Old website on AWS

[HFE Signs]

Hi folks,

My website guys have told me that it would make sense to move our site to a more reliable server to futureproof us from any hardware issues with our current server becoming quite old. They suggest AWS

The issue is, the site is very well established and over the years we've had many custom developed features built into it. They tell me that the current coding isn't compatible with AWS and we would need a complete new build.

I was hoping the current site could have the code upgraded to the latest php and then we continue as we are for the time being, but apparently this isn't possible or wouldn't be the best option?

I'm also told we wouldn't be able to keep the URL's - This is a major problem to us as the site ranks well and we can't afford to lose our rankings.

Any help or advice please guys?

 

[Paul Carmen]

Not sure what your site is built with (haven't looked), but get them to investigate the options to move to decent hosting that would support the current platform, rather than AWS.

If it's too out of date, or truly impossible to update to a level that can be migrated/hosted elsewhere, then your only option is to build a new site.

Again, without spidering the site and looking at the the URLs, I can't see why you cant use them, unless they end in something like .php?

Even then, there's nothing to stop a good migration plan being produced; e.g. create new versions of the pages, with relevant copy, optimised technical SEO and functionality, then create them on the same/similar URLs. A 301 redirect plan can then be put in place to ensure the migration doesn't negatively impact SEO/organic rankings.

 

[antropy]

My website guys have told me that it would make sense to move our site to a more reliable server to futureproof us from any hardware issues with our current server becoming quite old. They suggest AWS

Avoid AWS like the plague. It's the most over-complicated piece of rubbish there is. Even my senior developers struggle to do basic things with it and when I've had a look at it, it's a total nightmare.

Paul.

 

[fisicx]

Don’t move to AWS. Just move to a new server.

 

[HFE Signs]

Don’t move to AWS. Just move to a new server.

Can you recommend a reliable dedicated server that would work with our website?

 

[fisicx]

I’ve got a dedicated server with these guys:

Domain Name registration and Web Hosting | Hosting UK

Rated 5 stars by customers, Hosting UK provide great value Domain Names, Web Hosting, Windows & Linux hosting, Cloud and Dedicated Servers, with UK support.

hostinguk.net

It’s fully managed but I rarely need support. They will do the migration for you as part of the fee.

There are probably others as good if not better but this is only one I know.

 

[IanSuth]

I do remember years ago going to migrate a website that was built with an older version of PHP and certain functions wouldn't update because of an incompatibility with an updated version of (and this i am only vaguely remembering) mysql (phpmyadmin ?) and the new hosted server had moved to that version.

There was a workaround which was simple enough to get my son to learn and do in an afternoon - but i can imagine a company to just want you to redo - i also seem to remember some kind of deadline of this Nov/Dec for being able to run the old version of PHP but again that may be a wrong memory or me being confused as I am not a developer

 

[makeusvisible]

Just a little observation to start with. It sounds like your 'web guys' know the site better than anyone who is going to be able to advise you here (especially if they host it already). So if they are telling you it needs a re-write, why would a stranger's opinion, who doesn't know the site, be more reliable than your existing web guys?

Regards AWS. They have a huge proportion of the hosting marketplace. In my opinion, their platform is incredibly robust, secure and stable....which is why some many global organisations rely on it. But that aside, if your existing developers want to use AWS to host, I would let them make that decision. Forcing them to use a platform they don't want to use, would be a little like telling your decorator which brand of paintbrush you want them to use. Fair enough if the choice is an obvious bad one, but AWS is an incredible platform, and if they are comfortable with it I'd say that's a win for you.

Regards the existing rank, as has been mentioned, you do want to get together a little game-plan as to how the new version of the site goes live. You'll obviously want to maintain the META/TITLES and likely the content of the pages, but you'll also want to setup 301 redirections so that none of the old URLs become unreachable.

Hope that helps.

 

[dani_moore]

I don't have much information about AWS but I know several people who host at SG, I think they use Google servers, the websites work fine, there are no failures and they are quite satisfied with the product.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

You need to find out what isn't compatible and why!

Then look at different hosts, not just AWS. Remember, using something like AWS means you need to manage a server as well as hosting!

 

[gpietersz]

Avoid AWS like the plague. It's the most over-complicated piece of rubbish there is.

I agree. Its built for a use case most people do not have - running large numbers of servers, and being able to ramp up or down rapidly. You pay a lot to get that though.

My website guys have told me that it would make sense to move our site to a more reliable server to futureproof us from any hardware issues with our current server becoming quite old. They suggest AWS

AWS is not particularly reliable if you use it just to run a server. It does provide services that can be used to build a very reliable system on, but its a lot of work.

They tell me that the current coding isn't compatible with AWS and we would need a complete new build.

That is nonsense. You can run anything on AWS.

I was hoping the current site could have the code upgraded to the latest php and then we continue as we are for the time being, but apparently this isn't possible or wouldn't be the best option?

You can definitely run PHP on AWS.

Remember, using something like AWS means you need to manage a server as well as hosting!

Not entirely true. Its the commonest way of doing it, but there is AWS Lambda.

I'm also told we wouldn't be able to keep the URL's - This is a major problem to us as the site ranks well and we can't afford to lose our rankings.

Why not? Can you at least redirect old URLs to corresponding new ones? i.e. each /something/page.php would be redirected to something like /something/page

Any help or advice please guys?

Yes, fire your web guys!

 

[HFE Signs]

Update

My current web guys did some research and came back to me with a proposal to re-write some of the code and patch up the bits that were not compatible with AWS. We do this to get the current site working on a reliable server with a view to upgrade the site in the future. (the initial concern was that we were on a very old server and if it failed we would be in serious trouble)

I know some of you don't recommend AWS but my web guys know the site and are familiar with AWS so I decided to trust their expert opinion, also from my own research they are incredibly reliable.

The site has now been moved over and everything is tested and working, happy days.

Thank for your input guys, you helped me to ask the right questions, appreciated!

 

[gpietersz]

My current web guys did some research and came back to me with a proposal to re-write some of the code and patch up the bits that were not compatible with AWS.

Great. I would be a little sceptical of their advice though. Clearly they did not need to completely redevelop the site!

know some of you don't recommend AWS but my web guys know the site and are familiar with AWS so I decided to trust their expert opinion, also from my own research they are incredibly reliable.

Glad its working for you. For the benefit of others thinking about it, while AWS gives you tools to build reliable systems, this takes a lot of work. It is not all that reliable out of the box.

 

[fisicx]

And expect performance to suffer. AWS or any other cloudy service is often slower. It can be fast but as @gpietersz suggests it needs a lot of configuration

 

[HFE Signs]

And expect performance to suffer. AWS or any other cloudy service is often slower. It can be fast but as @gpietersz suggests it needs a lot of configuration

Hopefully I've done the right thing in trusting my web guys, the other option was a complete re build for £25-30k They have always been good in the past and very knowledgeable so hopefully the configuration is set efficiently. I'd hope they know what they're doing as they are moving most of their customers over.

 

[gpietersz]

Hopefully I've done the right thing in trusting my web guys, the other option was a complete re build for £25-30k

That site does not look like it should cost anywhere near that to replace.

I'd hope they know what they're doing as they are moving most of their customers over.

Does not look like it to me. Your site does not look like its properly done from many points of view: performance, usability, accessibility (OK, most people do not care about that) and probably more if I had the time to look.

I bet the AWS setup is a single EC2 instance plus a single EBS volume? A sure sign people do not know what they are doing. I am assuming it is hosted on your AWS account, not theirs? If so you can see this in the AWS console.

 

[danishnaseer]

Hi folks,

My website guys have told me that it would make sense to move our site to a more reliable server to futureproof us from any hardware issues with our current server becoming quite old. They suggest AWS

The issue is, the site is very well established and over the years we've had many custom developed features built into it. They tell me that the current coding isn't compatible with AWS and we would need a complete new build.

I was hoping the current site could have the code upgraded to the latest php and then we continue as we are for the time being, but apparently this isn't possible or wouldn't be the best option?

I'm also told we wouldn't be able to keep the URL's - This is a major problem to us as the site ranks well and we can't afford to lose our rankings.

Any help or advice please guys?

I don't know the programming language on which you site based, but I can give a suggestion to test your site on any other hosting on a trial basis. You will have a clear picture after migrate it to another host. You can use cloudways PHP hosting, they offer 3-days free trial and they also help in migration. Their offer is also live for 30 free migration. So you can give it a try!

 

[HFE Signs]

I don't know the programming language on which you site based, but I can give a suggestion to test your site on any other hosting on a trial basis. You will have a clear picture after migrate it to another host. You can use cloudways PHP hosting, they offer 3-days free trial and they also help in migration. Their offer is also live for 30 free migration. So you can give it a try!

Thanks for your reply, as my update above the site was moved and is all working fine