply. If I wanted hostgator to transfer, how long does it take for them to get to it?

Between a few hours after your box is setup up to abut four days. They are not very consistent on transfers. I guess it depends on the workload at the time. I wouldn't count on less than 48 hours.

Keep in mind that you will not change your nameservers until the transfer, so it doesn't matter how long it takes, you just switch afterwards, so no downtime.

[quietFinn]

Originally Posted by Serra

We have a difference of opinion on that one, you are correct. I PERSONALLY observed my basic machine with zero accounts on it pegged to the max with mailscanner running. YMMV.

I suppose you mean the old Basic, with Celeron?

[Serra]

No, I mean the "new basic". My old basic was hopeless, it couldn't keep up with anything. The new Basic, the old Standard. Before I cancelled it, I unloaded all of the websites so it was totally empty of sites. It was running between 1.2 and 2.0 all of the time, totally empty, all of the processor going to mailscanner.

It was getting between 5000-6000 messages a day (spam mis-routed which should have been going to the new server). That message load was killing it.

I honestly feel it is too small for mailscanner with more than a couple of sites on it. I do think it would do fine with some sites and mailscanner, but not 30 or 40 and mailscanner, which means its simply too small to be cost effective.

[PsiPro]

Ya I agree with Serra, but I was running MS + 50 sites and was holding load at 0.6-1.5, however they were all low traffic sites and very few dynamic sites. So I guess it depends on your site and SPAM load.

[vtrain]

Originally Posted by Serra

[snip]
It was getting between 5000-6000 messages a day (spam mis-routed which should have been going to the new server). That message load was killing it.
[snip]

There should be a way of rejecting a good bunch of them before processing. That's what blacklists are for.

Should be nice to try the suggested:
http://assp.sourceforge.net/

When I have a few time free I will try to installed on my home server (no cpanel though).

Vtrain