VPS Migration & Infrastructure Upgrade

Apr 2026

Role: Full-Stack Developer

Project Link Access to this project is restricted because it runs in an internal environment.
VPS Migration & Infrastructure Upgrade thumbnail
Tech Stack

Overview

This project focused on migrating BRIX Performance's web infrastructure from shared hosting to a VPS-based environment. The migration was driven by real system risks discovered during payment gateway development, where shared hosting limitations caused MySQL throttling and resource instability. The goal was to improve reliability, gain full control over server resources, and prepare a stronger production foundation for future development.

In Collaboration With: Direct Client

Responsibilities

  • Identified shared hosting limitations during payment gateway development
  • Proposed migration from shared hosting to VPS
  • Set up VPS environment from scratch
  • Configured Linux user access, SSH key authentication, and root login restriction
  • Installed and configured Nginx, PHP-FPM, MySQL, and SSL
  • Translated Apache .htaccess routing rules into Nginx server configuration
  • Configured Cloudflare DNS, proxy, CDN, and basic protection layer
  • Created Git-based deployment workflow using git pull
  • Configured MySQL database, user privileges, and secure DBeaver access via SSH tunnel
  • Debugged DNS, firewall, HTTPS, and database access issues during migration

Outcome

The migration successfully moved BRIX Performance from shared hosting into a controlled VPS environment. The website now runs with Nginx, HTTPS, MySQL, Git-based deployment, and Cloudflare protection. Beyond the technical migration, this project also created a stronger understanding of production infrastructure and reduced dependency on shared hosting limitations.

Detailed Breakdown

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The website was previously hosted on shared hosting, which introduced resource limitations such as MySQL throttling and potential performance impact from other users on the same server. During payment gateway development, these limitations created system instability and raised production risk.

The system was migrated to a VPS environment with dedicated control over web server configuration, database setup, deployment flow, firewall rules, SSL, and Cloudflare integration. This provided a more stable and scalable foundation for future production usage.

Production Request Flow

01

User accesses brix-performance.com through the browser

02

Cloudflare handles DNS, proxy, CDN, and protection layer

03

Request is forwarded to the VPS

04

Nginx routes the request to the PHP application

05

PHP application communicates with MySQL through localhost

06

Response is returned back through Nginx and Cloudflare

Deployment Flow

01

Code changes are pushed to GitHub

02

Server pulls the latest changes using git pull

03

Nginx serves the updated application from /var/www/brix-performance

04

Configuration is reloaded when needed

The migration changed the project from a shared hosting setup into a VPS-based production environment with manual infrastructure control.

Infrastructure Setup

01

Cleaned existing DNS records and moved the domain to Cloudflare

02

Created A records for root domain and www pointing to the VPS IP

03

Created a non-root Linux user and configured SSH key authentication

04

Disabled root login for better server access security

05

Installed Nginx, PHP-FPM, MySQL, and Certbot

06

Configured Nginx server block for BRIX Performance

07

Translated existing .htaccess rewrite rules into Nginx rules

08

Opened required firewall ports at VPS provider level

09

Generated HTTPS certificate using Let's Encrypt

10

Enabled Cloudflare proxy and CDN

Implementation Details

  • Nginx was used as the main web server instead of Apache
  • PHP-FPM 8.3 was used to process PHP requests
  • MySQL was configured with a dedicated application database and user
  • Database access from local machine was handled through SSH tunnel instead of exposing port 3306 publicly
  • The deployment workflow was simplified into GitHub push and server-side git pull
  • Firewall rules were configured for SSH, HTTP, and HTTPS
  • Cloudflare was used as DNS, CDN, and protection layer

This migration improved the stability of the project and created a stronger foundation for future features, including payment gateway deployment and multi-service architecture.

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