Hi, One of our Client they have their production site hosted on some different server, They want to customize site and create test environment on our company server ,they do not need test environment hosted ,it will be on our internal server. My concern is : What back up should i be asking to hosting company ? How to restore it on different farm,it is stand alone server with database on same server,i am going to build test server with same configuration ? How can i make sure i restore exact replica of current site ? So do you call this process Moving SharePoint ? Does any one have steps documented ? Please do not give me link to MSDN site as i have already gone through it ..i need clear information step by step,has any one documented ..any ideas ..I am just a just beginer and really need steps as i did some research and found that SQL backup would be good idea but has anyone found any blog that has this steps documented. Sharepoint version is : 12.0.0.6305..( i am thinking this is MOSS 2007 or WSS ?? with hotfix ??) Operating system : windows 2003 sp2 Database on same server : SQL Server 2005 please share ..thanks very much,,

The steps are few and really easy 1. Build a Server with the same SPs and CUs deployed along with any custom solutions 2. Backup the PRD ContentDBs and Restore them to yout new DEV environment 3. Create the Same WebApps that you have in PRD, remove the ContentDBs of the new DEV WebApps and Add the restored ContentDBs to the new DEV webApps 4. IISReset Note: Ensure you have created DNS Entries for the New DEV WebApps and the WebApps were created with the correct host headers that match the DNS entries. -IvanIvan Sanders My LinkedIn Profile, My Blog, @iasanders.

Hi Ivan, Can you please share some details about step no 1, deploying custom solution :?