Change Management: Move Server – Zendesk

5 Step Server Plan

As we mentioned, a complete and successful migration is made up of a number of steps that can be performed sequentially. Those steps tend to fall into one of five primary categories that make up the overarching process of a migration.

Understanding how these broader steps fit together, and what is included in each, is critical to developing your exact migration strategy in the future.

1. Preparing Your New Server

In the simplest terms, think of a server migration as moving from one home to another. If you want to bring all of your possessions with you, then your new home needs to have enough space for all of your furniture, right? And, if you are used to having, say, a double sink vanity in your bathroom, you may want the same features in your new home.

Migrating to a new server is much the same. All of the data associated with your website and applications needs to fit properly and in the right place on your new server. As a result, it is critical that your new server be properly sized and prepared for any incoming data and digital assets. Additionally, make sure that services and packages that your sites depend on are installed and available in the new environment.

Key Questions to Consider During Server Preparation

What is your organization’s planned growth over the next five years, and what infrastructure changes will this require?
Are all the right parties involved or informed of the planned migration? Think about site editors, administrators, developers, visitors or end users, and your hosting provider(s).

TIP: Build in approximately 20% extra storage space when migrating. During the migration, you’ll need a little extra room to unpack and install the data that’s being migrated, and you will want some room to grow as well.

2. Assess Data Fidelity

The process of making sure all data is accounted for before the migration, and properly installed after, is of critical importance. Losing even a tiny fraction of your data in transition, such as one CSS file or one connection string, can impact the performance of your entire site or application.

We recommend spending some time prior to the migration taking note of what parts of your site are critical, and what parts interact with or engage with other services.

For example, plugins and themes that affect multiple pages should be checked both before and after migration to ensure identical functionality.

Key Questions to Consider During Data Fidelity

What is the quality of your data in your old server? Are there a lot of static files, or dynamic databases?
Do you have a data governance plan in place to ensure measurement, tracking, and better decision making during the migration process?

TIP: Make an external backup of your entire website before migration. That way, you can rest easy knowing that you have a copy safely stored in the event of a problem.

3. Data Transfer

Once you have prepared your new server and properly secured all data to be ready for the migration, it’s time to finally make the copy.

Data transfer is typically the most time-consuming part of migration. The bandwidth available between your old server and the new server (or between your old hosting provider and your new hosting provider) essentially serves as the conduit for the migration. The more bandwidth you have, the faster the data can be migrated.

Key Questions to Consider During Data Transfer

Are all parties on the same page regarding when data transfer will take place?
Is there a clear POC at your old hosting provider and at your new hosting provider?
Are there any major initiatives or high-traffic events planned during or around the planned migration timelines?

TIP: Let anyone with access to the site know when the migration is going to happen and how long it is expected to take. Putting a “freeze” on any websites or applications will better ensure that no new content or data is lost during the migration.

4. Testing

Once you’ve actually migrated the data to your new infrastructure, it’s time for testing.

Checking for full functionality and complete data transfer may be time consuming and cumbersome, but that is time well spent to prevent discovering an issue at a much later date. Because it is usually the part of the process where surprises are most likely, it can also vary significantly in how long it can take. Organizations often find that leaving an adequate amount of time to fully and properly complete the testing process is much easier if planned well in advance.

Conducting rigorous testing is how organizations identify unanticipated issues, evaluate the effectiveness of their strategies for dealing with known issues, and confirm the many details about how the process and running in the new environment will work.

Finally, document HOW you will perform testing post-migration to ensure quality assurance and quality control.