Mail server relocation – 18–19 October 2025
The relocation of the mail.coop servers has now been successfully completed. On Saturday 18 October 2025, our hosting partners Webarchitects Co-operative moved all systems to a new co-operative data centre operated by Cooperative Network Infrastructure (CNI).
This is a significant milestone, ensuring the long-term resilience, sustainability, and co-operative ownership of the mail.coop service. All mail.coop systems are now operating normally.
Why the move was necessary
For over 15 years, Webarchitects hosted its physical servers at the Avensys Data Centre in Sheffield. The planned closure of that facility made a relocation unavoidable. Rather than moving to a commercial host, Webarchitects took the opportunity to relocate into a new co-operative data centre managed by CNI — part of a wider effort to build a more resilient, ethical and environmentally responsible digital infrastructure.
The move also strengthens collaboration across the co-operative sector, keeping mail.coop entirely UK-hosted, powered by renewable energy, and based on open-source software.
How the move was carried out
The migration began early on Saturday 18 October. Servers were shut down and removed from racks at Avensys in Sheffield, transported to the new facility in Ashton-under-Lyne, and then reinstalled, reconnected, and tested. The process took several hours in total.
All mail.coop services were back online by 16:45 on Saturday 18 October. Any messages sent during the downtime were queued automatically and delivered shortly after the systems came back online.
Throughout the move, other systems — including this website — remained live so users could follow progress updates.
Outcome
The relocation was completed smoothly, and all data, settings, and mailboxes were restored exactly as before. Users do not need to take any action.
The new infrastructure will improve the reliability and flexibility of the service and marks an important step towards a fully co-operative, community-based internet infrastructure.
About Webarchitects and CNI
Webarchitects Co-operative is a long-established worker co-op providing ethical, open-source hosting and systems administration. Cooperative Network Infrastructure (CNI) is a multi-stakeholder co-operative formed to share dark fibre and data centre facilities among co-operatives, community networks and public-sector partners.
This move links these two co-operatives more closely, creating a truly co-operative internet infrastructure where independent organisations can share resources and strengthen each other’s capacity.
You can read more about the move and earlier updates on the Webarchitects site: https://webarch.info/.
For current mail.coop status and announcements, please see the mail.coop home page.