========================================
Update: 12-Jan-2016
========================================
Date: 14th Jan 2016
Time: 11:00 PM MST
ETA: 4 hours
Maintenance Details:
We will be upgrading GreatWallChina MSSQL version from SQL 2005 to SQL 2012
As part of the upgrade procedure requirement, the MSSQL services will be shut off from services in order for us to conduct a full offline backup of the databases.
Maintenance Affects:
1. During the upgrade, entire Microsoft SQL server will be stopped. This will cause service interruption to web sites which are using GreatWallChina as MSSQL server.
2. All the IP remain the same, there is no adjustment required for your database connection string.
We expect the entire upgrade to complete in 4 Hours time.
Q&A
1, Discontinued SQL Server Features in SQL Server 2012
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc707782(v=sql.110).aspx
2, Breaking Changes to SQL Server Features in SQL Server 2012
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc707784(v=sql.110).aspx
3, SQL Server Backward Compatibility
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc707787(v=sql.110).aspx
========================================
Post: 21-12-2015
========================================
Date of migration: Jan - Feb 2016
Migration Details:
Following the recent Microsoft official announcement on the EOL (End Of Life) of Windows 2003, including the support provided, Hosticon will be migrating all the existing Windows Shared accounts from Windows 2003 to the latest Windows 2012 based Operating System. For further reference, kindly refer to the official announcement by Microsoft: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/products/windows-server-2003/. The new Windows Server 2012 offers a lengthy list of improvements compared with Windows Server 2003, including better security, extensive scalability, new operational roles and far more.
What Do You Need To Know About This Migration?
(A) Major features that will not be affected:
1) Email
All existing email entries will remain unchanged including email data, configurations, login details, contacts and IP.
2) Database
All MySQL will be migrated over to the new server. There will be no changes on the database connection string towards your existing application database. Connection string will remain as ‘localhost’.
3) Name server
Existing name server will remain unchanged, for example, ns1/ns2.ehostingsupport.com and so on.
4) SSL
If you have an existing SSL certificate installed on your hosting, we will migrate the SSL certificate with the dedicated IP over to the new hosting servers.
5) ColdFusion
ColdFusion, a rapid development platform for building modern Web applications and the DSN will also be migrated. Moreover, please note that the Web IP will be changed during this process.
Our team shall provide further notification on the new IP privately in the next email.
6) PHP Version
Both PHP 5.3 and 5.4 are supported in the new server environment.
(B) Major changes after migration
1) IP
All current servers’ shared IP will be changed, and dedicated IP will be migrated over to the new server environment.
2) Change on control panel from HELM to WebSitePanel (WSP)
Our team will install WebSitePanel (www.websitepanel.net) as the front end control panel for you to manage your hosting account.
Please be informed that all versions of Helm had reached "End of Life" and "End of Support" status on December 31, 2014.
Related news: http://kb.odin.com/en/123028. We have flash base websitepanel video tutorials can be found at http://www.hosticon.com/tutorials/websitepanel.php
3) FTP Accounts
All FTP users must be recreated as FTP configuration cannot be transferred over to the new server. As a result, please be reminded to log into control panel and reset the FTP password once your account has been successfully migrated to the new server.
4) Scheduler (Cronjob)
All your existing Scheduler cannot be transferred over to the new server. Please reconfigure or get assist from our support team via ticketing helpdesk.
5) Custom error page
If your sites are using your own custom error pages, we regret to inform that these error pages cannot be transferred. You need to recreate it from websitepanel.
6) Secure folder
If you have any password protected folder setup in the existing Helm control panel, please note that the settings will not be replicated to the new environment due to compatibility issues. You need to recreate it from websitepanel.
7) Others
Some of the old components and functions are not available in the new Windows 2012 environment:
* Microsoft Access, which is a DBMS (Database Management System) is no longer available in the new hosting environment. You are recommended to switch your application database to MySQL or consider MSSQL (billable).
* Physical path will be changed to C:\domains\username\domain.com\wwwroot instead of previous path: C:\domains\domain.com\wwwroot.
* If your application script relies on any of the physical path code, please request your webmaster to update the coding once your site has been migrated to the new server.
* ASP 1.1 is no longer supported. The minimum available option is ASP 2.0 Classic - code changes are required for your existing code environment.
* MySQL 5.6 is the latest version that will run in the new server environment. Please check with your application developer and make sure your current application version is able to run with MySQL 5.6
(C) Recommended preparation
We recommend all users to run a full data backup for their web files and databases to their local desktop/laptop/external drive as an extra precaution for this migration exercise.Last but not least, please note that all affected clients will be notified privately on the actual migration date/time.
Thank you,
Hosticon.com
