There are many reasons why individuals or companies want to vary to a replacement web hosting company. It might be as simple as not enough space for storing or bandwidth, or it might be thanks to its customer service or lack thereof.
Easier said than done? Changing to a replacement web hosting company may sound sort of a daunting task, but it doesn’t need to be that complex – there are just a couple of things to stay in mind.
Keep your web hosting account together with your existing host open
It is recommended, that you simply keep your existing web hosting account active until you’ve got completed the transfer steps (i.e. new account setup, file transfer, email creation and setup, DNS modification, and propagation). This will make sure that your website and domain email accounts are going to be running during the transition.
Choose an appropriate new web hosting provider
Considerations include:
- a) Sort of OS (Windows vs. Linux) – it depends on the technologies your website requires. for instance, if your website requires ASP, MSSQL, MSACCESS, or other Microsoft-specific technologies, then you’ll be got to find a Windows-platform web hosting plan.
- b) Bandwidth and disc space requirements
Make a backup copy of your existing website: download old account files
Ideally, files should be downloaded within the same tree structure during which you would like to upload it later. Also, search for any file or “chmod” permissions that you simply might line on any folder or file. this is often a reasonably easy task and may easily be accomplished by FTP.
However, some free web hosting providers don’t offer FTP access. this is often very true if you’re currently employing a free Flash/drag-and-drop website creation service.
If this is often the case, you’ll not be ready to download your existing web files and need to re-create your new web files. you ought to check to ascertain if your new web hosting provider offers a free website creator.
To avoid running into an equivalent problem within the future, confirm your new web hosting provider offers FTP access.
Setup new (same) email addresses
To ensure that emails are properly received, it’s important to keep the same email addresses that may include email aliases and forwarders.
DNS changes and propagation
Once you’ve uploaded your web files to the new web hosting server and re-created your email accounts, you’ll plow ahead and make the required name server (DNS) changes.
DNS is typically obtained once you’ve got signed up with the new web hosting provider. you’ll need to replace your existing DNS settings with the new one – this is often usually done via your domain management panel.
The new DNS global propagation takes at least 24-48 hours, therefore, the old web host is liable for website and email within the meantime. this is often why canceling the old service should be the previous thing to try to.
Cancel your old account.
Once your new account has been activated and your website and email services at your new web hosting provider are up and running perfectly fine, you can simply cancel the old account.
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