Server Migration Services

By Reboot Monkey Team

Reboot Monkey executes physical server migrations in 250+ cities across 190 countries. Individual servers relocated between racks, facilities, or cities with full deinstall, transport coordination, reinstall, cabling, and post-migration verification.

What Is Server Migration?

Server migration is the physical relocation of individual servers from one location to another. This is not a software project. It is the hands-on process of powering down a server, documenting its cable connections, removing it from the rack, transporting it safely to a new location, reinstalling it in the destination rack, reconnecting all cabling and power, and verifying that the system comes back online in the expected state. Server migrations occur in several configurations. Within a single facility, servers move between racks in different cages or zones: to optimise power distribution, comply with new tenancy requirements, or consolidate equipment. Between facilities in the same city, a server physically travels across town from one colocation provider's data center to another. Cross-city and cross-country migrations involve logistics coordination across jurisdictions, including customs documentation for international moves. Reboot Monkey is not a colocation provider. We do not own or operate data center facilities. We are a third-party operator that sends trained field engineers into colocation facilities to perform physical work on behalf of our clients. A single Reboot Monkey engagement covers the source facility, the logistics chain, and the destination facility, regardless of which operators own each site. Our engineers hold access credentials and vendor certifications across the major hardware platforms, and work under a 24/7 NOC that coordinates every migration from first contact to post-move sign-off.

Server migration = physical move of individual servers, not software or data transfer
Covers within-facility, cross-facility, and cross-city server relocations
Reboot Monkey provides third-party on-site execution, not facility-owned support
Single contract covers source and destination regardless of facility operator
24/7 NOC coordination from deinstall through post-migration verification

When Do You Need a Professional Server Migration Service?

Not every server move requires outside help. But several situations make professional third-party execution the right choice. The most common trigger is facility access. Your engineering team may not hold access credentials to the destination data center. Gaining visitor access for a colocation facility requires sponsor approval, background checks in some jurisdictions, and coordination with the facility's security team. Reboot Monkey engineers are credentialed at facilities across our global footprint, eliminating weeks of access logistics for one-off migrations. The second trigger is geographic distance. When the source and destination facilities are in different cities or countries, a remote team cannot physically execute the work. Sending your own engineers means travel time, accommodation, and the risk that the engineer on-site is not familiar with the destination facility's operational rules. Reboot Monkey deploys local engineers who know the facilities they operate in, including loading dock schedules, equipment trolley availability, and the facility's specific cabling standards. The third trigger is hardware sensitivity. High-density GPU servers weigh over 30 kg and contain liquid cooling loops, NVLink bridges, or custom power configurations that require careful disassembly and transport. A standard move-and-carry procedure that works for a 1U compute server will damage a 4U AI training server. Reboot Monkey engineers are trained in handling dense, high-value hardware with the protective packaging and transport procedures appropriate to each platform. The fourth trigger is documentation requirements. In regulated industries, every physical action taken on a server must be auditable. Regulated sectors including financial services, healthcare, and government require signed work orders, equipment serial number verification, before-and-after photographs, and chain-of-custody records. Reboot Monkey delivers a complete documentation package for every server migration, whether the move involves one server or one hundred.

Facility access: Reboot Monkey engineers are credentialed at colocation sites across the global footprint
Geographic distance: local engineers eliminate travel logistics for cross-city or cross-country moves
Hardware sensitivity: trained procedures for high-density GPU servers, liquid-cooled systems, and custom platforms
Regulatory documentation: signed work orders, serial number verification, before/after photos, chain-of-custody
Single-vendor execution: one company covers source, logistics coordination, and destination

How Reboot Monkey Executes a Server Migration

Every server migration follows a four-phase process designed to eliminate surprises, minimise downtime, and produce auditable records of every physical action taken. Phase 1: Pre-Migration Assessment. Before any equipment is touched, the assigned field engineer reviews the server specifications, verifies the destination rack configuration, and confirms that power capacity, cooling, and network connectivity at the destination are correctly provisioned for the incoming hardware. For cross-facility moves, the engineer also confirms access credentials, loading dock booking, and transport route. A pre-migration checklist documents the expected state of the server before deinstall: power status, active network connections, storage configuration, and current rack position. This document becomes the baseline for post-migration verification. Phase 2: Deinstall. The engineer powers down the server following your runbook or our standard shutdown procedure, photographs the front and rear panel, records all cable connections including labels and port numbers, disconnects all cabling in documented order, and removes the server from the rack. Rail kits are either retained or replaced according to the destination rack specification. Server serial numbers are verified against the work order before the unit leaves the source rack. For migrations involving multiple servers in a single batch, each unit is individually tagged and logged in the equipment manifest. Phase 3: Transport Coordination. For within-facility moves, the engineer transports the server directly to the destination rack using appropriate equipment trolleys and anti-static precautions. For cross-facility moves, Reboot Monkey coordinates with an approved logistics provider. Servers travel in anti-static, shock-protected packaging with GPS tracking for high-value hardware. For international moves, Reboot Monkey prepares customs documentation including commercial invoice, packing list, and equipment classification codes. Transit times and hand-off procedures are confirmed before any equipment leaves the source facility. Phase 4: Reinstall and Verification. At the destination, the engineer installs the server in the designated rack position, routes all cabling according to the destination cabling plan, and powers the server on. Post-migration verification confirms that the server successfully boots, network connectivity is established on all expected interfaces, and storage volumes are accessible. Any discrepancy between expected and observed state is logged immediately and escalated to the 24/7 NOC. The completed work order, including before-and-after photographs and a time-stamped action log, is delivered to the client on task completion.

Phase 1: Pre-migration assessment verifies power, cooling, network, and access at destination
Phase 2: Deinstall with full cable documentation, serial number verification, and equipment tagging
Phase 3: Transport coordination with anti-static packaging, GPS tracking for high-value hardware
Phase 4: Reinstall with full cabling, power-on, connectivity verification, and sign-off documentation

Within-Facility Server Moves

Within-facility migrations are the most common category of server migration request. They occur when enterprises reorganise their colocation footprint without moving to a new site: consolidating multiple cages into a single larger suite, moving servers to a different power zone to improve redundancy, repositioning equipment to comply with new hot-aisle containment configurations, or making room in one cage for new hardware arrivals. Within-facility moves appear simple but carry real execution risk. Cables run across significant distances inside large data center floors. A server connected to a Top-of-Rack switch in cage A may be cross-connected to a patch panel that feeds a carrier circuit in a different MMR (Meet-Me Room) entirely. Moving the server without fully documenting and properly re-routing those connections results in a network outage that takes hours to diagnose. Reboot Monkey engineers map the full cable path of every server before it moves, including cross-connects, patch panel terminations, and any structured cabling runs that terminate in facility infrastructure. The deinstall documentation captures every connection. The reinstall re-establishes every connection in the documented order. Post-move verification confirms that all expected network paths are live before the engineer leaves the floor. For large within-facility reorganisations involving 20 or more servers, Reboot Monkey deploys multiple engineers operating in parallel with a shift lead coordinating from the NOC. Servers are batched by dependency group: independent systems move first, allowing full validation before dependent systems are touched. This batching approach is documented in the migration runbook so the client has full visibility into the sequence before any work begins.

Common triggers: cage consolidation, power zone optimisation, hot-aisle reconfiguration, space allocation
Risk: cross-connects and patch panel paths must be fully mapped before any server moves
Full cable path documentation: Top-of-Rack, cross-connects, structured cabling, MMR terminations
Large reorganisations (20+ servers): parallel engineer teams, dependency-sequenced batching
All moves verified post-completion before engineer sign-off

Cross-Facility Server Migration

Cross-facility server migration involves moving servers from one data center to a different physical building. This may be within the same city (same colocation operator or different operators), in a different city in the same country, or in a different country entirely. The core challenge in cross-facility migration is the gap between operators. When a server moves from Equinix London to Digital Realty London, neither operator takes responsibility for the physical transition. Equinix's smart hands team is scoped to Equinix facilities only. Digital Realty's support team is scoped to Digital Realty facilities only. The logistics, packaging, transport, and reinstall coordination fall on the client, unless a third-party operator like Reboot Monkey covers the full journey. Reboot Monkey handles both ends of a cross-facility move under one contract. The deinstalling engineer at the source facility and the installing engineer at the destination facility are coordinated by the same NOC. Cable documentation, equipment manifests, and work orders are shared between both engineers in real time. When the server arrives at the destination, the receiving engineer has already reviewed the full deinstall record and has the destination rack provisioned and ready to receive the hardware. For same-city cross-facility moves, transit time is typically a few hours. For cross-city moves, transit time is measured in days and Reboot Monkey coordinates the complete logistics chain: booking collection, confirming transport provider, tracking the shipment, and confirming receipt at the destination facility before the destination engineer commences reinstall. For international cross-facility moves, Reboot Monkey prepares customs documentation and manages the complete import-export process, including any country-specific requirements for IT hardware imports. The global coverage model means that Reboot Monkey can execute cross-facility migrations between cities where it has deployed engineers. Current coverage spans 250+ cities across 190 countries, including all major colocation hubs in Europe (Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, Zurich), North America (Ashburn, New York, Dallas, Los Angeles, Toronto), Asia-Pacific (Singapore, Tokyo, Sydney, Hong Kong), and emerging markets across Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East.

Cross-facility moves span different operators: Reboot Monkey covers source and destination under one contract
No operator gap: Equinix, Digital Realty, NTT, CyrusOne, NEXTDC, and all regional operators covered
Same-city transit: hours; cross-city: days; international: full logistics and customs management
Real-time NOC coordination ensures destination engineer is prepared before hardware arrives
Coverage: 250+ cities, 190 countries, including all major European, North American, and APAC colocation hubs

Server Migration for GPU and AI Infrastructure

The migration of GPU servers and AI training hardware requires procedures that differ significantly from standard 1U compute moves. This is an increasingly common category as enterprises deploy and relocate GPU clusters for AI inference and training workloads. GPU servers present several physical migration challenges. A 4U or 8U GPU server weighs between 35 and 60 kilograms, requiring two-engineer lift procedures and heavy-duty equipment trolleys rated for the load. PCIe expansion cards and NVLink bridges are subject to vibration damage during transport if not properly supported. Liquid cooling loops in some GPU server configurations must be properly drained, capped, and refilled at the destination following manufacturer specifications, with leak testing before power-on. High-density power connections (C19/C20, single-phase 32A, or three-phase configurations) must be verified against the destination rack's power delivery before the unit is powered on. Reboot Monkey engineers who handle GPU server migrations are trained on the specific procedures for platforms including NVIDIA DGX systems, HPE ProLiant XL225n and XL675d, Dell PowerEdge XE9680, and Supermicro HGX-based systems. Each platform has a manufacturer-defined migration procedure that includes component-level checks before transport and commissioning steps after installation. Post-migration verification for GPU servers extends beyond network connectivity. The engineer confirms that all GPU devices are visible to the OS (nvidia-smi for NVIDIA, rocm-smi for AMD Instinct), that NVLink and NVSwitch topology is intact for multi-GPU configurations, and that thermal sensors report expected values after a brief burn-in under load. These checks are documented in the work order as part of the standard GPU migration verification protocol. For organisations moving GPU clusters to facilities with liquid cooling (direct liquid cooling or rear-door heat exchangers), Reboot Monkey coordinates with the facility engineering team on coolant loop connections and pressure testing before any AI workloads are resumed. This coordination is managed through the 24/7 NOC, which maintains contact with both the field engineer and the facility engineering team throughout the process.

GPU servers: 35-60 kg, two-engineer lift, vibration-protected transport packaging
Liquid cooling: proper drain, cap, refill, and pressure test procedures per manufacturer spec
Trained platforms: NVIDIA DGX, HPE ProLiant XL series, Dell XE9680, Supermicro HGX-based systems
Post-migration GPU verification: nvidia-smi/rocm-smi, NVLink topology, thermal sensor checks
Liquid cooling facility coordination: coolant loop connection and pressure testing via NOC

Documentation and Compliance for Server Migrations

Server migration in regulated environments requires documentation that satisfies audit requirements under GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, ISO 27001, SOC 2, and sector-specific compliance frameworks. Physical infrastructure changes that affect systems processing regulated data must be traceable end to end. Reboot Monkey delivers a standard documentation package for every server migration engagement. The package includes a signed work order with scope definition and authorised approver, the pre-migration asset record with serial numbers, MAC addresses, and current configuration details, before-and-after photographs of the rack position and cable state at both source and destination, a time-stamped action log documenting every physical action taken, the equipment manifest confirming chain of custody from source facility departure to destination facility arrival, and a post-migration verification sign-off confirming system online status. For EU clients, physical handling of servers that store or process personal data may fall within the scope of GDPR's physical security requirements under Article 32. Reboot Monkey engagements are structured under Data Processing Agreements where applicable. The chain-of-custody documentation produced by every migration provides the physical access audit trail required by GDPR supervisory authorities in an incident investigation. For healthcare organisations in the United States, HIPAA's Physical Safeguards standard (45 CFR 164.310) requires documented workstation security and device and media controls for systems that store or process ePHI. Server migration documentation that captures physical custody of these systems is a component of HIPAA compliance. Reboot Monkey US operations include Business Associate Agreement (BAA) capabilities for healthcare clients. For financial services and PCI DSS-governed environments, physical access to cardholder data systems must be logged and auditable. Reboot Monkey's work order and time-stamped action log satisfy the physical access control logging requirements of PCI DSS v4.0 Requirement 9. For organisations subject to ISO 27001:2022, Annex A Control 7.8 (Equipment siting and protection) and Control 7.9 (Security of assets off-premises) directly govern server migration activities. Reboot Monkey's documented procedures and chain-of-custody records are designed to satisfy both controls.

Standard documentation package: work order, asset record, photos, action log, chain-of-custody, sign-off
GDPR Article 32: physical handling covered under Data Processing Agreement where applicable
HIPAA Physical Safeguards (45 CFR 164.310): BAA-capable for US healthcare clients
PCI DSS v4.0 Requirement 9: physical access log satisfies cardholder data environment requirements
ISO 27001:2022 Controls 7.8 and 7.9: documentation satisfies equipment siting and off-premises security controls

Global Coverage and Deployment Model

Reboot Monkey's global server migration capability is built on a field engineer deployment model that covers 250+ cities across 190 countries. The coverage footprint was built around the world's primary colocation hubs and expands continuously as client demand opens new markets. In Europe, deployed cities include all FLAP markets (Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris) plus Zurich, Berlin, Dublin, Stockholm, Helsinki, Madrid, Milan, and Warsaw. These cities account for the majority of European enterprise colocation density. Coverage extends to emerging European markets including Bucharest, Sofia, and Lisbon. In North America, the deployment footprint covers the primary colocation hubs: Ashburn (Virginia), New York, Dallas, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami, Seattle, Toronto, and Montreal. Ashburn is the highest-density colocation market in North America and accounts for a significant share of hyperscale interconnection. Dallas has emerged as a fast-growing market for AI infrastructure given its power cost advantages over coastal markets. In Asia-Pacific, deployed cities include Singapore, Tokyo, Sydney, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Seoul, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Jakarta. Singapore is the primary APAC interconnection hub adjacent to SGIX. Tokyo hosts JPNAP and serves the Japanese market. Sydney and Melbourne anchor the Australian market. In the Middle East and Africa, deployed cities include Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Johannesburg, Lagos, Nairobi, and Cairo. The Sub-Saharan Africa market is the fastest-growing globally by CAGR. Johannesburg's Teraco campus is the primary carrier-neutral hub for Southern Africa. In Latin America, deployed cities include Sao Paulo, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Bogota, and Santiago. Sao Paulo is the dominant colocation market in the region. All migrations are coordinated through the 24/7 NOC regardless of geography. The NOC maintains real-time visibility into all active migrations, manages escalations, and coordinates between engineers at source and destination when a cross-facility or cross-city move is in progress. A single client contact at the NOC handles all communication for the duration of the project.

Europe: Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, Zurich, Berlin, Dublin, Stockholm, and 10+ additional cities
North America: Ashburn, New York, Dallas, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Toronto, and more
Asia-Pacific: Singapore, Tokyo, Sydney, Hong Kong, Seoul, Mumbai, and additional deployed markets
Middle East and Africa: Dubai, Riyadh, Johannesburg, Lagos, Nairobi, Cairo
Latin America: Sao Paulo, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Bogota, Santiago
All migrations coordinated via 24/7 NOC with a single client contact point

Server Migration vs. Data Center Migration

Server migration and data center migration are distinct services with different scope, timelines, and project management requirements. Understanding the difference prevents scope misalignment at the start of a project. Server migration covers the physical relocation of individual servers or small groups of servers. The scope is equipment-level: one server, one rack, or a defined batch of machines. A server migration project is typically measured in hours to days. The planning phase is short: pre-migration assessment, a runbook for each server in scope, and transport coordination if a cross-facility move is involved. The primary risk is service disruption during the migration window, which is managed by scheduling the move during a low-traffic period. <a href="/en/data-center-migration/">Data center migration</a> covers the coordinated move of an entire infrastructure footprint from one facility to another. The scope is facility-level: all servers, storage, networking, and supporting infrastructure must be moved without catastrophic service degradation. A full data center migration is a project measured in weeks to months. It requires parallel infrastructure build at the destination before any production equipment moves, phased cutover with tested rollback procedures, BGP failover pre-testing, and carrier circuit migration. The primary risk is that an undiscovered dependency causes a cascading failure during cutover. Reboot Monkey offers both services. For clients who need to move a subset of servers from one facility to another without touching the broader infrastructure, server migration is the right engagement. For clients who need to move an entire site, <a href="/en/data-center-migration/">data center migration</a> is the appropriate project type. For clients who are partway through a data center migration and need individual servers handled by a separate team, Reboot Monkey can run both engagements in parallel under a single contract. The 24/7 NOC coordinates both service types. If what begins as a server migration expands in scope during execution, the NOC escalates to the appropriate project team without requiring a separate client engagement.

Server migration: individual servers or small batches, hours to days, equipment-level scope
Data center migration: full facility move, weeks to months, infrastructure-level scope with rollback plans
Both services available under a single Reboot Monkey contract
NOC coordinates scope changes if a server migration project expands during execution
Parallel execution possible: server migration batches within a larger DC migration project

Related Physical Data Center Services

Remote Hands

On-demand physical support for routine tasks: server reboots, visual checks, cable reconnects, and swap-outs executed on instruction from your remote team.

Smart Hands

Complex technical on-site work: network device configuration, OS-level diagnostics, structured cabling, and cross-connect installation by vendor-certified engineers.

Rack and Stack

Physical installation of servers, switches, and storage hardware including mounting, cabling, labelling, and pre-power verification against equipment manifests.

Data Center Migration

Coordinated full-facility moves from one colocation site to another with parallel commissioning, cutover execution, and documented rollback procedures.

Data Center Decommissioning

End-of-lease infrastructure retirement: de-racking, asset tagging, data destruction, ITAD, and full chain-of-custody documentation for every piece of equipment removed.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is included in a server migration service?

A Reboot Monkey server migration includes pre-migration assessment of the destination rack configuration, deinstall at the source with full cable documentation and serial number verification, transport coordination (within-facility or cross-facility), reinstall at the destination including cabling and power connection, and post-migration verification confirming network connectivity and system boot status. Every engagement is documented with before-and-after photographs and a time-stamped action log delivered to the client on completion.

Can Reboot Monkey migrate servers between different colocation providers?

Yes. Reboot Monkey is vendor-neutral and independent of all colocation facility operators. A cross-facility migration from Equinix to Digital Realty, from NTT to CyrusOne, or between any two operators in our coverage footprint is handled under a single contract. Our engineers at the source and destination facilities coordinate in real time through the 24/7 NOC. Neither operator needs to be involved in managing the transition.

How long does a server migration take?

A single-server within-facility move typically takes 2 to 4 hours of on-site work. A batch of 10 to 20 servers within the same facility typically takes one working day. Cross-facility migrations within the same city typically require 1 to 2 days when transport is included. Cross-city or international migrations depend on logistics transit time, which can range from 1 to 5 business days. These estimates assume the pre-migration assessment has been completed and the destination rack is provisioned and ready to receive hardware.

What documentation does Reboot Monkey provide for a server migration?

The standard documentation package includes a signed work order, pre-migration asset record with serial numbers and current configuration, before-and-after photographs of the rack position and cable state at both source and destination, a time-stamped action log for every physical action taken, the equipment manifest confirming chain of custody, and a post-migration verification sign-off. For regulated industries, the package satisfies GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS v4.0, and ISO 27001:2022 physical infrastructure documentation requirements.

Can Reboot Monkey migrate GPU servers and liquid-cooled hardware?

Yes. Reboot Monkey engineers are trained in GPU server migration procedures including NVIDIA DGX systems, HPE ProLiant XL series, Dell PowerEdge XE9680, and Supermicro HGX-based platforms. Liquid cooling loops are drained, capped, transported, and refilled following manufacturer specifications with pressure testing before power-on. Post-migration GPU verification includes nvidia-smi or rocm-smi checks, NVLink topology confirmation for multi-GPU configurations, and thermal sensor validation.

What is the difference between server migration and data center migration?

Server migration is the physical relocation of individual servers or a defined batch of machines. It is an equipment-level project measured in hours to days. Data center migration is the coordinated move of an entire infrastructure footprint from one facility to another. It is a facility-level project measured in weeks to months, involving parallel infrastructure build, phased cutover, and rollback procedures. Reboot Monkey offers both services, and both can run under a single contract when a data center migration includes specific server batches that need to be handled separately.

What is Reboot Monkey's SLA for server migration?

For planned server migrations, Reboot Monkey schedules execution to your required maintenance window. For emergency migrations required as part of a P1 incident response, the 24/7 NOC targets on-site response within 4 hours in deployed cities. SLA specifics are defined in your service agreement. Reboot Monkey's NOC manages all dispatch and can provide real-time status updates throughout the migration.

Does Reboot Monkey handle international server shipping and customs?

Yes. For cross-border server migrations, Reboot Monkey coordinates the complete logistics chain including customs documentation. This includes the commercial invoice, packing list, equipment classification codes (HS codes), and any country-specific import requirements for IT hardware. Reboot Monkey works with approved logistics providers experienced in IT equipment transport. For sensitive jurisdictions or high-value hardware, GPS tracking is included. The client receives a single work order covering the complete process from source deinstall to destination verification.

Request a Quote