Terrifying Transfer – The Trials of Moving Providers

Transferring data from one place to another. This was one of the things I used to dread,  when I first started in the industry. It was a difficult, convoluted procedure, and hasn’t really improved. Because it is tricky I insist on it being a service that we offer for FREE. Over the years we have become used to the various pitfalls involved.

One of the first things to note is that no two transfers are alike. You can be rest assured that something that went smoothly with one, will be a headache with another.

The Importance of Planning

Before a mouse is even clicked it is important to start planning how a transfer is to take place. There are various factors that will come into play here. These range from the amount of physical data to be moved, to the type of domain name being transferred.
We work with the client to decide a timeframe for the transfer and allot a time when the critical transfer takes place. This needs to be at a time when the website or other hosting features will be at a low level of usage. This usually at weekends or at night.

Where are When

In terms of deciding when to complete the transfer work around you. We decide together a suitable date and time for transfer. We then draw up any information employees may after the event. This may be new logons or passwords etc. They may also need instructions for any new systems that they will need to use. These will be provided well before any transfer takes place.

Prior to Transfer

In the days leading up to the transfer of the information we decide on a website lock date. On that date no further changes can be made to the website, or they will be lost. We realise that with regards to email this isn’t possible in most cases, so we aim to keep it live until actual transfer takes place.

We then create all the accounts we need on our servers to store the new website. As the data is now locked we can copy any website data and databases and uploaded it to the new space. If necessary we will recouple the databases to ensure that the site works after transfer.

DNS Complications

To avoid any unnecessary complications with DNS servers we will temporarily disconnect any CDN accounts. At this stage we point any name servers from the existing site to ours. As these propagate you will will see the website on the new location. Hopefully without noticing any difference. We will be on hand to reissue and SSL certificates that may be required and reconnect and CDN accounts.

The Day of Transfer

On the day of transfer we will initiate the transfer of the domain name. If it is a .co.uk the customer may need to release it from the original host, but transfer is swift, usually within a few hours. Other domain names, such as those ending in .com are more involved and require you obtaining an EPP code to release them, there are also rules about domains being transferred that are less than 60 days old (they can’t be). Once permission is granted for a .com transfer it can take up to a week. We can however get round this by pointing the domain name servers to the new site, before transfer.

Email

Whilst all this is happening we will be transferring your email to its new home. In most cases it will be to our business email accounts. We will update all the necessary MX settings to ensure that the email is usable as soon as possible. Whilst it is propagating you will be able to use our webmail accounts to send and receive emails as a temporary measure. – Our webmail will still be available after propagation too.

After propagation has completed, you will be able to use any email client you wish. We have a variety of instructions of how to install them in our knowledge base. Any of our support team will also be pleased to help you.

Test Test Test Again

Before we unlock your site we want to make sure that everything works. We will test every part of it, again and again. We use a range of different tools to ensure that the DNS settings are correct. This makes sure they have propagated around the world properly. If your site structure has changed we will also need to check that all your URL’s work. This  makes sure you don’t get and 404 not found errors.

Finally, once we are happy we will let you know and you can start updating your site. The same site in a new location.

In Summary

Because we plan in advance of any website transfer we can ensure that  staff in place to do the work at quiet times. This makes sure that traffic to your site not not affected. We can’t say that there won’t be some down time. There are often unforeseen hitches that hold things up.

About Us

Hipposerve is a UK based company offering Web hosting, domain names, specialist email services and a range of other features to help you make your online statement. We offer outstanding customer support that always works on a personal level. You will always be treated as an individual – not just another customer. We also have a range of tools to help get you started:

Hipposerve Domain Tools

1. Domain Price List – updated daily
2. Domain Promotions – updated daily
3. Domain Suggestion Tool – (this is currently only compatible with a few tlds, but can be used to find good names for the others)
4. Domain Registration – (this allows you to filter down the tld’s into different categories to make it easier to find them)

Ordering a hosting package is a fully automated process which can be completed from our website. If however you wish to discuss package options with us, or any other hosting related query;  just drop us a line at our support desk.

You can also phone us on 0330 043 1502.

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