Switching Server

[alan-AM]

copied from the hosting board:

Hi, I own a vBulletin based site with just over 16000 members and due to bandwidth and support problems with my current hosts I am considering switching to Webair.

I have been assured that they have tranferred sites like mine in the past, hassle free, but are there any problems I should look out for. I want the switch to be as seemless as possible to my members and I am not that hot with php myself.
Is there anything I should need to back up? and how?

Is there any part of the database that can get lost in such a hosting switch?

Any obvious (to you) things I need to take into consideration?

I am sorry if these questions have already been asked and answered elsewhere on the board but I am really pushed for time and need to take care of this problem asap.
Regards,
alan

[Steve Machol]

You should backup your database and vB files just in case.

Also find out which versions of MySQL are running on the old and new servers. There could be compatibility issues.

[alan-AM]

thanks for the info Steve. How would I go about backing up the database?
regards,
alan

[Steve Machol]

The only consistently reliable method of backing up and restoring a database is with shell access via telnet or ssh. This is because backing up with a PHP script like that in the Admin CP or phpMyAdmin can result in PHP timeout errors and an incomplete backup file.

Please see the instructions here:

Backup:
http://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/m...nce_ssh_backup

Restore:
http://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/m...ce_ssh_restore

If you don't have telnet or SSH access, some people have reported success with these scripts:

MySQLDumper:
http://www.mysqldumper.de/en/index.php

MySQLHotxcopy:
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showt...t=mysqlhotcopy

[alan-AM]

Thanks again Steve, think that should be all the info I need.
Regards,
alan