Switching Hosting Providers

How do I switch from another provider to you?
Where do I get the DNS /name server/ info of your server?
Will my site be down during the switch? Will I lose mail?
Is there any cost associated with changing the DNS records of my domain name?
Can you transfer my domain name registration from my current registrar to your registrar?
Can I renew a domain name with you?
How long does it take to switch to your server?
Will you transfer my files as well, or I have to do that myself?
How do I move my website files from my old hosting provider to you?

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How do I switch from another provider to you?

In order to move your site from your current hosting provider to us, you need to:

1. Open an account with us. Once the account is opened, you will receive a welcome e-mail message. It will contain the necessary login and nameservers information.
2. You need to upload your site's content on our server. You also need to recreate your e-mail addresses through the online Control Panel.If your web site uses server-side scripting, you should note that the languages we support on our servers are Perl, PHP, Python, TCL and Ruby.We also support MySQL database. If your site uses MySQL, you would need to import the database content into your account as well.
3. When you are ready and have tested your content, you would need to repoint your domain name to your account with us. This can be done by updating its nameservers with the ones included in the welcome e-mail message. The nameservers can be changed at your domain name registrar (the company through which you have registered the domain name).

After you switch the nameservers, you should allow 24 - 48 hours for the DNS propagation to take place.

If you have any additional questions or you experience difficulties, please do not hesitate to contact our support staff.

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Where do I get the DNS /name server/ info of your server?

The details of our DNS info are/will be listed in the welcome e-mail that you will receive upon signup.

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Will my site be down during the switch? Will I lose mail?

When the InterNIC updates the root servers pointing your domain to our servers, all new visitors will come to your new site and so will your mail. Some visitors who have cached your old IP address will continue to visit and send mail to your old site for one to two days after the DNS records change. Therefore you have to keep your existing web site and mail service with your current host for 3-4 more days after you've moved your web files to our server. This will ensure a smooth transition without down time. Also be sure to check your old mailbox during this time and you won't lose any mail.

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Is there any cost associated with changing the DNS records of my domain name?

No. You simply need to update your domain name records to point to our name servers, which can be done free of charge with most domain name registrars. We can assist you with the DNS change.

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Can you transfer my domain name registration from my current registrar to your registrar?

If you wish, we can initiate a domain name registration transfer for your domain name from your current registrar to the one that we work with. Please note that registrars do not allow registration transfers for names that are about to expire in one month /or more, depending on the registrar/ or are newly registered. Transfers are not allowed for up to 60 days after the registration of the name. If you need to have your domain name transferred, please contact our support team for further information.

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Can I renew a domain name with you?

We can renew only domain names registered by us. If you have your domain name registered elsewhere and hosted by us, you still have to handle the domain name renewal by yourself. However, if your domain is registered elsewhere but more than 30 days remain till the expiration date, we can initiate a transfer procedure for it. If the transfer is successful, one year will be added to the expiration date of the domain, thus effectively renewing it.

Please refer to the "Can you transfer my domain name registration from my current registrar to your registrar?" question in this category for details about domain transfer procedures.

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How long does it take to switch to your server?

After you set the DNS records to point to our server it usually takes up to 48 hours, needed for DNS propagation until your domain is live on the Internet at its new location.

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Will you transfer my files as well, or I have to do that myself?

Currently, we do not provide this service. You will have to upload your files to the server by yourself.

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How do I move my website files from my old hosting provider to you?

There are several options available:

* Upload your web site files using some FTP program.
To use this option you will need to have some FTP program(CuteFTP, SmartFTP, Filezilla, Fetch for MAC, Transmit, WS_FTP, CyberDuck for MAC, etc) installed on your computer. If you have some HTML editing program with built-in publishing features such as DreamWeaver, Adobe GoLive, you can use it as well.

To move your website files to our server, you need to:

1. Download your website files from your old hosting provider to your local computer.
   (In case you have a copy of your website files on your local computer, you can skip this step)
2. Once you have the files downloaded, you need to upload them from your computer to your hosting account on our server. The FTP connection details can be found in your hosting account Welcome email.
   If you need instructions on how to configure a particular FTP program, you may wish to check the following category in our Knowledge Base - Uploading files. The main folder where your site files should be uploaded on our server is /www/www
3. When you have all your site files uploaded to the server, you can test if the site is working fine online.
   In case your domain name is still pointed at your old web hosting provider, you can use the temporary URL listed in your account Welcome email to test the site. It should look something like http://username.example.com, where username is your account username and example.com is the name of the hosting server where your account is located.
4. In case your site is database driven you may need alter some system paths, database connection settings, import your database to our server, etc.

* Publish your web site using MS FrontPage
If your site has been created with the Microsoft FrontPage program and you are using MS FrontPage specific components such as feedback forms, themes, shared borders, image galleries on your pages, you need to:

1. Reverse Publish/Download your website files from your old hosting provider to your local computer.
   (see MS FrontPage - Reverse Publishing)
   (In case you have a copy of your website files on your local computer, you can skip this step)
2. Once you have the files downloaded on your local computer you need to enable the MS FrontPage extensions for your account. You can do this at your hosting account Control Panel -> FrontPage section. (see How do I Enable/Disable MS FrontPage extensions for my account)
3. When you have the MS FrontPage extensions enabled for your account you will need to publish your website to our server. In case your domain name is not pointed yet to our server you should use the temporary URL provided in your Welcome email. (see Publish a site with MS FrontPage)
4. Once the publish process is completed, you can test your site on the server.

* Use the FTP Migration Manager available in your hosting account Control Panel.
In case you do not have an FTP program or you wish a server-to-server transfer of files, you can use the FTP Migration Manager available in your web hosting account Control Panel. It gives you an option to download your site files from your old hosting provider server to ours without the hassle to download the files to your local computer first.
To use the FTP Migration Manager you need to:

1. Log into your hosting account Control Panel at our server and enter the FTP Migration section.
2. Specify your old hosting account FTP details (as remote host you need to use the IP address of your old hosting server) and start the transfer. (see FTP Migration Manager)
3. Once the transfer is completed you can test if the site is working fine online. In case your domain name is still pointed at your old web hosting provider, you can use the temporary URL listed in your account Welcome email to test the site.
4. In case your site is database driven you may need alter some system paths, database connection settings, import your database to our server, etc.

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