To many the idea of moving
your web site from one host to another can sometimes
seem like a daunting task but the process of moving
your site is simple when you know what steps to take
and the order to take them in. This article will walk
you through the steps required to perform a site move
without the downtime.
Firstly there is this one important thing you need
to remember, DO NOT TERMINATE YOUR EXISTING HOSTING
ACCOUNT until the very last step. You may be very
unhappy with your current hosting but it is essential
that your current hosting account remains active until
you are 100% sure your site is all operational with
the new hosting provider.
If you follow the steps below you should be able to
transition from one host to another without any downtime
to your web site.
Create A New Account
Firstly you need to choose your new hosting provider,
once you have chosen that provider sign up for the chosen
hosting package and once the new account is setup you
can move on to the next step.
Backup All Your Files From Your Old Account
This is a relatively simple process, but can be time
consuming depending on the size of your web site. Go
to your old hosting account and download all the files
via FTP, and backup any databases in use. Remember that
you cannot cancel this account yet even though you have
backed up all your files.
Upload All Your Files To Your New Account
Once you have backed up your files on your old hosting
account, it is time to go to your new hosting account
and upload the backups via the new hosts FTP.
Create Your Mail Accounts
To avoid losing any of your email when you later change
your domain name server addresses, it is imperative
that you now create all the same email accounts that
you had with your old hosting provider in your new hosting
account. Once this has been done, all email addresses
on the new account should match the email address on
your old account.
Checking of Your Files and Links
Now it is time to check all the pages of your web sites
and verify that all links are working correctly on your
new host. To do this you will need to create a temporary
URL to the web site. A quick and easy way to do this
is to create a sub domain of another URL and point it
to your new web site by the way of mirroring. Any good
web hosting provider should provide you with the ability
to create temporary a URL so you can test your new site.
Changing Your DNS (Domain Name Server)
If you are now certain that your files have all been
uploaded correctly and the links within your site are
working correctly, you can change your DNS (domain name
servers). Your new host should have provided you with
their DNS settings. If they have not, contact them and
ask what addresses should be used for your domain name.
Usually the addresses will look like this, ns1.domainname.com,
ns2.domainname.com.
The place to change the DNS addresses is whoever your
domain name is registered with. If you registered the
domain name through a registrar, you will need to login
to their control panel and change the DNS servers there.
If it was registered with your old host, you will need
to login to their control panel and change the DNS entries
there.
Wait For DNS Changes To Propogate
After you have changed your DNS (domain name servers)
you will need to wait between 24-48 hours for your domain
to propogate across the internet. During this waiting
period your site will still be served from your old
hosting account, as the DNS propogates your site will
be served from your new host. Once the propogation has
completed all requests to your domain will be served
from you new host.
Cancel Your Old Account
Make sure you wait at least 48 hours for the domain
name to propogate, and make sure that your domain name
is resolving to your new hosting account before cancelling
your old account.
Final Words
By following these steps you should now have successfully
transferred your web site from your old host to your
new host without any downtime.
If you're considering moving
your website hosting to WebMax, and the move seems a
little overwhelming, then please contact us today on
1300 883 979. We will gladly take care of the transfer
on your behalf for FREE!
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