Hi
I have two servers running Red Hat 3.4.6-11 CentOS release 4.8 (Final); lets call them dev1 and dev2.
Dev1 is running a website which uses tomcat and oracle and other software that Im unaware of. Dev1 is going to go offline because it needs some maintenance. So, while dev1 is offline, I want dev2 to do the job. I have access to dev1 and dev2 through putty since they are at a different location in town. What steps can I take to make this happen?

What exactly are you looking to do? Do you want to know how to replicate the websites and other information to the second server? If that is the case I think you will need a much better understanding of what is running on the server(s) than "other software Im unaware of". Also what is currently on the second server, and is it being used for anything currently?

On the other hand if they are already replicating and you just want to know how to redirect traffic to the second server while the first is down, that is easy enough. All that will be required is a DNS change to point traffic to the new server, and waiting to allow that change to replicate out to the internet at large. That is assuming that you have both servers with different public IPs already. If they are say both behind a hardware firewall with a shared public IP then all that would be needed is a change in the port forward or NAT rule to point to the right internal IP.

Thank you for your response. Yes I want to know how to replicate the websites and other information to the second server. If you know how to do it, Im willing to pay if you get this done. I did not build the website so I dont know what all software it is using on dev1. dev2 has Red Hat 3.4.6-11 CentOS release 4.8 (Final); it is not being used for anything currently.

Well you will really need to know what services are using in order to replicate them to another server. Once you know what the different pieces are you will need to figure out how each one of them can be replicated to another server. For some things RSYNC might be an answer (mostly flat files), but others such as the Oracle databases you will need to read the documentation and figure out how to replicate that.

Also another question to think about which will factor in to how difficult this will be is if you really want to do a replication, or if stopping traffic at some point, doing a full backup of all services, restoring on the new server, and then allowing traffic on the new server is an option. Going the backup and restore route will be easier, especially if this is a one time need. Ultimately though no matter what you choose to do you will really need to fully understand what the bits and pieces of this are in order to do this successfully. Without that understanding you will have all sorts of problems due to missing data, configurations, or binaries on the new server.

Thank you for your response. Do you know anyone who can figure this out and do it for me? I dont want to take the backup approach. I want to just install all the software on the new server and configure it for the website to work. I dont care about stopped traffic since there is practically no one on the website.

Im willing to pay the right person.

Then I would recommend to go to the LQ Job Marketplace and make your offer.

I wish I could post on there but I was surprised that its $20 to just post stuff there.

I don't know about your setup, how big it is? could you please share me the details.

You willing to look at it right now?
add me in gtalk: get.dipen@gmail.com

Yes, I've sent you a mail.

I just sent an invite to chat.

If you are running a production setup, and are willing to pay someone (presumably much more than $20.00) for help with your problem(s), I would think that $20.00 is a rather small advertising fee, given the potential exposure to those in the know, that an ad on LQ would provide.

In my opinion, there's no point moderating or closing this thread because of advertising, as I've arrived well after the fact, and the issue has already gone off-site from what I can see. In the future however, threads containing requests for help for which you are willing to pay money, will be considered to be (employment) advertising, and contrary to LQ Rules, and will be closed or moderated, pending a payment for an LQ Marketplace ad (or not).

Perhaps the OP will ultimately consider sharing the details of whatever course of action solves the issue with your server(s), so that other members of this public forum who are having a similar problem, can learn & benefit.

Kind regards,
Sasha

Even if OP chooses not to enter into the "LQ Spirit" & tell us what happened/how it was solved, prodev05 may give an "after action" report for the archives.