Migration is free and we do it. It usually takes a day from the request, and most of that is waiting for DNS rather than moving anything. What follows is what actually happens, so nothing is a surprise.
What we need
- Access to the current hosting - a control panel login, or FTP and database credentials.
- Where the domain is registered, and access to change its DNS.
- A list of mailboxes, if mail is moving too.
- Anything that must not be interrupted, and when - a shop's busiest hours, for instance.
What we do
- Copy everything to the new server — Files, databases and mail, with the old site still live and untouched.
- Bring it up on a temporary address — So it can be checked before anything points at it.
- Ask you to check it — You know what the site should do; we do not.
- Lower the DNS TTL — A day before the switch, so the change takes minutes rather than a day.
- Sync the last changes and switch — Anything written since the first copy is brought over.
- Keep the old server reachable — For at least 48 hours, until every cache has expired.
The one hour
Between the final sync and the switch, do not publish, do not take manual orders and do not change settings. Anything written on the old site in that window has to be moved by hand, and something always gets missed.
What stays your decision
- The PHP version, if the site is old enough that a newer one might break it.
- Whether mail moves with the site or stays where it is.
- The plan, which we will advise on from what the site actually uses rather than from what it currently sits on.
After
Check the site the next morning and the one after: a broken cron job or a form that cannot send mail shows up on a schedule, not immediately.
Do not cancel the old hosting for a fortnight. It costs one more month and it is the only real undo.