Changing your Web Host can be an expensive, time consuming and difficult practice; being the main reason why many dissatisfied customers prefer to stay and put up with an awful hosting service.

During most website migrations, through lack of knowledge or experience, many website owners end up loosing clients and damaging time-built company images, because their sites are unavailable for days or weeks on end. Another problem is loss of emails, some crucial, making migrations very expensive and even dangerous.

Migration from one web host to another is not difficult; it can be fast and safe when one knows what the experts know. By following the steps below you will stand a better chance of a smooth transfer.

The most important start to website migration is finding another web host, one that will not give you reason to migrate again, or soon. A whole book can be written on how to choose a web host; or by searching on choosing a web host' in a major search engine, there will be many articles available.

The steps below will give you an idea on how to start and how to avoid a lot of the pitfalls.

· First, make a list of all the features your website uses or requires, and will require in the future, be prepared.
· Make a list of web hosts who offer these features; you can find hosts in web hosting directories, message forums, or by searching on a major search engine.
· Read the information on their websites carefully, specially their terms and conditions.
· Avoid any long-term contracts and full-payments in advance.
· Ask questions about all things you have a doubt about.
· Email their support department at various times (both day and night) and check the response time.
· You will find customer reviews on hosts in web hosting directories. (Unfortunately they may not be the most accurate due to much web host guerilla activity, but greater scrutiny will often help.)
· Talk to people in web hosting related message forums; you may find useful information on hosting companies by their existing or past, customers.

Sign-up an account with your new host. Upload all of your files, databases and test your site using the IP address given to you with your new account. Make adjustments in the coding, necessary for the change in the server environment. Then check each and every page, link and image on your website.

On your new mail server, re-create all email accounts currently in use; and set up auto-responders, forwarders and aliases at the same time. If available, enable the catch-all feature; this will help you to retrieve all emails sent to a non-existing email account; which you may have forgotten to create! Remember though, the new email addresses will only work after the transfer of domain is complete. Unfortunately, there is no way to test them on new server before the transfer.

The next step is transferring the domain; to do this you need to start by changing the DNS server details, which is pretty easy to do. Obtain the Primary and Secondary nameserver details from your new web host. Go to your domain registrar's site (the site from which you registered the domain name) and login into your control panel, offered by most of the domain registrars, to maintain your domain name. In the control panel, look for the DNS', Nameserver' or Delegation' option and change the previous nameserver details, with the new one (you just obtained from your new host).

Some domain registrars confirm these changes by sending an email to the address you nominated while registering that domain. You will need to reply using that email address. Most of the hosts offer a free domain transfer service and will be happy to make the necessary transfer changes for you. The domain transfer can take 24 to 72 hours to be confirmed by the domain registrar; and, so too for the new host, if doing this service for you. If it is not transferred within 72 hours, it is advisable to contact the domain registrar and look into the matter.

Once your domain is transferred you will start receiving emails from your new mail server and see your website from your new account. Leave your old web hosting account open for 3 or 4 more days, just to ensure you receive all emails, including those losing their way in the domain transfer and directed back to your old email account.

After a few days, ask your previous web host to cancel your account. Make sure you follow all of your previous host's closing procedures, and leave cleanly. You will find that the transfer should go smoothly and all parties will be more helpful.

10 helpful tips to follow when switching web hosts

You've made your decision to move from your website from your current web host to a new web host. The following tips will help you make the transition easier and make you aware of some potential pitfalls to avoid.

1) Make sure the new web hosting plan you've chosen offers you the storage capabilities to handle all of your current website storage requirements. If your website is 50MB, you need to make sure your new hosting plan offers that much space, or more. If you're not sure how much space your website is using, ask your current host. You can also usually find this information on your web hosting control panel.

2) How does your current web host determine what your storage amount is used for? Find out what your current and new host includes in your plan's storage amount. Are your emails and log files counted towards your total storage, or just your web files?

3) What operating system does your current hosting plan use? Windows or Unix? Sometimes this can make no difference, in other cases it can make the difference between a working website and a broken website. If your site is currently on a Windows server and your website uses ASP scripting, you'll find it difficult to make things work well on a Unix server, as ASP is a Windows based programming language. Find out ahead of time whether your current hosting plan is on a Unix or Windows server.

4) Does your site currently use FrontPage? Find out if your new host supports FrontPage. And make sure your new host supports the same version of FrontPage you currently use.

5) Find out if your new hosting plan offers you the same amount of bandwidth that your current host offers. You don't want to be surprised by unexpected overage charges at the end of the month.

6) Does your new web hosting plan give you the same amount of email accounts, autoresponders and mail forwards that you currently use?

7) Does your site use a shopping cart that your current hosting plan provides? Can you move the cart to your new host? If not, does your new host have a suitable shopping cart replacement?

8) If you are using any scripts on your website, make sure that your new hosting plan supports all of your scripts. Find out in advance if you'll need to make any modifications to your scripts to get them working on the new server.

9) Make sure to set up your existing email accounts on your new server before transferring your domain name to the new server. At MateMedia (www.matemediainc.com) we see this overlooked quite often.

10) Do you know how to upload your website files to the new server? If you don't, you'll need to find out if your new web host will upload your files for you. Some hosts will do this at no charge, some will do it for a fee, yet other hosts won't do it all because of liability issues.

Once all your files are uploaded to the new server, you'll want to double check that the site looks and functions properly on the new server. Most hosts can provide a preview link for you to see how your site looks before the domain name is transferred over. If your host does not provide a method for you to preview your site, you can modify your hosts file to preview your site. The host file tells your computer where to go to look for sites that are listed in that file. This works with any version of Windows. The file name is the same, the location can change. Here's how to modify your hosts file:

The file HOSTS should be in the c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc You might only find a file named HOSTS.SAM (as in SAMPLE). That is OK; we can modify the HOSTS.SAM file as well and do a SAVE AS HOSTS.

In either case, double click on the HOSTS file to open it. You will be prompted by Windows to select an Application (Program) to use to VIEW the file.

Scroll the list and select Notepad. Click the OK button. The NOTEPAD program will now open, displaying the file HOSTS. You will see examples listed (The # symbol is used to comment out line or remarks.), the format is this. IP address (xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx SPACE name)
So, to tell your computer that (www.yourwebsite.com) is at the address (replace with your real IP) 12.345.678.90 add the following entry to the bottom of the hosts file:
12.345.678.90 (www.yourdomain.com) (As in the example).

Click on FILE, slide down and click on SAVE AS.

In the Save As Type field, select ALL FILES. (Ensure that no .SAM is shown after the filename HOSTS. Click SAVE. You may be warned that the file already exists; this is fine, click YES.

Close Notepad, by clicking on FILE, slide down to EXIT, and click.
Now when you open your web browser, or try to ping the site, your system will go to the IP address you typed in the HOSTS file.

Remember to undo this when finished testing or your machine will always want to go to that IP address whenever you want to go to that site.

After you're satisfied that your site looks ok and functions ok, you can go to your registrar (the company where your domain name is registered) and modify the nameservers associated with your domain name to your new web host's nameservers. If you don't know your new host's nameservers, ask them. Most hosts have that information listed somewhere on their website or in the email you first get after signing up for an account.

Once the dns modification is completed it'll be 24-48 hours before you'll see your site on the new server.

Most whois utilities will display the nameservers of the current host. A good one is at (http://whois.sc.) Check your domain name and see if the nameservers you added are listed. If so, you have completed the website transfer to your new web host. Only after you've confirmed this is it ok to cancel your old web hosting account.

Changing to a New Host? No More Worries!

By Priyanka Agarwal

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.

About the Author
Priyanka Agarwal
Hosting evangelist
http://www.m6.net/