SiteHost

Upgrading a Virtual Server

If your server is not on a contract term (and most servers with us aren't) you can upgrade your plan or add disk space at any time. It's always a good idea to be have some excess resources over and above your 'standard' usage so that your server can handle a surprise increase in traffic or a more intensive workload. We may also ask you to upgrade your server if you are regularly using more resources than your plan includes (also known as bursting or excessive CPU cycles) so you don't impact other customers on the same hardware node.

All server upgrades are handled through the Upgrade tab on the server's management page in the SiteHost Control Panel. To get here:

  1. Log into the SiteHost Control Panel.
  2. Visit the Servers module on the left menu, and select your server from the list.
  3. Select Upgrades from available tabs.

Changing Plans

  1. Select the plan you want to upgrade to. Your current plan will already be selected.
  2. Select Update Plan.
  3. If the server is not managed by SiteHost, you will now have an option to Commit changes or Discard changes. If you select Commit changes, the VPS will be rebooted to apply them. You may then want to perform this after hours to minimise the downtime, which should only be a few minutes. If you now select Discard changes then it will cancel the upgrade and nothing will be applied.
  4. If the server is managed by SiteHost, we will be notified of the pending upgrade and will reach out to you to schedule when you want this applied and handle the rest for you.

Upgrading Disk Space

This follows almost the same steps as above, however instead of selecting a plan you will instead use the Disk drop down menu under the Individual Upgrades section of the page. Once done, select Apply Upgrades.

Live Upgrades

In early 2024, we started migrating to a new virtualisation platform which enabled upgrading cores, memory, and disk space without requiring a reboot. We refer to this as a live upgrade because it allows you to scale up your plan without the impact of downtime.

A message will be displayed on the upgrade page if this feature is supported by your server.

Important Notes

  • There are other options to select under the Individual Upgrades section, though these depend on the plan you are currently on. We usually only do incremental disk upgrades but there can be exceptions. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach us at support@sitehost.co.nz.
  • If you want to decrease the storage space or plan of your server you will need to contact us at support@sitehost.co.nz.
  • If the upgrades you are requesting are not available on this page please contact us at support@sitehost.co.nz.
  • During the upgrade process for a VPS, you may be requested to migrate your server if there are insufficient resources available on the host server. This will require shutting down the server for a few minutes (usually 5-15 minutes) while the migration takes place.