I have a very large forum which has a database which is over 150MB which is fine but I am having a real had time up and downloading it, I really need to reprovision my server as it keeps crashing as the operating system needs upgrading, is there a simple way of up and downloading such a large database?
to be honest, a 150 MB database isn't very large and there quite easy to move around. is your internet connection the problem? maybe i'm misunderstanding the problem.
You did not answer the question about your internet connection. If you have a broadband connection then it isn't the problem. Shared hosting may be the problem if you are using that. If it is a vps you may just need to reset some values. Check with your host and ask them what their max_upload and post size is set at. Also the memory allocated to phpmyadmin factors into this. I was having problems uploading from and to the same local machine until I adjusted the numbers in the Apache config file.
telling them they need a new server isn't the answer. you cannot import a 150mb file using phpmyadmin. best bet is to use bigdump or something similar.