Changing to a New Host? No More Worries!

Changing to a New Host? No More Worries! John's online business is expanding. His customers areincreasing day by day. However, he feels very frustrated at the momentas he finds his website is 'down' about every 4th day. Whenever hecalls up the support team of his web host, he gets the same old answerthat his problem will be rectified soon. If the problems do persist itwill surely hamper his business. He has been with his present hostingprovider for the last year but now he feels he has to find a new webhost as soon as possible because his present hosting package is alsonot able to meet up with his growing demands. This is not a one-offoccurrence that has happened only to John, it happens with many peoplelike him. Changing the web host might become a cumbersome task if Johnand 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:

Firstof all, it's very important to have a backup of your website andeverything related to it, like databases, scripts etc. It will be veryhelpful in case there is data loss because of any unforseen reason.Save at least 2 copies of everything and store them separately, so thatyou can work with one and the other one will function as a backup. Youcan take backup in various ways. One is by using software programs likea FTP program (e.g. Smart FTP) for downloadingdata.

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

Onceyou have taken a new web-hosting plan and you are ready to upload yourweb 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 repeatingthe same procedure that you've done in the past when you uploaded yourfiles for the very first time.

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

To transfer domain name service to anew host identify registrar using "WHOis" lookuphttp://domreg-m6.net/domains/WHois.asp, verify registration of yourdomain name, identify the name server information for the host your aretransferring to, and make changes in the DNS information at theregistrar. During this DNS transition period new DNS information has tobe propagated throughout the world's DNS servers. This propagationmight take 2-4 days as an International root name server will firstlyhave to check all the various Domain registrars for updates, and thenevery ISP provider will update their DNS setting to show the newchanges. Not only this, even Internet, i.e. Internet routers andcaching engines have to update/clear its DNS cache as well. During thispropagation period, you keep your old site running so that the visitorswhose ISP provider haven't updated can still visit your website.

It'sadvisable that you don't cancel your old hosting service during thetransition period, as you will need to check your mail from both thehosting providers, as some will direct e-mail to your old serverwhereas other Internet regions will send mail to your new server. Afterone or two weeks you can annul the account with your old host.

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

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