Backstory: One of my design clients is changing webhosts from one tiny pissant little company to a larger co. (LiquidWeb). In doing so, he’s going from a shared server to a dedicated one. (The reason for the move is that the old hosts were bought out and gave my client two weeks to change hosts. Nice.)
This means it’s time to move files from server A to server B. And here’s where we need help.
Me, I’m used to UNIX-based systems, not to mention decent and responsive webhosts, so when I’ve had to move websites in the past, the hosts of my new site were kind enough to do the migration for me, which they did through shell commands (tar/gzipping the files on the old system, then moving through SSH and unpacking the files on the new system).
It seems that this isn’t possible in Windows systems, huh? Because the LiquidWeb tech guy told my client that this isn’t how it’s done. He said he’s willing to install whatever we do need to make the transfer, but I have no idea what that is. Frankly I’m surprised the tech guy didn’t offer a solution himself… surely this must be something they’ve done a million times.
Anyway, I’m wondering if anyone here has Windows experience and can tell me how it is done? My client implies that he wants me to move the files myself through FTP, but if that means downloading the stuff from serverA, to my computer, and then to server B, that is gonna take a major fuckton of time considering I don’t exactly have a blazing fast connection (only 1.5mbps). Also it just seems so backwards to me.
Things that probably need to be taken into account: the client’s site uses ASP scripts, an Access database, FP extensions, and a SSL certificate. Most of the site isn’t run through any CMS or database, however; it’s just separate HTML/ASP pages.
What should I be asking these guys? Do I need some special Windows-compatible program similar to SSH/shell/Putty or whatever? Or am I just gonna have to take a weekend to download these fifty folders one by one, then upload 'em to the new server? Ugh.
Help?