How to Change Hosting

Changing hosting is often a necessary operation but sometimes scares entrepreneurs and private individuals who are not very experienced.

To avoid this, let's take a good look at what it involves.

What does changing hosting mean?

In reality, changing hosting is an absolutely healthy operation as it is often the result of business growth.

You might need, for example, a more extensive hosting plan, or simply to change hosting because there's an unrepeatable offer you don't want to miss, or even better you're changing your website and consequently need to switch technologies.

Let's start by clarifying things: to move forward in this tutorial it's better to make precise distinctions between three terms that we will use frequently.

Difference between hosting, provider, and server

• Provider: the provider is a company or business that allows you to navigate the internet. Examples of providers include Telecom, Fastweb, Vodafone, and all the operators that bring internet network to your home or office;

Hence, using the term provider when referring to Aruba, Netsons, and other hosting services is theoretically incorrect.

• Data center (or hosting providers): IONOS, Aruba, Netsons, or SiteGround are just a few of the many data centers that utilize their own servers (as we will see shortly) to offer you dedicated hosting packages, allowing you to connect your domain to a website (they also provide the purchase and management of the domain itself);
• Server: the server is a complex computer system that is often utilized by data centers to allocate clients' materials (the service customers) such as web space, websites, domains, and email;
• Hosting: it is the web service provided by data centers that allows for the allocation of materials on a server.

It seems complex but let's try to clarify.

Changing hosting means nothing!

You need to understand if you want to change plan, hosting, or just technology.

How to change hosting: migration from one data center to another

The first operation we are going to analyze is the most classic one.

I have a website with a data center and I want to move it to another (for an offer, because my webmaster recommends it, for better support; in short, there can be really many reasons).

Nowadays, there are many plugins useful for these operations, otherwise you could pay for a dedicated assistance that will migrate everything to the new hosting. You will now be able to migrate smoothly without losing any significant data.

However, it remains a delicate operation, especially when it comes to emails associated with the domain (remember to always make a backup!).

The steps to move your materials (website and emails) to another hosting are:

• Purchase a hosting package with the new data center;
• Manually or automatically for a fee, move all the website files;
• Transfer the database and email account;
• Point your domain's DNS to the new hosting.

How to change hosting while keeping the existing domain

This is also quite a delicate operation.

The fundamental requirement, if you want to completely transfer both the site and the mail, as well as the domain, from one hosting package to another, is undoubtedly the definitive exit code known as: AUTH code or EPP Code.

Once obtained, the transfer authorization must be confirmed. 

PLEASE NOTE: once the auth code is activated, all services with the old hosting will cease to exist, including content!

At this point, as mentioned, the DNS will be pointed to the new hosting, but we will see that shortly.

Is it always possible to transfer a domain from one hosting to another?

In reality, no! Because it is actually ICANN, the domain management entity, that authorizes the transfer.

The factors that affect the possibility of transferring the domain from one hosting to another are:

• 60 days must have passed since the registration of the domain itself on the old hosting;
• There must be no less than 15 days left until the renewal of the package with the old hosting

In some cases, you might also want to keep the same data center but change the technology that hosts your new site, essentially changing hosting packages for example from Windows (widely used a few years ago for old static sites) to Linux.

How to move only dns from one hosting to another

The last operation we will analyze will be the transfer of only the DNS.

DNS allows users to see the domain name instead of the numbers that make it up.

In some cases, you may want to keep the domain and email services on the old hosting (for reasons of price, support, or other reasons), but transfer the new site, perhaps set up with a different technology, as in the case of Framework360, onto the old hosting.

This is possible by pointing the DNS of the new hosting and new technology to the space dedicated to your site belonging to the old hosting.

This operation is very useful as mentioned in case you want to move only the new site while keeping the domain and associated emails on the old hosting.

Choose Framework360 for your hosting

If you don't feel like configuring and managing hosting, you can rely on Framework360.

This is not only the most innovative and complete platform for digital marketing, but it can also offer you hosting through Amazon Web Services, the fastest there is, fully managed by expert system administrators.

Try Framework360