Moving Your Site to a New Web Host

If you're like most webmasters, the thought of migrating your site to a new host doesn't exactly fill you with an overwhelming sense of joy. 

More likely, you worry, lose sleep, bite your nails, and generally dread the thought. But the truth is that it can be surprisingly easy and painless once you learn the proper procedure.

I should preface this article by stating that these steps are intended for those moving from one shared host to another, not for websites that own and control their own servers.

Though the procedure is much the same for the latter as it is the former, the details can vary greatly.

The first and most often overlooked step begins long before you ever even contemplate migration: Owning your own code. Let me explain this in detail, as it is most often the newer webmasters who underestimate the importance of this critical step.

The central repository for your website code must always be on your local machine, local server, or some other media under your immediate and direct control.The copy of your web pages that lives on your web server should be just that - a copy.

The "Rosetta Stone" of information should live with you and be backed up frequently. Servers crash. It's a fact of life. Sometimes they lose data. You can control your own destiny much more easily if you update your master copy locally and then deploy to your site following proper backup procedures.

OK, now you've listened to my lecture and taken it to heart. You no longer have to pull copies down from your web server to update your pages. Great. Now we can proceed to step 2 - procuring a new web host. If you haven't found your new host yet, do it now (for tips on finding a new web host, read my web hosting reviews). Get your new account set up and make sure that it is working properly. Copy your site over from your existing web server (don't delete the files yet) and put them on the new one. If you use a database, snapshot what's on the existing server and copy that over as well. Make sure you have all file and DB permissions configured correctly, and that everything is working as it should. Test your new site thoroughly using the temporary URL or IP that your new host provides. Check your code to make sure you aren't pointing to an IP on your old server, and make sure you've properly configured all subdomains and email accounts.

When you are sure that everything is working as it should, you can now proceed to step 3 - DNS. This is where most problems occur. The most common mistake is to change your DNS servers and immediately cancel your old hosting account. You should wait a minimum of 48 hours for the new DNS settings to propagate before shutting down the old server, and I usually wait a week just to be safe. The next most common mistake is assuming that your new host has completely and correctly set up your DNS records in their name servers. It is always advisable to check. If your current host (or domain registrar) allows you the ability to edit your own DNS records on their servers and your new host has given you a dedicated IP, it's sometimes safer to simply change the A record to point to your new IP. If for whatever reason it doesn't work, you can quickly rollback without waiting for tech support. The method I use varies from site to site, but the critical part is that I never shut down the old host until at least 5 days of trouble-free traffic has been flowing across the new server.

The last step is to ensure that all of your local mail and database connections point to the new host. I run a lot of MSSQL DTS packages, so I usually do a lot of testing as I'm moving my code over. Make sure your mail is working, too - test all accounts.Once you've completed these steps and run for 5 days on your makeshift redundant system, you can safely shut down the old hosting plan and collect any refunds. That's really all there is to it - a little work, a lot of planning, and a lot of testing, but no drama and no downtime are your sweetest rewards.Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Wendy_Peterson/2200877

How to Choose the Web-Hosting Service

Making a good decision about how to choose the best web-hosting service can really be hard. Today, there are many companies that generally offer the same service, with each having its own advantages in terms of supporting capacity.

Price Matters

Most buyers usually look at the price first, before anything else. However, if the aim is to have a highly positive result from a hosting provider, price shouldn't be the deciding factor. The cheaper the price, the fewer the available features and specifications that one receives.

Specifications

How can you buy the web-hosting provider that is most suitable for you, if you don't really know what your business needs? It's thus important to know what you want and need, before buying. Among the list of questions that you need to answer, in order to know what web-hosting service you need, are the following:

• What kind of website will you build?

• Will you use Windows applications?

• Is special software necessary?

• What is your expected web traffic volume?

Above are just a few of the specifications that you need to be aware of, before buying from a particular provider. Therefore, make sure to plan thoroughly for this, determining how it will work with your business.

Server Uptime Record

Isn't it great to acquire a web-hosting server that operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? You should thus choose to have a host that has a dominant server and a steady network connection, so that your website can run on a consistent and smooth basis. You should know that the average and recommended server uptime score is 99.5 percent. When you have below 99 percent of server uptime score, you're in potential trouble.

From the wide range of providers, you will be able to identify which one works best for you. You can do some research and discover various articles to help you, in terms of which web-host offers the best uptime server score.

User-Friendly Interface

When choosing a user-friendly control panel, the fact of it being easy to use is important, amongst other factors. The user interface must have a functional hosting control panel that is very easy to understand even for first time users. This type of panel is undeniably important for all the server's functions.

Even if you are not really a tech-savvy, there are some important things, such as creating an email, installing a blog site, setting up social media accounts that you can easily do without the help of any web-hosting support. The same is the case with the web-host provider; making updates and simple changes should be easy to figure out. If you can't get out of the user interface of one web-host server, then you're probably in trouble.

When you are deciding which hosting provider to use, therefore, you should not just choose the popular or even the best available; instead, you should look for the one that best suits your needs. It's all about using the right one, not the web-host that others presume you should be using.

For more information you can visit http://www.webhostingbd.com/news-site-hosting-bangladesh.html. If you need hosting for eCommerce site then please visit http://www.webhostingbd.com/ecommerce-webhosting-bangladesh.html.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Kimberly_T._Michelle/2143949

Picking the Right Web Host Through a Social Web Hosting Review Website

Reviews play a very important role in the marketability of a product or service. Before investing money in a venture or service people would want to know about the quality of the service from someone who has invested in it earlier. People choose a web hosting company based on its reputation and reviews given by users. This reputation is again a function of popular reviews.

While launching a new website every company or owner wants his site to be hosted by the best service provider available in the market. Everyone looks for maximum benefits at minimum cost. With thousands of websites being launched every day, hosting services are much in demand. It has become a highly competitive business. This has led to emergence of several cheap web hosts with monthly fees as low as 3 to 5 dollars.

The reviews offered by hosting companies in their websites are limited to their own users. To get an overall comparison of different hosting services one has to depend on websites dedicated to such reviews. An authentic hosting review site offers independent hosting reviews that are mainly based on user feedbacks. A social web hosting review website offers an enquiry platform or forum for the readers. This facilitates interaction with other members and learning from their experiences. These sites have other parameters of comparison based on usage, schemes, bandwidth and storage capacities, quality of the host servers etc.

Just like numerous hosting services, there are thousands of review sites too. It is difficult to judge the authenticity of a review website, especially for someone who is new to the field of web hosting. There are several review websites that are run by hosting companies in order to promote their own services. There are independent review sites that take secret commission from web hosts for promoting their services. Thus possibilities are infinite.

In spite of all the criticisms, people still depend on review sites to get a general comparison. You can rely on good websites recommended by your friends or co-workers but the fact is that you cannot decide your web host based on the feedbacks given by a single website. You should do your own research regarding web hosting and related issues. You should compare the reviews of different websites to get an idea about the common sites that are top rated by most of the review sites. You should notice the difference in the rankings given by various sites. If a site persistently reviews a particular host as the best one while rest of the sites are giving a fairly contrasting review, then you should know better than to believe the reviews of such a site.

The information given in a review site should be up to date. The rates, services, and schemes provided by a host are usually listed in a review. You should compare the details in the reviews with the website of the host and confirm the validity of the information offered. You should check the reviews posted by various private users in the social forums. Once you decide about your host, you should seek the guidance of experienced webmasters before registering your site with the host.

The only place to read webhosts review by honest customers - Hosting Reviews Web [http://www.hostingreviewsweb.com].

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Jamie_Gram/365463