Best Practices For Surviving Your Server Migration
One of the most important steps for any business is to ensure that their technology is properly set up and running so that your website is accessible and errors don’t occur. This article sets out some best practices for surviving your server migration in the event of a server crash.
Things You Need To Do Before Moving Servers
Fill out a Server Migration Checklist before beginning your migration. This will help ensure that all the important steps are taken and any potential problems are addressed.
The best way to migrate servers is to use an automated migration tool. Tools like Microsoft System Center 2012 R2 Virtual Machine Manager enable administrators to migrate servers as a group, taking advantage of pre-built scripts and wizards.
Planning your migration correctly is essential to ensuring a successful switchover. Make sure you have an accurate understanding of the data stored on the old server, as well as the data that will need to be migrated.
Make sure you have a Disaster Recovery plan in place for both the old and new servers. This should include identifying which data must be replicated and how it should be done, as well as creating backup plans for the new server.
Test your migration procedures before actually moving servers. This will help avoid any surprises during the switchover process.
Things You Need To Do After Moving Servers
- Document everything! Make sure to take pictures of your hardware and software, as well as any documentation that pertains to your server. This will help you if there are any issues down the road.
- Back up your data! Seriously, make a backup of all your server’s data before making any moves. If there is an issue with the migration, you will want to be able to revert back to your old server without losing any data.
- Test your migration before you actually do it! Run through the migration process on a dummy server to ensure that everything is going according to plan. If there are any issues, you can address them before actually moving the servers over.
- Take care of your equipment! Make sure that all of your equipment is properly plugged in and working prior to beginning the migration process. If something goes wrong, it will be much more difficult to troubleshoot and fix it once the servers have been moved.
Tools to Help Monitor Server Activity
Monitoring server activity is essential for ensuring that your migration goes smoothly. There are a number of tools available to help, including monitoring tools from your hosting provider and third-party monitoring services.
To get started, you’ll need to set up monitoring on the new server. This can be as simple as installing a basic host-based monitoring solution, such as Nagios or Ganglia, or subscribing to a commercial monitoring service. Once installed, you’ll need to configure it to monitor the important metrics for your server migration.
Some important metrics to monitor during a server migration include:
· CPU usage
· Memory usage
· Disk space usage
· Network traffic
Conclusion
Server migration can be a daunting task, but with the right preparation and planning, it can be a smooth transition. In this article, we will discuss some of the best practices for surviving a server migration, from preparing your data to testing your backup solution. By following these tips, you will be able to minimize the impact of a server migration on your business and ensure that everything runs as smoothly as possible.