Operations5 min read
Staging and production on one account
A second server that mirrors the first is the cheapest insurance in hosting. What to copy, what to deliberately differ, and how to keep them from drifting.
Testing an update on the live server is normal right up until the evening it is not. A second, smaller server that runs the same software is not a luxury; it is the only place an upgrade can fail without an audience.
Copy this
- The same versions of everything, which is the entire point.
- A recent copy of the world or database, so the test is against real data shapes.
- The configuration, minus anything containing a credential.
Deliberately differ
Separate credentials, separate database, and no connection to anything that sends messages to real people. A staging server that can email your users, or write to your production database, is a production server with a misleading name.