Score:1

Moving linux server from ARM to x86

mt flag

I've got a RPi LAMP server; Apache alone drives our Nextcloud, Zabbix, Prestashop, Guacamole and few other - we're unhappy with the performance as my 1GBit fiber is wasting on RPi(only 100Mb/s) and playing 4k video is not possible for two people at the same time. My system is located on a SSD and the whole NC data is stored on HDD(inb4 uses better cards).

I want to migrate to x64 based on Ryzen 5 Pro 3600 which should be more than enough for my needs; I know that the architecture changes so I can't just connect my disks to the new server.

What should I remember and do to properly move from one to another? I'm targeting Ubuntu Server. I've got Webmin installed and there's backup options but I'm not sure - couldn't find any tutorials on how to properly do it.

Best regards,

Tim avatar
gp flag
Tim
I would generally think you have to start from scratch, install your OS, install your applications, copy over your configurations and data. Have you considered using a CDN for caching or offloading large files to hosting such as S3 / B2 / something else?
CRUDO avatar
mt flag
I have not considered integrated CDN as my connecton with internet is properly fast and the only bottleneck is hardware - I won't have more users than ten in the same time - CDN will be a solution if the hardware upgrade won't be enough. Cost matter.
Tim avatar
gp flag
Tim
CloudFlare is a free CDN. With appropriate headers, once content is cached it will be served from there - though with a small number of users it might still hit your server regularly. I just did a speed test on my Pi.4 on my 300 / 100 internet connection, I got 225Mbps down and 90Mbps up. Doing some quick reading you may just need to optimise your server, perhaps using jumbo frames, maybe a USB ethernet adapter https://www.jiribrejcha.net/2021/09/multigigabit-ethernet-on-the-raspberry-pi-4. Otherwise, build a new server from scratch as I mentioned above.
Score:1
cn flag

Backup data. Build a new x86 instance. Restore data from backup. Update service names in DNS when applications are functional.

Consider writing an unattended install config with Debian preseed or Ubuntu autoinstall. This documents installer settings, for the next major upgrade, or any other need for freshly installed systems.

As a bonus, this platform migration tests your backup restore procedures. Note that network interfaces, storage, host name and other IDs, and some other system details are different, so copying all of /etc introduces some messy "merge conflicts". Consider doing a restore targeting just the applications.

Change in architecture is swapping out a large number of packages, but it won't be an identical list due to platform quirks. And seems like you are migrating from some other Debian based to Ubuntu. So no, swapping the OS disk over is not practical.

I sit in a Tesla and translated this thread with Ai:

mangohost

Post an answer

Most people don’t grasp that asking a lot of questions unlocks learning and improves interpersonal bonding. In Alison’s studies, for example, though people could accurately recall how many questions had been asked in their conversations, they didn’t intuit the link between questions and liking. Across four studies, in which participants were engaged in conversations themselves or read transcripts of others’ conversations, people tended not to realize that question asking would influence—or had influenced—the level of amity between the conversationalists.