Due to the recent downtime issues and lack of support from our current webhost, I've decided to move Gimp Chat to its own virtual private server on a new webhost.

I've lost all confidence in the current host. I'm seeing continuous complaints of tickets going unanswered for hours, and even days. I experienced it first hand during the recent outages. The server we are on now is actually running well but if there is a problem, we could be down for days.

So, my plans are to begin migrating the data over today and tomorrow, then on Friday, make the switch to the new host. There will be some down time because I'll need to update the DNS at the registrar to point to the new server, which takes around 24 hours to propagate to all the DNS servers across the internet. Some name servers will update very quickly, while others might take longer than 24 hours.

During that time, I will transfer the remaining data and update the SQL database. The old site will be placed in maintenance mode and when your DNS is updated, you'll see site on the new host, which will not be in maintenance mode. At that point, you can login and pick up where you left off.

This assumes all goes well but you know what is said about the "Best laid plans of mice and men".

I think the site's performance will be faster and more consistent on the new server and I know the support will be much better. I've submitted three tickets so far and they've been answered in less than 10 minutes.

I'll post an exact time but unless something comes up, I'm tentatively looking at 10:00pm EST on Friday for the switch.

Good deal. Hope it all goes well.

Good luck.

Thanks for the heads-up Tux
Here's hoping it's a smooth transition!

oh dear, I"ll have to make some plans to occupy my time on friday night and all day saturday! Knock on wood that all goes smoothly and quickly.

You do it for us - ordinary users - thank you very much!

Thank You so much for taking the time and trouble to keep the site for all of us.
Is there is anything we can help with?

oh, dear...I better figure out what my pw is!

Understood Tux. I use OpenDNS but am not sure how fast they can update. Hopefully fast enough. I work Weekend night shift anyway, so probably won't effect me as much as those who are off. Hopefully the new host offers the storage and service you are going for and at a reasonable price.

Thanks everyone!

Your passwords will not change and your browsers should continue to remember them, if you have directed it to do so.

It's probably not going to take 24 hours for the DNS to propagate. For most people, it will probably only take a few hours. I've heard horror stories of 10 days but that is when somethings went terribly wrong. The outside high end is 24-48 hours but my experience is that in most cases, it only take 6-8 hours for the majority of name servers to be updated. It just depends on your ISP's DNS (or whatever DNS you are using). I figure most members will back in by Saturday morning.

If you are using 3rd party caching servers, like Open DNS or Google's Public DNS, it could take longer. I can direct Open DNS to update its cache. I'm not sure if Google offers a similar page. If anyone knows, let me know.

Sounds like everything should go pretty smoothly. Thanks for the heads up Tux.

Kudo's Tux, thanks for the heads up.
I will fill my time by going outside and watch my garden grow.

Good luck Tux. Excuse my web ignorance but will the Google link still link up? I assume the web address won't change.

Erisian, for users it's seamless everything stays the same.

Here's a suggestion for members to occupy their time during the brief time (10:00pm EST on Friday, June 14) Gimp Chat will be unavailable. Go to the Gimp Chat Tutorial Index right now, download a few PDFs and have some fun!

Sounds like a good plan Odin.

Fingers collectively crossed.

no panic! I figured it out quickly and wrote it down. So now I'm ALL set!

it Should be a "simple" redirect.
And while the pw's shouldn't change I always like to be ready Just In Case.