RE: [cobalt-users] How to move RAQ to new IP addresses

["Brent Sims" <listmail@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Does anybody have experience, suggestions how to move RAQ to new IP
> addreses without mutch troble. ( > 100 DNS records, ~50 sites)

Hi Ilmars,

	I renumbered quite a few times last year - without ever having a
problem. For the Name Servers we bound the new IP addresses to the
server and added a Listen-On directive to named's configuration so the
name servers would answer queries on both IP addresses. Then we
submitted the change to the register, allowing plenty of time for the
new information to propagate. You can even install something like iptraf
(freshmeat.net) on the server and watch the name server roll from the
old IP address to the new so you'll know when the new IP addresses are
active and the old are no longer being used. 

	We then set the TTL in each zone file to five minutes and waited
a week or so for propagation before proceeding. Then using three people,
one to change the IP address in the zone file, and the other to change
the IP address for the site itself, and the third to supervise and
coordinate the timing of the changes, we went to work at midnight on a
Saturday evening as Sunday morning traffic is usually low here, and we
quickly went down thru the list on the GUI while doing the zone files at
the very same time and we smoothly made the changes. 

	I've done it this many times on multiple servers with hundreds
of sites without generating as much as one single "my site is down"
complaint from a client. The only "scary" part is the name servers.
Whoever you registered the name servers with will more than likely
update their records quickly and the new IP addresses of the name
servers will then appear when doing a whois on any domains registered
with them, however, domains registered with other registers will show
the old IP addresses for a long time, unless you visit each one
individually and submit the change, though they'll actually be using the
new IP addresses for authority.

	Renumbering sounds a whole lot scarier than it actually is to
do. Obviously, one needs to be very careful as a mistake can cause a
site to be down for an extended period of time, but renumbering can be
done quickly, smoothly and safely with a bit of prior planning.

	Best Regards,

	Brent
 
	Brent Sims, Customer Service Manager
	WebOkay Internet Services, LLC
	Phone (719) 595-1427
	http://www.webokay.net/