Canada's Premier Web Hosting Service

How To Change Hosting Companies

Moving your site without downtime

How does one get their web site from one host to another is a common questions. At AceOfSpace.com we're often helping people get their sites off of an old server to move to our system. And, even if you're looking to move away from our service, this tutorial will help you too (though we'd rather you didn't leave us). Whatever the case, this type of move should be given a minimum of 5 days to complete and if you're smart you'll give yourself 2 weeks to iron things out.

Don't change because of price

Unless you've reviewed the products and services offered by the new hosting company, don't make price the deciding factor. We have had several clients come back to our service because they realized after going to cheaper host that we have a lot of value in the services that we offer. Yes, even if you're coming from another more expensive service, check out the services we offer and then compare. We're very proud of our service, we offer a lot of value for a very affordable price. Once you compare, we're confident that you will then be much more comfortable making the switch.

The Basic Steps

Here are the steps that may be required for the move. Some steps may not apply to your situation.

1. Find a new host
2. Make a backup of existing web site
3. Open account with new host
4. Copy web site to new server
5. Test web site on new server
6. Create E-mail boxes on new server
7. Change DNS
8. Close old hosting account after being sure everything is working

Evaluating a Web Site Hosting Company

The most important thing about finding a new host is being able to see beyond the features. When it comes to disk space, e-mail boxes and the like, it's a numbers game. Let's be honest, hosting is a commodity these days. You might be fooled into selecting a hosting company by comparing the numbers. This common mistake is seldom made more than once. At AceOfSpace.com we've done our best to provide the best value of features for the price but so what! There are more important things.

Review the terms of service. They should respect and protect your personal information. They should offer a generous 30-day money back guarantee. Fortunately most companies do.

Test their support. Seldom do people test the support before they buy (we can attest to this). And yet, with all the possible configurations out there for servers, directory structures, ins and outs, you can expect to need help at least once and probably 2 or 3 times in the first month of service when you're getting things set up. They should answer in a courteous manner and should be honest when they don't know and they get back to you when they find out.

Test their e-mail support. This is a hosting companies most commonly used support line. It's important that you're not left waiting for over 24 for hours for answers. We strive to answer all questions within 1 hour during regular business hours and 3 hours maximum at other times of the day.

Test their phone service. Do they have a toll free number (ours is 866-855-5445 for support or customer service)? How long does it take for them to return you calls if you leave voice mail. Here's a trick: Leave a voice mail and an e-mail if it's urgent. Often, tech support specialists are on the phone answering questions and e-mail at the same time. One way or another you'll get an answer quickly.

The “It's Not My Job” test. People often call on us to help them with problems that have nothing to do with the services that they're paying for. Our policy is to try to help as much as possible. We've helped people make business decisions, write letters to registrars, optimize their graphics, fix their code and much more. So ask the hosting company something like, “I want to move my site from Geocities to your company but I no longer have the password to the Geocities account so I can't get to it. Can you transfer the pages for me?” Yes, we've done this too.

Is their system user friendly? They should have some automated method of managing the features that they offer.

What kind of help section do they offer? Customer centered companies take the time to enable you to solve your own problems by putting documentation on line for you to use. If they hide their help section until you become a ‘member,' how are you going to know how good it is?

Other benefits. Do they have your best interests in mind? A good hosting company will a least give you pointers on how to you promote your web site. Do they teach you about topics related to being a webmaster rather than just using their service? They should enable you to get on their server within 1 hour of signing up. They should take credit cards for your convenience and have all credit card information securely pass between your computer and theirs using an encrypted connection.

Make a Backup of Existing Web Site
You're going to have to have something to put on the new server. If you don't already have a copy of your web site on your local computer you should make one.

Open Account with New Host

Now you're ready to open the new account on your new hosting company. You can often sign up over the phone but this is not the recommended method. The reason -- typos. People make mistakes and a domain name is not something you can afford to have a typo in. Therefore, if you order it on line you'll have written documentation of the transaction and proof that it was entered correctly.

Copy Web Site to New Server

Many software packages enable you to upload your site to the server. Still, the most effective method is using an FTP program. This will enable you to become familiar with the directory structure of your new host and FTP is the most efficient method of transferring files over the net.

Test Web Site on New Server

Now your web page is on two servers. The old and the new. Make sure all pages are working on the new server and upload again if needed.

Create E-mail Boxes on New Server

When the old server is taken off line, where is your e-mail going to go? Hopefully you will have already set up e-mail boxes on the new server so that the e-mail will have a home. While the Internet pointers (also known as DNS or Domain Name Services) are being updated to point from the old server to the new in the next step you there may be a time when your e-mail doesn't know where to go. Homeless e-mail will wonder the internet for about 5 days before it returns to the sender. Hopefully during this time you will have everything ready and waiting for the e-mail to find you.

Change Domain Name Services (DNS)

Domain Name Services point browsers to the right server so that people can find your web page. Think of them as a an information booth in a mall. You say, I want to know the address of Sears. They say that is store 5B over on level two. They translate the store name (the name of your web site) to the exact location of the store (the address of the server). In the case of the DNS, there is a large government appointed organization called Internic (www.internic.net) that manages the world-wide database of internet addresses.

Right now the DNS points the world to your existing web site on the existing server. They need to be changed to point to the new web page on the new server. This is done by your web hosting company upon your request to transfer the DNS to the new server.

Once the DNS information is changed it can still take a few days for this information to be acknowledged by all of the web servers and ISP's on the internet as they update their records to match that of the Internic database.

Close Old Hosting Account

At some point, the transfer of the DNS to point to the new server will take place. When? Nobody knows the exact moment because this is handled by Internic. But when it does, you want it to be as transparent to the people browsing your web site as possible. One moment the pointers are going to be pointing to the page on the old server and then to the new one. If you've followed these instructions there should be no problems. Fortunately, if there are, you can always ask to have the DNS changed back to the old server to minimize the interruption.

Finally, when all is working well on the new server it's time to contact the old hosting company and shut that account down. Please be courteous and let them know that you've found another service for your web hosting needs.

Thank you

We hope that this guide has helped you plan and that your move will be trouble free. If you have any questions, please direct your calls to our support team. Here's our contact info.

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