Checklist to Help Move from Regular/VPS Hosting to a Dedicated Server

I am sure starting out making money online, you opted for regular hosting –either the shared type where you can host as many domains as allowed or a VPS (virtual private server) that mimics a dedicated server virtually. Either way, as traffic builds, you’ll out-grow what you started with.

That’s what is happening to me. I started the Rich Sage on a VPS with about 100 other domains. The VPS kept getting slower because of the demands from various properties. To help grow, I moved the ‘Sage’ to a dedicated server that was acting as a backup. Now that has slowed down.

The only choice is to move the ‘Sage’ to a robust dedicated server, and the switch occurs this weekend.

Here are the precise steps I am taking to move the hosting:

• The original files were backed up locally before anything was done. So were the database files. The backup was done with PHPMYAdmin, which is a common MySQL database maintenance program.
• The files were moved to the new server that is running on just an IP address. The Rich Sage is still resolving to the same old location, same IP address and server. I’ve never linked to the new server because I don’t want search engines to capture the “work in progress”. There is no link anywhere to it!
• When the move is done, the hosting facility will simply point the old IP address that resolved to RichSage dot com to the new dedicated server. For the search engines, the only change is that the site will run faster. No other information is changed, other than site enhancements that will go live with the new theme.
• The new dedicated server has run for 3 weeks and the new RichSage dot com is running there while plugins, themes, colors and various aspects of the new setup are tested. When things are ready the switch will be made in less than a second, by the hosting facility!
• The only drawback that I found was that I cannot test sub-domains with an IP address. I have to wait until the site is live and organize sub-domains such as the FREE Ad Forums.

Other Precautions that were taken:

• To protect WordPress, all the plugins were *turned off* before the backup was initiated.
• At the same time, WordPress was upgraded to the latest version, 2.5.1 and a database upgrade was done to MySQL 5.
• When the database was restored, each plugin was tested after activating it in the WordPress Admin area.
• Lastly, a final test will be done before the site goes live to make sure the data is displayed correctly.
• Obviously, not all the databases were moved since sub-domains are inoperable ’til the Rich Sage is live. I will have to ‘deal with that’ after the switch is made.
• Since many files don’t need to be moved when a WordPress upgrade is done, I had to make sure all the images were moved manually. That’s simple as downloading all the old images to your hard drive and uploading to the new server.

When you follow these steps and address issues from backing up all the files and your data, and then carefully restoring files and data on the new setup, you will find that migration to a new server or even a new hosting account is not that difficult. Most likely, the will not even be noticed by your readers.

Carpe Diem,
Rich Sage