Moving LARGE sites

[advwebsys]

we are in the process of consolidating several small servers onto a rather massive linux machine.

we have have several large sites (100Mbytes+) and a few small sites to move.

in all cases, the sites will have a new ip address. unfortunately, given our configuration and the state of our consolidation, i cannot 're-use' the old ip addresses.

while i can have our secondary dns servers updated within 12 hours, it will probably take up to 72 hours for the new ip addresses to propogate.

i also don't want to have our customers go through the hassle of uploading their entire site to the new server.

so.... would this scenario work?

1. copy the existing site(s) to the new server. i can do this on our private network without using any internet bandwidth.

2. remove all .sess and .ord files from acatalog on the new server

3. make the dns change

4. have the customers change their network settings to reflect the ip address of the old machine, rather than their domain name

5. after 72 hours change the ip address back to the domain name, which should now resolve to the new ip address.

[pinbrook]

When we move sites across servers - which also requires a change of IP - we copy the site from one server to the other and use internal DNS tables to point site vistors to the new site.

However the client will always have to re-sync theor PC with the site on the server so the first time they upload from their pc, post the move, it will trigger a full refresh

[advwebsys]

When we move sites across servers - which also requires a change of IP - we copy the site from one server to the other and use internal DNS tables to point site vistors to the new site.

However the client will always have to re-sync theor PC with the site on the server so the first time they upload from their pc, post the move, it will trigger a full refresh

as to your first point, of course.....

as to the second, it sounds like the copy really doesn't do anything, so why bother? i'm just trying to let my customers do this without having to do a complete refresh via ftp.

i wonder what would happen if the ip DIDN'T change?

[pinbrook]

as to the second, it sounds like the copy really doesn't do anything, so why bother? i'm just trying to let my customers do this without having to do a complete refresh via ftp.

if we do the copy it means the site is always live and taking orders thus the site is never offline and the sync with client PC can wait until the client is ready and is not having to be timed with domain propagation. The client can continue to download orders for days/weeks/months its only the first upload that forces the refresh.

i wonder what would happen if the ip DIDN'T change?

server side still has to sync with PC

[advwebsys]

jo - forgive my 'density', but i'm missing something.....

here's the scenario as i see it:

1. site on server 'a', ip is 1.2.3.4

2. i set up and copy site to server 'b' on 5.6.7.8

3. i change our dns to 5.6.7.8

4. it takes approximately 6 hours for secondary dns to update and probably another 72 hours for the change to propagate

5. during the propagation period a buyer will go to either site, depending on the state of their dns. so, orders could show up on both sites. if we turn off ordering on the old site, then there's a further problem - we lose a potential buyer because they may not come back later. we can't do a redirect to the new ip because that will bust the secure cert - which is name based - at payment time. my conclusion is we leave ordering ON and the customer continues to retrieve orders from the old site.

6. after 72 hours, we ensure that the customer's dns has the new ip address and they then start downloading orders from the new site.

but - you are saying that the first time they do an update of any kind, it will trigger a complete refresh. that's what i guess i don't understand.....