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    Upgrading Your VPS

    Upgrade to a larger plan or migrate to Cloud VPS

    Table of Contents

    OpenVZ Platform Notice

    OpenVZ servers are no longer being sold. To upgrade your existing OpenVZ VPS, you must open a support ticket to request the upgrade path to be made available for your account. We recommend migrating to our Cloud VPS platform for the best experience.

    Upgrade Options

    When your VPS needs more resources, you have several upgrade paths available:

    Option 1: Upgrade to Larger OpenVZ Plan

    Stay on legacy OpenVZ platform but move to a plan with more CPU, RAM, disk space, or bandwidth. This is the simplest option if OpenVZ meets your needs.

    Option 2: Migrate to Cloud VPS

    Switch to our modern Cloud VPS platform for better performance, more features, and easier scaling. Cloud VPS uses KVM virtualization and offers hourly billing, snapshots, private networks, and more.

    Recommended: Cloud VPS

    We strongly recommend migrating to Cloud VPS if you're ready for an upgrade. It offers modern features, better performance, and is our actively developed platform. OpenVZ is legacy and receives minimal updates.

    How to Upgrade

    Upgrading Within OpenVZ

    1. Log into the Client Area
    2. Go to "Services" → "My Services"
    3. Click on your VPS service
    4. Look for "Upgrade/Downgrade Options" or "Product Upgrades"
    5. Select the plan you want to upgrade to
    6. Review pricing and prorated charges
    7. Complete the upgrade order

    Migrating to Cloud VPS

    1. Order a new Cloud VPS instance
    2. Set up your applications on the new Cloud instance
    3. Migrate your data (see migration guide below)
    4. Update DNS records to point to new IP
    5. Test thoroughly before canceling old VPS
    6. Cancel your old OpenVZ VPS once migration is complete

    Pricing and Billing

    Prorated Charges

    When you upgrade your OpenVZ VPS plan, you'll be charged the prorated difference between your current plan and the new plan for the remaining billing cycle.

    Example

    If you're halfway through your billing cycle:

    • Current plan: $5/month
    • New plan: $10/month
    • Days remaining: 15 days
    • Prorated charge: ($10 - $5) × (15/30) = $2.50

    Next Billing Cycle

    Starting with your next billing cycle, you'll be charged the full price of the new plan.

    Data Migration Guide

    Before Migration

    • Create a full backup of your data
    • Document all configurations and installed software
    • Note all DNS records and IP configurations
    • Plan for downtime if necessary

    Method 1: rsync (Recommended)

    Use rsync to transfer files while maintaining permissions:

    rsync -avz -e ssh /source/path/ root@new-ip:/destination/path/

    Method 2: Backup and Restore

    1. Create tar.gz archive of your data
    2. Transfer archive to new server
    3. Extract on new server
    4. Restore configurations

    Method 3: Database Migration

    For databases, use appropriate dump and restore tools:

    # MySQL
mysqldump -u root -p database_name > backup.sql
mysql -u root -p database_name < backup.sql

# PostgreSQL
pg_dump dbname > backup.sql
psql dbname < backup.sql

    What Gets Upgraded

    Resources Included in Upgrade

    • CPU - More CPU cores or allocation
    • RAM - Increased memory
    • Disk Space - Larger storage capacity
    • Bandwidth - Higher monthly transfer limit

    What Stays the Same

    • Your IP address (usually stays the same for OpenVZ upgrades)
    • Your data and configurations
    • Your SSH keys and access settings

    Downtime Expectations

    OpenVZ Plan Upgrade

    Typically 5-15 minutes of downtime while resources are allocated and VPS is rebooted. Downtime is usually minimal.

    Migration to Cloud VPS

    You can set up the new Cloud VPS in parallel with your existing OpenVZ VPS, minimizing downtime to just the DNS propagation period (or zero downtime with proper load balancer setup).

    After Upgrade

    Verification Steps

    1. Check that all services are running
    2. Verify new resources are available (df -h, free -m)
    3. Test website/application functionality
    4. Monitor performance for 24-48 hours
    5. Update documentation with new specs

    Optimization

    After upgrading, consider optimizing for the new resources:

    • Adjust application worker/process counts
    • Increase cache sizes if appropriate
    • Update monitoring thresholds
    • Review and adjust performance settings

    Need Help with Migration?

    Our support team can assist with upgrades and migrations. Open a support ticket at clientarea.ramnode.com if you need guidance or have questions about the upgrade process.