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shifting the web hosting.

Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 2:03 am
by claws
hi.. everyone.

firstly i want to infrom you that my website will get about 10,000 unique visitors per day all over the world..

i am need to shift shifting my website along with my database to new hosting company (on to new server).
so.. from my googling. i found these are the steps.

1. login with your domain name registration account and change the IP address for your domain name.
2. shift all your web hosting(scripts,pages,files and everything) from your old server to new one.
3. import the database also.
4. wait for 16-18 hrs (before it used to be 2-3 days) for dns propagation.
5. then you are done.

but i have few doubts regarding this.

domain name is just an alternative for ip address.
i mean instead of domain name if i use ip address in my browser.
my browser wont look up the dns. and directly contact the given ip.
exampe: http://www.google.com/ , http://72.14.235.104/

so what i did is just simply shifted my hosted scripts/web pages from the old server to new server.
and instead of using the domain name. i just used the ip address of new server.
i was expecting my website to open but to my surprize it didnt.
its simply showing the server default page"No domain name associated."( you can see here http://69.64.89.18/ )
can any one tell me why? am i wrong?

can some one experienced tell me. how much time exactly it takes for DNS propagation.
because... my website will be down for that period.
i asked one guy he told that his experience was it took one and half week. is it true????
(he tested this by asking his friends in different countries to open website)

i have no practical experience. but from my theoritical knowledge.
if i change the server. i mean if i shift the scripts.
during the DNS propagation period if some one visits the website.
then his nearest dns server will the record of my old server. so, he should be taken to the old server.
if the webpages are not available he should get the 404 error.
i am planning not to remove the scripts from old server.
so.. i shouldnot have any problem during this DNS propogation period.

Choose the Right Board

Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 2:29 am
by s.dot
You will have problems if the scripts are dynamic and one server records separate information from the other server -- you will end up with loss of data.

DNS propagation usually takes between 12 and 72 hours, from what I've read and experienced.

Here's how I handle it.

1. Set up a "maitenance" page on the new server.
2. Update the domains dns records.
3. When I (personally) see the maitenance page, I know the dns has propagated for me, so I move the content and remove them from old server (with a default message for those who haven't had their dns updated yet).
4. All of the data is now going to the new server.

Of course, you don't really have to do any of this.

You can change your domain dns settings, and then point your old server (internally) to the new server IP, and any traffic that comes in to that server simply uses it like a proxy and is routed to the new server IP. This way regardless if a users dns is updated or not, they are still going to the new server.

Moved to web servers.
[url=http://forums.devnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?t=30037]Forum Rules[/url] Section 1.1 wrote:1. Select the correct board for your query. Take some time to read the guidelines in the sticky topic.

Re: shifting the web hosting.

Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 12:48 am
by VladSun
claws wrote: 4. wait for 16-18 hrs (before it used to be 2-3 days) for dns propagation.
It's not the right way to do it.

0. Look at your current TTL value in order to know how long the DNS propagation would take. Lets call this value "OLD_TTL".
1. Set the domain zone TTL to some small period of time - e.g. 10 minutes.
2. Wait for the DNS propagation of this TTL (this would take exactly the time OLD_TTL).
3. Make all the changes you need in your domain zone.
4. After you've finished change the TTL back to some large value (e.g. OLD_TTL)

Following this steps would give you a minimal downtime due to DNS issues (e.g. 10 minutes) which is much better.
claws wrote:i was expecting my website to open but to my surprise it didn't.
its simply showing the server default page"No domain name associated."( you can see here http://69.64.89.18/ )
can any one tell me why? am i wrong?
Most probably, the Apache server configuaration has name based virtual domain setup.

Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 10:35 am
by waradmin
Also note that your IP on your server may not be your access address. Many times to get your site its the server's ip /~username

ie:
http://10.4.1.1/~steve

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2007 10:55 pm
by claws
Also note that your IP on your server may not be your access address. Many times to get your site its the server's ip /~username
i think this is only the case when your's is a virtual hosting(i.e.. a shared server.)
am i right?

and moreover my new server http://69.64.89.18/ is a dedicated server.

so.. is this the only possible reason?
Most probably, the Apache server configuaration has name based virtual domain setup.
does this mean. that the apache configuration file settings are blocking users who are accessing it using ip address instead of ip address?

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 5:47 am
by VladSun
claws wrote:
Most probably, the Apache server configuaration has name based virtual domain setup.
does this mean. that the apache configuration file settings are blocking users who are accessing it using ip address instead of ip address?
http://httpd.apache.org/docs/1.3/vhosts/