Just as the blog was starting to get some attention we decided to switch over to Network Redux for hosting.

Our server at Surpass Hosting, was constantly running slow and out of space. Add to that all the other problems we had in the past and it seemed like there was no time better then the present to make the transition.

We thought it would be safe to switch over during the night, figuring that the DNS should only take a few hours to propagate. I initiated a request with Network Redux at 7:06 PM on 2006-02-13 to transfer our data over. Around 4 AM that night the transfer was complete, after probably a whole lot of kicking and biting from the old, slow server.

When I got up that morning and saw the transfer was complete I decided to change the DNS over. Probably not the best idea, but I was still drunk off of delicious sleep. I would get into work by 9, check my e-mail, read some Slashdot, and by 10 the DNS would be good to go. WRONG. Unbeknownst to me and Network Redux, the DNS cache had an expiry of 24 hours.

Over the next few hours a bit of confusion ensues. Some things continue to point to the old site, while others point to the new one. Thankfully I paid for a static IP at Network Redux, which we were able to use while the propagation was underway.

Fortunately by the next day, and after checking to make sure we didn’t lose any e-mail, everything was back to better then normal. Our web-mail was incredibly fast and everything was moving without a hitch. That is, except for Blogger, more on that in the next post.

The lesson here is check DNS Stuff beforehand, instead of after.