301-ing Entire Site - What to do with the Old Hosting

[aok88]

If you 301 an entire site to a new site of yours and the pages are staying the same, and the site needs to be on a Windows server, can you switch the old site the is on a Windows server (the site that is 301'd) to a Linux server and get the same results?

Essentially I am now paying for two Windows servers, one for the old 301'd site and one for the new site. And I would rather at least switch to a cheaper hosting (i.e. Linux) for the old site since it is just 301 redirecting now. But of course I want the 301 to still be working properly. Can this be done?

[lucy24]

If the only function of the "old" server is to capture a request and issue a redirect based on the capture, then I can't imagine why it would matter what platform the server is on. It's not even serving up existing content, let alone producing new content.

When shopping for hosting, make sure they support page-for-page redirects. Super-cheap hosting might not; that's how they get to be super-cheap.

[phranque]

technically it's possible to implement your redirects on a linux server instead of a windows server.
in some cases you can have both sites on the same server, so you might consider that option.

[Samizdata]

Essentially I am now paying for two Windows servers

Perhaps I am missing the point, but surely what you are redirecting are requests to a domain.

I would point that domain at the new server and deal with the requests there.

The old server can then be re-purposed or abandoned entirely.

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[aok88]

Thanks for all your answers, very helpful.

Perhaps I am missing the point, but surely what you are redirecting are requests to a domain.

I would point that domain at the new server and deal with the requests there.

I see what you're saying, but I am afraid that simply 'pointing' the domain to the new server and abandoning the old server won't be a proper 301 redirect, right?

[Samizdata]

I see what you're saying, but I am afraid that simply 'pointing' the domain to the new server and abandoning the old server won't be a proper 301 redirect, right?

It depends whether your new host's control panel includes such basics as DNS and aliased/parked domains - I have several domains that 301 to my other sites on the same hosting account.

The first step is to park the domain in the DNS entry, the second is to 301 any requests. I use Apache hosting so the latter is done in .htaccess, but there must be a Windows equivalent.

I can't see any reason for you to need two servers.

If the domain registration is held by the "old" host, you can transfer it to the "new" host, or if you use a third party registrar, you can amend the DNS to point the domain to the new server.

The 301 part is domain to domain, there is nothing improper about it.

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