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10 helpful tips to follow
when switching web hosts
by: Russ Mate
You've made
your decision to move from your website from
your current web host to a new web host. The
following tips will help you make the
transition easier and make you aware of some
potential pitfalls to avoid.
1) Make sure
the new web hosting plan you've chosen
offers you the storage capabilities to
handle all of your current website storage
requirements. If your website is 50MB, you
need to make sure your new hosting plan
offers that much space, or more. If you're
not sure how much space your website is
using, ask your current host. You can also
usually find this information on your web
hosting control panel.
2) How does
your current web host determine what your
storage amount is used for? Find out what
your current and new host includes in your
plan's storage amount. Are your emails and
log files counted towards your total
storage, or just your web files?
3) What
operating system does your current hosting
plan use? Windows or Unix? Sometimes this
can make no difference, in other cases it
can make the difference between a working
website and a broken website. If your site
is currently on a Windows server and your
website uses ASP scripting, you'll find it
difficult to make things work well on a Unix
server, as ASP is a Windows based
programming language. Find out ahead of time
whether your current hosting plan is on a
Unix or Windows server.
4) Does your
site currently use FrontPage? Find out if
your new host supports FrontPage. And make
sure your new host supports the same version
of FrontPage you currently use.
5) Find out if
your new hosting plan offers you the same
amount of bandwidth that your current host
offers. You don't want to be surprised by
unexpected overage charges at the end of the
month.
6) Does your
new web hosting plan give you the same
amount of email accounts, autoresponders and
mail forwards that you currently use?
7) Does your
site use a shopping cart that your current
hosting plan provides? Can you move the cart
to your new host? If not, does your new host
have a suitable shopping cart replacement?
8) If you are
using any scripts on your website, make sure
that your new hosting plan supports all of
your scripts. Find out in advance if you'll
need to make any modifications to your
scripts to get them working on the new
server.
9) Make sure
to set up your existing email accounts on
your new server before transferring your
domain name to the new server. At MateMedia
(www.matemediainc.com) we see this
overlooked quite often.
10) Do you
know how to upload your website files to the
new server? If you don't, you'll need to
find out if your new web host will upload
your files for you. Some hosts will do this
at no charge, some will do it for a fee, yet
other hosts won't do it all because of
liability issues.
Once all your
files are uploaded to the new server, you'll
want to double check that the site looks and
functions properly on the new server. Most
hosts can provide a preview link for you to
see how your site looks before the domain
name is transferred over. If your host does
not provide a method for you to preview your
site, you can modify your hosts file to
preview your site. The host file tells your
computer where to go to look for sites that
are listed in that file. This works with any
version of Windows. The file name is the
same, the location can change. Here's how to
modify your hosts file:
The file HOSTS
should be in the
c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc You might
only find a file named HOSTS.SAM (as in
SAMPLE). That is OK; we can modify the
HOSTS.SAM file as well and do a SAVE AS
HOSTS.
In either
case, double click on the HOSTS file to open
it. You will be prompted by Windows to
select an Application (Program) to use to
VIEW the file.
Scroll the
list and select Notepad. Click the OK
button. The NOTEPAD program will now open,
displaying the file HOSTS. You will see
examples listed (The # symbol is used to
comment out line or remarks.), the format is
this. IP address (xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx SPACE
name)
So, to tell
your computer that www.yourwebsite.com is at
the address (replace with your real IP)
12.345.678.90 add the following entry to the
bottom of the hosts file:
12.345.678.90
www.yourdomain.com (As in the example).
Click on FILE,
slide down and click on SAVE AS.
In the Save As
Type field, select ALL FILES. (Ensure that
no .SAM is shown after the filename HOSTS.
Click SAVE. You may be warned that the file
already exists; this is fine, click YES.
Close Notepad,
by clicking on FILE, slide down to EXIT, and
click.
Now when you
open your web browser, or try to ping the
site, your system will go to the IP address
you typed in the HOSTS file.
Remember to
undo this when finished testing or your
machine will always want to go to that IP
address whenever you want to go to that
site.
After you're
satisfied that your site looks ok and
functions ok, you can go to your registrar
(the company where your domain name is
registered) and modify the nameservers
associated with your domain name to your new
web host's nameservers. If you don't know
your new host's nameservers, ask them. Most
hosts have that information listed somewhere
on their website or in the email you first
get after signing up for an account.
Once the dns
modification is completed it'll be 24-48
hours before you'll see your site on the new
server.
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