(Jason Richey jasonr@bomis.com):
So, I think the new server should take the current server's IP (when we go live), and the current server should get a new IP.
For testing, then, the current server should get that new IP now, so that we can install Apache on the new one, configure it to talk to mysql at that IP, and then switch it over without having to reconfigure. Can you switch IPs remotely?
This implies that the mailing list software should either be moved to the new server, or an MX record should be added to DNS (simple in relation to changing dozens of subdomains) to point to the new ip of the current server.
This has been mentioned before, but how about moving the mailings lists off entirely? That way, users can still communicate when the server is overloaded.