Changing Servers effect on google crawl?

Will Google crawl ok with new IP

[WebMistress]

My hosting company needs to change me to a new server. How might this affect Google's crawl of my site?

I have 41,000 backlinks so Google should find me no problem during the crawl even if my IP changes and he can't find me automatically. Any comments as to what I can expect? And for how long the effects might take place?

[WebGuerrilla]

It all depends on when you make the change. Google doesn't seem to ever update their DNS cache during a crawl. So if they are out crawling and you move to a new IP, there is a strong chance that your site won't get crawled until the next crawl.

If possible, the best approach is to keep the site live at both IP's until you are confident that Google is indexing all the content from the new IP.

[taxpod]

I recently changed servers on the same host. Basically the server company just changed their DNS record and the next day Google had no trouble finding the new server. So I did it again with another site. Again no problem. The problems do occur where you change server companies. It can take a while for Gbot to find you in these cases. I did this once and it took more than one month.

[The Toecutter]

yes - leave content up at both hosts and watch your log files (if your hosting co will let you do this). I've switched several different sites this way and each time I just watch the log files until Googlebot switches over - then wait about two or three more weeks and then I pull the plug on the old one.

[WebMistress]

Thanks for all the feedback. It was very helpful. I am confident my hosting company will leave my site on both servers until I can be sure google has found me and indexed me on the new server. I'm glad I now know to ask that.

[WebMistress]

By the way, what should i watch for in my log files on the new server to feel confident I can pull the plug? 216.* Googlebot?