Server WWW-28 Replacement – 10 to 14 November

We have scheduled an replacement of Linux server WWW-28.

The current server has served us reliably for nearly three years, bringing it close to it replacement. Unexpected issues with the somewhat ageing hardware in the last few days has prompted us to move this step forward. Over the course of the next couple of days, we will be performing an urgent (but not panicked) replacement of the server.

We plan to migrate all hosting accounts to the new server between Thursday 10 November and Monday 14 November. With the majority of the sites on the server belonging to South African clients, we will perform the migration during the South African night time.

There may be some interruption of service; we apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. But hopefully we do this so well that you do not even notice.

Changes needed on your side:
We will migrate everything (your website, any databases and mailboxes) to the new server; no action is required from your side. Logins will remain the same, except those using the server hostname (see below).

The hostname of the new server will be different: www-29.i-svr.net (old server is www-28.i-svr.net). If you have bookmarked your cPanel, Web Host Manager or Webmail login using the server hostname, then you will need to update the bookmarks with the new server hostname.

Hosting IP addresses will change. We will do our best to ensure that all custom DNS entries survive the migration, but manual adjustments may be necessary. If any of your domains use custom DNS records, please make notes of the details in case adjustment is needed.

Migration status updates:
We will post migration status updates on this page (scroll down).

Questions or problems?
We do not anticipate any problems after the migration. but please do report any problems without hesitation.

Update Friday 06:30 GMT
We have transferred roughly half of all hosting accounts to the new server. For the most part, the transfer has been going very smooth (thank you cPanel and Web Host Manager!).

We encountered a problem with SMTP: we did not notice that the Exim default now is to enforce SSL (encrypted) login for sending email. This caused many a client login to be rejected. We have now set SSL to be an option; plain text logins accepted.

Update Monday 01:40 GMT
Migration to the new server is now complete; the old server will go dark on Saturday 19 November. If you encounter any difficulties with the new server, please let us know immediately.