How to transfer a domain from one hosting to another
If you decide to change the domain hosting, it is worth taking care that the technical work was as unnoticeable as possible for visitors. Why is this important?
If you prematurely redirect the domain, and the user will get to the site is not yet ready - he will leave.
If during the work there are errors, and the service will incorrectly display information - the visitor will leave.
If the unfinished page will take a long time to load - the client will leave.
To save the audience and to carry out all the necessary technical work, you need to know how to correctly redirect the domain to another hosting.
Step 1: Preparatory work
Before moving to another hosting, you need to conduct a complete revision of the site:
Check the credentials of the administrative base of the resource
Find out the data management hosting
Check access to the personal account on the portal of the domain registrar
Identify access parameters to FTP, MySQL, etc.
Check the work of the accounting system
Clarify access to the Personal Account for affiliate and promotional codes
Identify current web server settings and modules of its operation
Determine the location of files, as well as their owner
Find out the number of users, their access level
Contact the CMS and check the versions of the modules
Check the compatibility of the modules with the new software
Why is it important to inventory the site before moving the domain to hosting? At this stage, bugs are identified that were put aside in a long box, and which were simply forgotten about. If they are not taken into account, then there may be problems. Also, a deep check will help determine the list of updates that need to be installed on the new server.
Step 2: Domain Setup
To do any operations with the domain name, you need to take control of it.
Find out who the domain registrar is. You can check this with the Whois service.
Transfer the domain name to the registrar or reseller. When choosing the latter, pay attention to the working conditions. Some specialists conduct registration for little money, while renewal costs five times more expensive. When paying a commission is taken - the percentage depends on the money transfer system.
Transfer the DNS-zone to a free or neutral server. The data for management is with the owner. Different specialists offer different management conditions. Someone gives full access, someone gives limited access. Some offer the service for an additional fee.
If you are not satisfied with the terms of cooperation with one specialist, you can always switch to another. The transfer time is 2 hours. Please note that it may not be possible to move the site to another hosting a month before the deadline.
One of the popular DNS hosting services is Google. It is set up through Mail for the domain. In this case, the mailbox comes as a nice bonus, it is not necessary to configure it. The transfer process is described in detail in the attached instructions. To register with the reseller will require only NS-servers.
When using shared hosting, maintenance is possible only by the hoster. Changing the hosting will cause the site to fail.
Step 3: Update DNS zone
The DNS zone data is updated without the user's involvement. To speed up the process, you need to perform the following steps:
Open the required record
Go to the resource data retention time indicator - Minimum TTL
Reduce the current value to 300-900 seconds
Reconfiguring the resource record retention time will speed up the update several times.
Step 4: Transfer and Customization
To transfer a domain from one hosting to another, you need to follow the steps below:
Copy all the contents of the resource and download the database with the software information.
Refer to the hosts file and make a record in it such as: 000.123.567.321 example.com. The new IP address should be indicated in place of the numbers.
When working with shared hosting, first bind the domain name to it. Do not change the domain zone records until the technical work is completed.
When you complete the above steps, you will be able to view the site from the new server, and users will be directed to the old address. This will give you the opportunity to debug the resource without rushing.
Step 5: Final synchronization
To finally migrate the domain settings, synchronize the work of the servers:
Limit the functionality of the old site
Place a banner on the main page with a message that the work is underway
Upload your portal content to the new server
Unload the database
Restore the functionality of the resource
Configure DNS record redirection to the new portal
Return the TTL value to the default value
The data will be updated within 10-15 minutes. A full-fledged transition will take 24 hours. To make the work as painless as possible for users, choose a time with the lowest traffic.
