I'm sorry for the lack of warning. I wanted to do this in 2012 but I need the scalability for The Sims 3 Pets expansion which is coming soon, so it happens now. I can terminate my contract with the current host gracefully so we will begin transitioning to the new server I had planned for later. Since I've done a lot recently the process to execute a move is fresh in my mind. I will not start things immediately but you should expect some downtime. I did not think I would be doing this until next year but this move allows a lot more flexibility for me as far as price and power. For example, when the next expansion is released I can give the server a lot more juice to deal with the many incoming requests. When I don't need all that power, I can scale it back and save a bit. Either way, I am able to back up everything with just a single click which saves me a lot of time and protects us all the better. I apologize for any inconvenience but I'd rather get this over with. Everything should transition within 24 hours. When I'm done, you won't notice anything has changed. I will have to deal with little quirks like time etc. however as the server is not located in the same time zone. That is a low priority problem until the other stuff is done.
DO NOT UPLOAD ANY FILES TO THE GALLERY OR SWAP SHOP UNTIL THIS IS OVER AS I CANNOT GUARANTEE IT WILL BE THERE WHEN I AM DONE
Here is what you can expect:
Downtime: I'm afraid I can't predict just how long the server will be off. The trouble is that the current host has to forward all information to the new host and this information has to make its way to the internet --- so the web knows where we are located. I will lock things down about an hour before the move and then the move will begin. I will try to work as quickly as I can.
Images from the gallery will take time to upload. A LOT of time. I have to do this from my home machine so it will be a while before all images for stories etc. hosted from gallery will be visible.
Ditto for the attachments in the swap shop. I willl first do images then the attachments so these will be last to come.
The most crucial info on the forum is backed up already and on another server. Nothing can go horribly wrong with this move. The new locale of the files will be in another server on the cloud where the current info is stored.
I apologize in advance but I am not able to tell you exactly when it will begin. I'm sure you can imagine from my perspective that I just want to get it done as soon as I possibly can. I expect the move to begin sometime this afternoon and advance into the evening. The forum will be my first priority. The guide and other things can transition a little more smoothly and I have time to make that happen. My first priority is getting this board to its new home without a hitch. The guide is so much more simple and less likely to give me a problem.
THE FORUM WILL BE FOUND DIRECTLY OFF THE GUIDE SITE. It was set as it is in the past due to space and power constraints. Now we have enough power to put everything in one neat package. There is no need for another domain. When I am done with that you will find the forum at carls-sims-3-guide.com/forum/ and it will automatically forward any address to its proper spot. So most of you will not even notice -- there's not even a need to change your bookmarks.