Moving to a new server

Apr 14, 2008

I’ve owned this website for quite some years now – even before I started using it for blogging. Before that I mainly used it as a sandbox or playground if you’d like. It ran on Windows Server 2000 in a shared hosting environment and has been really stabile for all those years.

Then about a week ago I got a phone call from my hosting provider Next Level Internet asking me if they could move my plan to a Windows Server 2003 machine instead. It didn’t really mean a lot to me at the time, because of the stability on Windows Server 2000 and because I didn’t use any features that demanded the use of Windows Server 2003. But of course I said yes.

Now, a week later it has become clear just how much faster Windows Server 2003 is compared to its predecessor. It is super fast, has much fewer application restarts and is more efficient in handling memory. Sweet!

Writing this post I realize that I’m excited about a 5 year old piece of software and wonder if I should stop right now so I won’t make a fool of myself. Nah, it’s probably too late for that anyway. I’m looking forward to trying Windows Server 2008 in about five years time. That’s gonna fly.

* Only $4.95/month ASP.NET & Windows 2008 + IIS 7 Hosting! FREE SQL Included

Comments (8) -

Domenic
Domenic United States
4/14/2008 5:32:48 PM #

This is a bit ironic, in that I'm considering _switching_ hosting providers from a 2003 (which I've had since I started, maybe two or three years ago) to a 2008. The main reason is that the 2008 people won't support ASP.NET 3.5, or at least have delayed my requests continually.

Domenic
Domenic United States
4/14/2008 5:36:08 PM #

Er, the 2003 people.

Chris
Chris United States
4/14/2008 6:50:16 PM #

I have been using Windows 2008 for about two months now and have had excellent results.  Getting used to the new IIS manager feel took a little getting used to but after passing that learning curve I am really happy with Windows 2008!  

Mads Kristensen
Mads Kristensen Denmark
4/14/2008 9:11:29 PM #

@Chris,

Windows Server 2008 is by far the best Windows Server release ever. Windows 2003 doesn't even come close IMHO.

Adrian
Adrian Australia
4/24/2008 12:17:55 PM #

2008 is fantastic.  Staying current with server OS software is pretty important as a developer.  I often find we provide the impetous for the infrastructure folks to upgrade.

And although upgrading for upgrade sake is not a fantastic idea, upgrading to get patches and functionality does often open up new opportunities.

Adrian
Adrian Australia
4/24/2008 12:19:58 PM #

Oh by the way, just noticed you are on 1.3.0.29 of blog engine -- you might want to upgrade to upgrade re www.dotnetblogengine.net/.../...tch-Available.aspx Smile

snyhol
snyhol United States
4/24/2008 4:03:21 PM #

LOL Mads!!!  That's a great story.  Thanks for sharing!

Chris, I agree - they moved things around in the new IIS Manager.  Migrating the httpHandlers to the System.Webserver section of web.config really had me confused for a while! (because I *thought* my host was running IIS6 and they didn't tell me they were running IIS7)  

Wade Wegner
Wade Wegner United States
4/25/2008 1:27:40 PM #

Check out the following case study:

www.microsoft.com/.../casestudy.aspx

Dell has found significant results by simply migrating to Windows Server 2008; I've also worked with customers locally that have also had huge increases in speed after moving to Windows Server 2008.

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Mads Kristensen

Mads Kristensen
Program Manager at the Microsoft Web Platform team and founder of BlogEngine.NET.

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The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent my employer’s view in any way.