Things to Take Note When Changing Web Hosting Providers

There are many web hosting companies today who faced disgruntled clients who wish to migrate their hosting account to other competitors. This is unavoidable because it’s hard to keep everyone happy and there are many reasons why individuals or companies want to change to a new web hosting company. It could be due to simple reasons such insufficient bandwidth or storage space, or it could be due to its customer service, or lack thereof.

Easier said than done? Changing to a new web hosting company may sound like a hassle, but it doesn’t have to be that complicated – there are just a few things to keep in mind.

Keep your web hosting account with your existing host active:

Rule number one: Always keep your existing web hosting account active until you have completed the transition steps (i.e. email account creation and setup, files transfer, DNS modification and propagation).This will ensure that your website and domain email accounts will run smoothly without any interruption during the transition. In addition, if there are some old website files found missing in the new account after the migration is done you can always return to the old hosting account for retrieval.

Choosing a suitable new web hosting provider:

When it comes to choosing a new hosting provider, we need to consider the following:

a) Type of Operating System (Windows vs. Linux) – it depends on the technologies your website requires. For example, if your website requires PHP, MySQL , Python or Perl, then you will need a Linux-based hosting. Meanwhile, if you require ASP, MSSQL, MSACCESS or other Microsoft-specific technologies, then you will need to find a Windows-platform web hosting plan.

b) Bandwidth and Disk Space Requirements – the higher the bandwidth & disk space requirement, the higher you need to pay for such services. If your existing provider is unable to provide higher specs than your current requirement, then it is time to move your website to another hosting provider who can match your demand.

Make a backup copy of your existing website:

To make things simplified, it’s highly recommended to download existing website files in the same tree structure in which you want to upload it later. In addition, files and folder permissions will need to retain its original properties.  It’s recommended to look for any file or CHMOD permissions that you might want to set on any folder or file. This is a fairly easy task and can be accomplished easily by FTP.

However, in some cases, there are some web hosting providers that do not provide FTP access. This is especially true if you’re currently using a free Flash/drag-and-drop website creation service (i.e. WIX.com or Weebly.com). If this is the case, you won’t be able to downloading your existing website files and will have to recreate your new content. To avoid running into the same problem in the future, always check and make sure that your new web hosting provider offers FTP access.

Setup new or existing email addresses:

You do not wish to lose all of your important emails.  Hence, it’s highly recommended to keep the same email address, including email aliases and forwarders to ensure that all emails, new and old, are properly received.  You do not want to go through the hassle of recreating existing email account and modifying other technical settings, do you?

DNS changes and propagation

It’s important to know that all necessary Domain Name Server (DNS) changes will take place once you have ensured that all email accounts have been recreated while your website files have been migrated to the new server successfully.

DNS is usually obtained once you have signed up with the new web hosting provider. You will need to replace your existing DNS settings with the new one – this is usually done via your domain management panel (your domain registrar).

For your information, propagation of the new DNS will require at least 24 to 48 hours. Therefore the old web host is responsible for website and emails in the meantime. This is why terminating the old service should be the last thing to do.

Cancel your old hosting account.

This is the final step before saying goodbye forever to your old service provider. Once your new account has been activated and your website and email services at your new web hosting provider are running smoothly without any interruption, you can proceed to have your old hosting account cancelled.

Thinking of migration? Not sure if your account is eligible for this migration service? Fret not. Contact us at ServerFreak today and let us handle the dirty work while you sit back and relax.