Host Migration Guide
In an outsourced virtual server world.
No matter who you are hosting with, or who you plan on switching to, this reference will aid you in a flawless execution of Host Migration. We begin with a brief introduction to get you thinking, and then progress into various methods and ideas in ensuring seamless transition.
It is foundationally important that you have full knowledge of how your web site is laid out and the technologies that have been used to create what you have today. What types of services are you relying on now? Are you using Oracle, MySql, MSSql, or other database systems? Are you scripting with ASP, PHP, or Coldfusion? One has to be prepared to make compromise and change in order to flow from one system to the next. Certain compromise is acceptable, while others are not. For example, you should not expect to rewrite your code from Coldfusion into ASP just to fit your new host limitations. Instead, you should consider alternative hosting providers who most closely match what you already are used to. Also consider what type of change will affect your organization the most in terms of email service, if this is also included.
Case Study: Personal Website (Example.org)
Site Requirements:
- * 1. HTML and Images
- * 2. PHP
- * 3. MySql Database
- * 4. One domain name: Example.org
- * 5. Five email accounts
The first thing to do is determine your site requirements, and sign up a new account with a web hosting company who can accomodate your needs, and optimally grow with you into the future. In our example, we will be signing up with Darkscape Internet Services, Inc. They have low cost plans with the option to upgrade plans, even into dedicated servers. There is also a temporary URL for our account that we can use when initially testing our site uploads to make sure everything is coming in to place correctly.
1. HTML and Images
As HyperText Markup Language is one of the fundamental building blocks, support for HTML is universal. It's almost disturbing to think of an instance where HTML support would not be included in commercial webhosting. HTML only requires you to upload the files to the server. When uploading HTML, you may want to force your FTP client to use ASCII mode to avoid problems with Windows text file formatting on a Unix server. Also keep directories and images in mind, these also must be uploaded in Binary mode.
2. PHP
It is important to know if the PHP version you are using now is supported by your new host. PHP version 3 is not PHP 4. Also, it is important to ask if certain functions have been disabled for security reasons. This might be an instance of acceptable compromise, provided that you are able to write a work-around. In this case, PHP is used to pass data back and forth between a site user and the MySql database. The PHP files simply have to be uploaded to the web server's document root.
3. MySql
Any changes to the MySql setup will affect PHP configurations. Here we have to make sure that we make changes if necessary, in the MySql server username that we connect as, the password, even the server. We also must make a backup of the MySql database from the old server, and restore it on the new server. Depending if we have shell access (telnet/ssh) or not, we can use mysqldump from the commandline to backup the database. Most likely this will not be the case. We may then have to install a copy of PhpMyAdmin on the old site and use it to download a backup of the Sql database. Similarly, we can install the program on the new server to load the backup. Installation and Configuration are beyond the scope of this document.
4. One domain name: Example.org
It is important to point out that we should not change the DNS servers with the registrar until the site is fully loaded and working on the new host. Otherwise users of the internet could potentially view a broken site. It is our burden as webmasters to be as seamless in our methods as possible. We should not force our users to endure any undue stress.Now with the new hosting provider, we have configured the new server to use example.org as our domain name. It has been configured in the Apache web server as a virtual host, and has been added to the DNS configuration by the administrator. A control panel may facilitate adding the domain name to our account. In order to test that everything has been set up correctly, we can set our Windows Workstation DNS servers manually to the DNS servers used by our new hosting provider. With these set as OUR dns servers, any requests we make for www.example.org will be served by our hosting company. As long as configuration is correct, the site will come up on the new service. We can make sure this is the case by temporarily adding some unique text to one or more of the files we have uploaded. We will revisit DNS as soon as we finish setting up our email accounts...
5. Five email accounts
Using the Darkscape Control Panel, we were able to re-create the email accounts that were set up for some of the site users- including mom@example.org, dad@example.org, and grandma@example.org. Next, we went to each system which checks these email accounts, and added another Account to Outlook Express. We used mail.darkscape.net as the SMTP server and POP3 server, and supplied usernames and passwords as appropriate. Since there are now two email configurations, we are checking our soon-to-be old webhost's mail server, and new hosts mail server. When we complete our next and final step, it may take as long as 2 days before everyone on the internet sees that we are using a new company to do work with. This way we can check our old mail accounts so that we do not lose mail from anyone who may be sending to the old server, and we can receive mail sent from people to the new server.
... DNS Revisited
We now have our web site functioning on Darkscape's servers, and our email clients are successfully checking email (although there is no mail being received from there yet)! Hopefully we have not forgotten to remove the DNS servers from our Windows DNS configuration or else the internet has been functioning pretty unexpectedly lately. At this point we want to log in to our Domain Name Registrar's website (Network Solutions) and change the Domain Name Servers from our old host to NS1.DARKSCAPE.NET and NS2.DARKSCAPE.NET. We dont *have* to transfer our domain name, we just have to adjust the name servers so that our new host controls the domain names behavior. We will want to periodically check the WHOIS database to make sure the name servers have switched. We will know when we start to receive emails from the new mail server, and we stop receiving mail from the old mail server. It is also a good idea to recheck the site's functionality to make sure everything is as it should be. A couple days after we have initiated the name server change, we can finally close our old account. If we were to close the account before this point, the web site could have disappeared, and email could have been lost. Granted with a low-profile site it is usually not much of a concern unless you also enjoy seamless perfection.
Conclusion
Well that's all for now. Moving accounts between shared servers can be a pretty involving task, but is actually easier than moving an entire single server between physical locations. Ask a few people to check out your site and make sure they don't have any problems. You're in the clear! Congratulations!
Will my webhost help me transfer my site for me? For free?
It is ultimately up to your host, and is a question that you should ask them. Darkscape will transfer site and database content for our customers from their old hosts to Darkscape at no additional cost. The limitations of this offer require the Web Sites be less than 10GB. We will still transfer larger sites, but additional costs will apply.
In an outsourced virtual server world.
No matter who you are hosting with, or who you plan on switching to, this reference will aid you in a flawless execution of Host Migration. We begin with a brief introduction to get you thinking, and then progress into various methods and ideas in ensuring seamless transition.
It is foundationally important that you have full knowledge of how your web site is laid out and the technologies that have been used to create what you have today. What types of services are you relying on now? Are you using Oracle, MySql, MSSql, or other database systems? Are you scripting with ASP, PHP, or Coldfusion? One has to be prepared to make compromise and change in order to flow from one system to the next. Certain compromise is acceptable, while others are not. For example, you should not expect to rewrite your code from Coldfusion into ASP just to fit your new host limitations. Instead, you should consider alternative hosting providers who most closely match what you already are used to. Also consider what type of change will affect your organization the most in terms of email service, if this is also included.
Case Study: Personal Website (Example.org)
Site Requirements:
- * 1. HTML and Images
- * 2. PHP
- * 3. MySql Database
- * 4. One domain name: Example.org
- * 5. Five email accounts
The first thing to do is determine your site requirements, and sign up a new account with a web hosting company who can accomodate your needs, and optimally grow with you into the future. In our example, we will be signing up with Darkscape Internet Services, Inc. They have low cost plans with the option to upgrade plans, even into dedicated servers. There is also a temporary URL for our account that we can use when initially testing our site uploads to make sure everything is coming in to place correctly.
1. HTML and Images
As HyperText Markup Language is one of the fundamental building blocks, support for HTML is universal. It's almost disturbing to think of an instance where HTML support would not be included in commercial webhosting. HTML only requires you to upload the files to the server. When uploading HTML, you may want to force your FTP client to use ASCII mode to avoid problems with Windows text file formatting on a Unix server. Also keep directories and images in mind, these also must be uploaded in Binary mode.
2. PHP
It is important to know if the PHP version you are using now is supported by your new host. PHP version 3 is not PHP 4. Also, it is important to ask if certain functions have been disabled for security reasons. This might be an instance of acceptable compromise, provided that you are able to write a work-around. In this case, PHP is used to pass data back and forth between a site user and the MySql database. The PHP files simply have to be uploaded to the web server's document root.
3. MySql
Any changes to the MySql setup will affect PHP configurations. Here we have to make sure that we make changes if necessary, in the MySql server username that we connect as, the password, even the server. We also must make a backup of the MySql database from the old server, and restore it on the new server. Depending if we have shell access (telnet/ssh) or not, we can use mysqldump from the commandline to backup the database. Most likely this will not be the case. We may then have to install a copy of PhpMyAdmin on the old site and use it to download a backup of the Sql database. Similarly, we can install the program on the new server to load the backup. Installation and Configuration are beyond the scope of this document.
4. One domain name: Example.org
It is important to point out that we should not change the DNS servers with the registrar until the site is fully loaded and working on the new host. Otherwise users of the internet could potentially view a broken site. It is our burden as webmasters to be as seamless in our methods as possible. We should not force our users to endure any undue stress.Now with the new hosting provider, we have configured the new server to use example.org as our domain name. It has been configured in the Apache web server as a virtual host, and has been added to the DNS configuration by the administrator. A control panel may facilitate adding the domain name to our account. In order to test that everything has been set up correctly, we can set our Windows Workstation DNS servers manually to the DNS servers used by our new hosting provider. With these set as OUR dns servers, any requests we make for www.example.org will be served by our hosting company. As long as configuration is correct, the site will come up on the new service. We can make sure this is the case by temporarily adding some unique text to one or more of the files we have uploaded. We will revisit DNS as soon as we finish setting up our email accounts...
5. Five email accounts
Using the Darkscape Control Panel, we were able to re-create the email accounts that were set up for some of the site users- including mom@example.org, dad@example.org, and grandma@example.org. Next, we went to each system which checks these email accounts, and added another Account to Outlook Express. We used mail.darkscape.net as the SMTP server and POP3 server, and supplied usernames and passwords as appropriate. Since there are now two email configurations, we are checking our soon-to-be old webhost's mail server, and new hosts mail server. When we complete our next and final step, it may take as long as 2 days before everyone on the internet sees that we are using a new company to do work with. This way we can check our old mail accounts so that we do not lose mail from anyone who may be sending to the old server, and we can receive mail sent from people to the new server.
... DNS Revisited
We now have our web site functioning on Darkscape's servers, and our email clients are successfully checking email (although there is no mail being received from there yet)! Hopefully we have not forgotten to remove the DNS servers from our Windows DNS configuration or else the internet has been functioning pretty unexpectedly lately. At this point we want to log in to our Domain Name Registrar's website (Network Solutions) and change the Domain Name Servers from our old host to NS1.DARKSCAPE.NET and NS2.DARKSCAPE.NET. We dont *have* to transfer our domain name, we just have to adjust the name servers so that our new host controls the domain names behavior. We will want to periodically check the WHOIS database to make sure the name servers have switched. We will know when we start to receive emails from the new mail server, and we stop receiving mail from the old mail server. It is also a good idea to recheck the site's functionality to make sure everything is as it should be. A couple days after we have initiated the name server change, we can finally close our old account. If we were to close the account before this point, the web site could have disappeared, and email could have been lost. Granted with a low-profile site it is usually not much of a concern unless you also enjoy seamless perfection.
Conclusion
Well that's all for now. Moving accounts between shared servers can be a pretty involving task, but is actually easier than moving an entire single server between physical locations. Ask a few people to check out your site and make sure they don't have any problems. You're in the clear! Congratulations!
Will my webhost help me transfer my site for me? For free?
It is ultimately up to your host, and is a question that you should ask them. Darkscape will transfer site and database content for our customers from their old hosts to Darkscape at no additional cost. The limitations of this offer require the Web Sites be less than 10GB. We will still transfer larger sites, but additional costs will apply.
