Quick answer: Moving many client sites at once is a project, not a bigger copy job: inventory all sites in a spreadsheet, group them into waves by risk, automate the copy with per-site scripts or panel migration tools, test each wave via hosts file, and switch DNS wave by wave. Cloud2Y's assisted migration scales to agency batches — one ticket can cover the whole portfolio.
Overview
Agencies and freelancers moving 10–100+ sites face different math: at that scale, manual per-site care does not fit the calendar, and one bad site must not block the other forty. The answer is waves — homogeneous groups of sites moved and verified together — plus automation for the repetitive middle.
Before you start
- A complete inventory: every domain, its stack, database, size, SSL, mail dependency and DNS provider.
- Target architecture decided: one large server, several by client tier, or per-client VPS — sizing guide.
- Client communication plan: who is told what, and when.
Step-by-step guide
- Spreadsheet first: one row per site with stack, size, traffic, DNS access and a risk grade (simple brochure site vs busy store).
- Design waves: wave 1 = low-risk static-ish sites (shakes out process bugs), later waves = stores and high-traffic sites.
- Automate the copy: a per-site script (rsync + dump + import + vhost + SSL) or your control panel's bulk migration tooling; for WordPress fleets see migrating multiple WordPress sites.
- Test each wave via hosts file with a fixed smoke-test list (home, login, form, checkout where relevant).
- Cut over per wave at low-traffic hours; lower TTLs for the wave's domains a day ahead.
- Track in the sheet: copied / tested / switched / verified columns — at 50 sites, memory is not a system.
Common issues
- Mystery sites: every portfolio has one site nobody remembers how it works — grade it high-risk and migrate it late, manually.
- DNS owned by clients: collecting registrar access takes longer than the migration itself — start that trail first.
- One giant wave: if everything moves at once, everything breaks at once — waves exist to cap the blast radius.
When to contact support
Send your inventory spreadsheet with a free migration request — for agency batches we plan waves together, and bulk moves onto Cloud2Y infrastructure are exactly what the assisted migration is for.
Frequently asked questions
How many sites can be migrated to Cloud2Y at once?
There is no fixed cap — agency moves are planned in waves sized to your risk tolerance. Include your full site inventory in the ticket and we plan the batches together.
Why migrate in waves instead of all at once?
Waves cap the blast radius: the first low-risk group validates your process, and any issue affects a handful of sites instead of the whole portfolio on one night.
What target setup works best for agency portfolios?
It depends on isolation needs: one large server is cheapest to run, per-client VPS gives clean separation and billing, and many agencies mix both by client tier.
Related articles
- How to migrate multiple WordPress sites
- Migration checklist
- How to avoid downtime during migration
- How to request a free migration
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