I am needing to move an account from a shared IP address on my server to their own dedicated IP address on the server.

How much downtime should I expect for something like this to happen? I have CPanel/WHM on the server, and know that I need to CHANGE SITE'S IP ADDRESS and edit the DNS zone file for that account, but is there a way to minimize (or eliminate) the downtime to that account?

If I were to change the DNS zone file (change the A record from the old IP to the new) and wait about 24 hours and then change the IP address on the account, will that eliminate downtime?

Any suggestions welcomed and greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

If it's on the same server, in a name-based virtual hosting environment, you shouuld be able to create a new virtual host container under the new IP, while leaving the old one intact under the old IP. That would allow the site to be served under either IP. You can then change the DNS, and after a week or so the old virtualhost should no longer be needed and can be deleted. Absolutely no downtime that way.

Hes not changing name servers is he? Just IP?

I dont know how cpanel operates, but if you where to change it by had(editing the files). Assuming you did it right, all you would need to do is restart it and there would be no down time

Originally posted by davidb
Hes not changing name servers is he? Just IP?

I dont know how cpanel operates, but if you where to change it by had(editing the files). Assuming you did it right, all you would need to do is restart it and there would be no down time

Depending on how the webserver is set up, it will be looking for the name-based host under an specific IP address, and if a request comes in on that [virtual] interface for a name-based host not configured on that IP, it will default to the first instance of a virtual host on that IP. When He changes the DNS, there are going to be some nameservers that have the old IP address cached, so those request will come in, hence the need to have the webserver configured to serve that domain under both IPs for a while.

How long does it usually take for people like AOL to re-cache the new IP address and to make sure everyone's pointed to the correct place?

Originally posted by WebmastTroy
How long does it usually take for people like AOL to re-cache the new IP address and to make sure everyone's pointed to the correct place?

24-48 hrs. is common, but some nameservers could take longer, although the number of nameservers that have the old IP cached that would take longer than 48 hrs is probably pretty small. A week sure ought to catch everybody. :)

Will be the account in the same server?
If so, you wont have any downtime if you'll only change the IP.

Originally posted by Jedito
Will be the account in the same server?
If so, you wont have any downtime if you'll only change the IP.

Yes....they just need a dedicated IP for SSL and stuff like that.

Whether you need to do anything more than just change the DNS to the new IP depends (as I said before) on how the server is configured. I have no clue how cpanel does it, as I refuse to have a server with cpanel on it. If you open your httpd.conf file, or whatever file contains the virtualhost container for the site in question, you can tell for sure whether you need to add another one or not.

if it looks like this....

<VirtualHost xx.xx.xx.xx>
...
Servername domainiquestion.com
...
...
</VirtualHost>

You will need to add another, identical virtualhost container for the domain using the new IP and keep both of them for up to a week to avoid any downtime.

If the virtualhost container looks like this....

<VirtualHost domaininquestion.com>
....
...
...
</VirtualHost>

You won't need to do anything other than change the DNS to the new IP.

Hope this clears any confusion.

WHM 4.8 has that as a new feature where you can change the shared IP of a domain to its own dedicated IP.

See attachment - Refer my above post ^^

you have the latest version of cpanel this is an easy move Dark Orb fixed this a while ago. Just make the change thru cpanel the DNS will changes will be made and the account will update.

If the name servers are the same there will be no downtime.

You are running Bind and the DNS servers around the world will still point to your Name servers and your Bind will point them to the correct IP on your server.

Monte

Originally posted by Monte

You are running Bind and the DNS servers around the world will still point to your Name servers and your Bind will point them to the correct IP on your server.

Monte

IF the nameservers around the world don't already have the old IP cached and neglect to ask his nameservers for the correct IP....