Web Hosting Information

Changing to a New Host? No More Worries!


John's online business is expanding. His customers are increasing day by day. However, he feels very frustrated at the moment as he finds his website is 'down' about every 4th day. Whenever he calls up the support team of his web host, he gets the same old answer that his problem will be rectified soon. If the problems do persist it will surely hamper his business. He has been with his present hosting provider for the last year but now he feels he has to find a new web host as soon as possible because his present hosting package is also not able to meet up with his growing demands. This is not a one-off occurrence that has happened only to John, it happens with many people like him. Changing the web host might become a cumbersome task if John and other people like him don't know the correct procedure of doing it. So, let's have a look at the following easy and simple steps:

First of all, it's very important to have a backup of your website and everything related to it, like databases, scripts etc. It will be very helpful in case there is data loss because of any unforseen reason. Save at least 2 copies of everything and store them separately, so that you can work with one and the other one will function as a backup. You can take backup in various ways. One is by using software programs like a FTP program (e.g. Smart FTP http://www.smartftp.com/) for downloading data.

Now, the time is to look for a new web host that meets all your requirements and provides better technical services than your previous host. Since you have already been through the search procedure it won't take you much time to come across a reliable hosting company.

Once you have taken a new web-hosting plan and you are ready to upload your web pages, databases etc., check that you have received an IP number, FTP or FrontPage login, and password from your new hosting company. Now, upload all your files to the new server; you are just repeating the same procedure that you've done in the past when you uploaded your files for the very first time.

Only a few more steps more and you will be completely done. Before transferring your DNS servers over from your previous host to your new one, debug and test the new site from an individual IP number. Check that all the web pages exist, the links point to the right pages and that all your scripts are running. One important point which people always forget is their domain name expiration date. If you plan to move near the expiration date, it could cause you lots of problems. To be on the safe side, make sure that you have at least 3-4 weeks in hand before the domain name expires, or just renew it for another year.

To transfer domain name service to a new host identify registrar using "WHOis" lookup http://domreg-m6.net/domains/WHois.asp, verify registration of your domain name, identify the name server information for the host your are transferring to, and make changes in the DNS information at the registrar. During this DNS transition period new DNS information has to be propagated throughout the world's DNS servers. This propagation might take 2-4 days as an International root name server will firstly have to check all the various Domain registrars for updates, and then every ISP provider will update their DNS setting to show the new changes. Not only this, even Internet, i.e. Internet routers and caching engines have to update/clear its DNS cache as well. During this propagation period, you keep your old site running so that the visitors whose ISP provider haven't updated can still visit your website.

It's advisable that you don't cancel your old hosting service during the transition period, as you will need to check your mail from both the hosting providers, as some will direct e-mail to your old server whereas other Internet regions will send mail to your new server. After one or two weeks you can annul the account with your old host.

On the very first notion it sounds like a painful task to find a new web host and make all the necessary changes, but with the steps known, people like John will not find this procedure problematic. With so many automation software packages available, it has now become easier to switch over your web site from old host to new host. If both hosting providers have the same operation system platform, the procedure will become even simpler. But remember, the most important task in the whole host-changing scenario is to find a host that meets your requirements so that you don't have to go through this entire procedure again in the future.

Priyanka Agarwal
Hosting evangelist


MORE RESOURCES:

Web Host SiteGround.com Promises Free Web Hosting Resources, New ...
HostSearch.com - 3 hours ago
Com) – Web host SiteGround.com has promised its customers free web hosting resources, new content, and new templates during the next quarter, ...


The Planet Web Hosting Firm, Upgrades Network Operations Center
TheHostingNews.com (press release), OR - 17 minutes ago
Houston, Texas - (The Hosting News) - May 15, 2008 - Privately held dedicated web hosting company, The Planet, has upgraded and expanded in its Network ...


Easy CGI Web Hosting Provider, Expands Bandwidth, for Dedicated ...
TheHostingNews.com (press release), OR - 23 hours ago
Pearl River, New York - (The Hosting News) - May 14, 2008 - Web hosting firm, Easy CGI, has added two new dedicated Windows VPS plans, each with two ...


Web Hosting Provider, CSC, Garners Global SAP Hosting Partner ...
WebSite Host Directory (press release), OR - 22 hours ago
Falls Church, Virginia - (Website Hosting Directory) - May 14, 2008 - Computer Sciences Corporation is now a Certified Global SAP Hosting Partner, ...


emerion of Austria Powers New VPS Offerings with Parallels ...
HostReview.com (press release), IL - 4 hours ago
VIENNA, Austria and RENTON, Wash., May 15, 2008 – emerion WebHosting GmbH, a large hosting provider based in Austria, is using Parallels Virtuozzo ...


Web Hosting Reliability Services, Upgraded by Hyperspin
WebSite Host Directory (press release), OR - May 13, 2008
Singapore, Asia - (Website Hosting Directory) - May 13, 2008 - Hosting reliability solutions provider, Hyperspin Internet Services, has added support for 10 ...


Web Hosting Security Solutions Firm, Veracode, Garners Awards
TheHostingNews.com (press release), OR - May 13, 2008
Burlington, Massachusetts - (The Hosting News) - May 13, 2008 - On-demand application security testing solutions firm, Veracode, has received two 2008 SC ...


Easy CGI web hosting started to offer Linux VPS (virtual private ...
Greatresponder.com, Canada - May 12, 2008
By Tanya Dixon | May 12, 2008 Easy CGI web hosting is offering now five Linux VPS plans. These virtual private server hosting plans offer a range of disk ...


MYOB Launches Web Hosting Services
Web Host Industry Review - May 12, 2008
Following its acquisition of Australian web hosting provider Ilisys in March, it was speculated MYOB would be moving into the software as a services market. ...


Web Hosting Solutions Firm, Parallels, to Resell Microsoft SQL ...
WebSite Host Directory (press release), OR - May 12, 2008
Renton, Washington - (The Hosting News) - May 12, 2008 - Web hosting server virtualization firm, Parallels, has signed an agreement with myLittleTools to ...

Web-Hosting - Google News

home | site map
© 2006 Webhosting-Service.com - All Rights reserved. - GetWeb Media Webdesign Muenchen