Moving Your Virtual Space - 2

Last Updated on Thursday, 24 March 2011 06:10

1. Gather required information: Plan well ahead - at least a week in advance. You may want to start even earlier, if you need to gather these vital pieces of information:
   1. Your Domain ID and Password: required to transfer the domain
   2. For .nz domains you may also require a UDAI (Unique Domain Authentication Identifier).
   3. FTP username and password: This is the username and password you need in order to upload (add) your website files to the New_Web_Host’s Web Server. FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol, the method commonly used to upload files.
   4. The usernames and passwords for each of the mailboxes associated with your domain, as well as the email addresses associated with each mailbox. Remember that mailbox names need not necessarily be the same as the first part of an email address. In fact, the name of the mailbox and the associated email address may be entirely different, just as the number on your PO Box and the name of your business are associated, but entirely different. Also, there can be more than one email address associated with a single mailbox. The potential complexity of email configuration is an important reason to give yourself plenty of time to sort things out in advance.
   If you don’t have the above information, and don’t know where to get it, start by contacting your Old_Web_Host, your web designer, your IT administrator - or all three. Gathering all the information you require can often take time because of the number of different people and providers who may be involved.
2. Open a new web hosting account: Open your new account with the New_Web_Host at least a few days in advance. The couple of extra dollars you’ll pay for the extra days of hosting will be worth every penny. It gives you time to get organised and ask the New_Web_Host any questions you may have about their processes.
3. Plan the move on a Friday: Planning the virtual move on a Friday, preferably late afternoon (or even evening, if you can) creates less hassle. The reason is that web hosts take time to update their Servers - usually at least several hours. So, while your records on the Old_Web_Host’s Server have been deleted, they may not as yet have been updated on the New_Web_Host’s Server. This means there is an outside chance that some email sent to you or your staff in the interim can bounce back to the sender, or worse still, “die in cyberspace”.
4. Download all email: Just to be doubly sure, before you actually transfer your domain name, make sure that you and your staff download email one last time from the Old_Web_Host’s Mail Server so that all the mailboxes are very likely to be empty when you “close” the old mailboxes.
5. Upload your website: After you’ve transferred your domain to the New_Web_Host, upload your website files to the New_Web_Host as soon as possible. If you’re unsure about how to upload your website, don’t hesitate to ask your web designer or web host provider in advance, or employ the services of someone you trust to get the job done with minimum fuss. Keep in mind that your website will be unreachable (“down”) on the Internet for at least a short while - not a good look, especially if the website generates significant revenue for your business.

That's it, pretty much. Watch out if you're following this article to a T, because there are many different ways to set up domains, websites and emails. But this article may give you a good starting point to look at your own set up logically, and hopefully save you heaps of time.