How to Migrate Website to Another Host with Minimal Downtime

Do Not Cancel Existing Hosting Plan

• Whenever someone buys a new hosting plan, they cancel the old one immediately. It is a very common mistake by the newbies.

• First, inform the existing hosting provider that you are moving to the new company’s server. Cancelling the existing plan before the transition can result in loss of database and files.

Hold that Call

• When you ask them to cancel your hosting plan, they do it immediately sometimes. It has been seen with many hosting companies that they immediately cancel the order and refund the remaining fees.
• Once the hosting plan is cancelled, then you will not be able to retrieve your files.
• This kind of downtime is very difficult to recover from. It can result in all database and file loss.

Download Backup Files

• Before transferring the website data, also download the compressed backup files from the server.
• To make the process easier, make sure that both old and new companies are using the same web-based administration technology.
• In this way, you can restore and backup the data as quickly as possible.

Back-Up Page

• After logging into the Cpanel, you need to find the backup page. This page contains all the necessary tools that will help you backup all the website data.
• You can also get a backup of your MySQL database. The backups are also very important for website maintenance.

Download Backup

• There will an option for creating a backup. You can choose the full-site backup so you can use it to transfer to another hosting server.
• A full-site backup contains all the data but we will recommend you to download a backup of your subdomain differently. There should also be an option to create a backup file for your MySQL database. You do not need to decompress the files as the new server can do it automatically.
• When you will upload the compressed backup files, the server will automatically decompress it. A  compressed file will remain secure but a decompressed file will not.

Migration to the New Server

• Login to the new server cPanel and navigate to the backup page. There will be an option for backup restore.
• Click on that option and upload your backup files. The server will decompress them and will restore the entire website. The process can take time depending on the size of the file.