It worked.
No outage.
The main database cutover was complete, and Shutterstock was now running its primary databases from Boston.
My update was four lines long. I apologized for sending it late, said the cutover had succeeded, confirmed there had been no outage, and stated where the databases were running.
Then the iPhone signature.
The short note came after a much longer project. We had already moved web servers and begun shifting front-end traffic. The operations and database teams had spent late nights provisioning another data center. We had postponed this cutover one week because the team had too much happening at once.
Waiting was the right call.
Database migrations carry a particular kind of pressure. Web capacity can often move in pieces. The main data layer has more ways to turn a minor mistake into a very visible problem. Everybody wants a detailed plan, a tested rollback, and the right people awake when the change begins.
The public sign of a good cutover was nothing.
Customers could still search. Contributors could still upload. The site did not need to explain what had changed underneath it.
Inside the company, the move gave us a stronger foundation for the growth ahead. It also closed one more part of the larger shift away from infrastructure that had accumulated in New York as Shutterstock grew.
I was happy enough to call it a success. I did not turn it into a speech.
The team did the work. The site stayed up. The databases were in Boston.
That was the update.