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Explanation for the much-longer-than-30-minutes downtime
I originally expected the move to take around 30 minutes or so, because that's how long it took to move last time I switched servers. However, this time, I had a statistics tool set up which took an awfully long time to get its data ready to move over. This turned out to be a documented issue that I was, unfortunately, unaware of prior to starting the transfer, and is what slowed down the process so much.
Why this move was made
The new server is, in a nutshell, is much faster and a little cheaper than our old one. I was able to get a great deal on a massive dedicated box with 32 GB of RAM, two SSD's, and two huge hard drives. The OS and its applications are all installed on the SSD, and MySQL's databases are stored on it as well; meanwhile, non-database stuff like attachments are stored on the hard drives where there is tons of room for it. Both the SSD's and the hard drives are in RAID1, which increases performance and ensures that nothing will go offline in the event that a drive fails.
This means that unlimited attachment uploads aren't going anywhere, and the page loading times should be shorter, especially on longer threads. It's also going to be beneficial for Pony.fm, as that site is going to allow unlimited song uploads. Finally, I'm also able to pass the savings down to my hosting clients as well, which will allow me to offer them bigger packages for better prices.
Whom we're now hosting with
The company behind this awesome new server is I/O Flood. I want to take the time to give a special thanks to Gabe, who has been extremely helpful over the past couple of weeks in getting everything set up and ready to go for us in tip-top shape, offered me an amazing deal, and has gone above and beyond the level of service you'd normally expect from a hosting company. The hiccups we had in the process were due to unexpected behaviour in my control panel software, and had nothing to do with the server that his team delivered - although they were the ones who finally got to the bottom of yesterday's DNS breakdown.
Gabe, if you see this, you deserve mega kudos for everything you've done. Thank you.
