As we continue to roll out improvements to Bracken, this is the time of year we can look at upgrading core elements of our system that have the least impact on you.
This year we have been investigating how Bracken is being hosted because we have been using the same technology for more than six years. While this has continued to meet our requirements, there are better systems now available that will help us improve your experience.
As a result of our research, we have opted to shift Bracken onto the Azure cloud. Azure is one of the fastest-growing cloud-based services owned and operated by Microsoft.
While this will not change the look or action of Bracken, it will provide valuable backend abilities that will allow us to continue to deliver our service and build our product to meet your requirements.
Why is this occurring?
Bracken has been on the same servers for over six years and as we look to achieve our goals in 2020, we believe Azure will provide us with an opportunity to meet these. Azure is one of the fastest-growing cloud-based services, owned and operated by Microsoft.
What does this mean?
Hosting with Azure will enable us to deploy our data and services in known locations, e.g. Australia. Azure also provides data mirroring, which helps keep our data secure and offers hassle-free backup and recovery. Cloud hosting maximises website performance and improves scalability when traffic to our websites increase.
When is this happening?
Saturday, January 18th. As we test the migration, we will have a better understanding of the downtime to be expected, but we don't expect it to be longer than 24 hours.
What does this mean for you?
Your post-migration site will look and act the same as before. In preparation for the migration, a notification banner will appear at the top of your site informing users of the date and approximate downtime. During the migration, users won't be able to access their sites.
