Im a webhosting noob and need some help
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I currently have my domain and website hosted with 1and1.com. I know that's not a good idea to have a domain and webhosting with the same provider. This happened because I bought a domain and received a sales call from 1and1 offering no risk hosting for $.99 for the first 3 months. At the time, I didn't really have a direction to go with the site and I wanted to try different Open Source Ecommerce Solutions.
I started playing around with OpenCart and kind of fell in love with it. Now that I have the store up and running I need a SSL certificate to support Paypal checkout. So I started doing some SSL shopping. Come to find out that 1and1.com only alllows you to use their SSL Certificate. For me that is the straw that broke the camel's back. I want to have a choice when shopping for SSL certs.
So I found another hosting company, but when I go to check out with the hosting it is asking me to pay $10 to transfer my domain. Which is fine, but I want to make sure that I have as little downtime as possible during the transition.
My goal is this:
- Use new hosting
- Use the same domain name
- Backup and Restore my OpenCart site to the new hosting provider with as little downtime as possible
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Whoa. Stop. NO legit host would ever ask you to transfer your domain. That's a scam.
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You need to start by separating your services. First, move your DNS hosting to a third party like CloudFlare (free, and awesome.). That needs to be done and stable before you consider anything else.
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@scottalanmiller said:
Whoa. Stop. NO legit host would ever ask you to transfer your domain. That's a scam.
Ok I have 3 options
"I want to register for a new domain"
"I want to transfer my domain"
"I will update my nameservers on an exsisting domain or I will register a new domain" -
You update e the name servers (DNS) to point out that o the new location. AFTER it is all set up.
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You run the two sites side by side and then switch over with DNS when you are ready. You don't repoint DNS until the new site is 100%.
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@scottalanmiller said:
You run the two sites side by side and then switch over with DNS when you are ready. You don't repoint DNS until the new site is 100%.
Do i need to purchase another domain in the meantime?
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@scottalanmiller said:
You need to start by separating your services. First, move your DNS hosting to a third party like CloudFlare (free, and awesome.). That needs to be done and stable before you consider anything else.
Are you talking about moving my domain or just pointing it?
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@IRJ said:
Do i need to purchase another domain in the meantime?
No, you will just access the site on the new host via IP or some temporary sub domain name.
Example of something we are doing for a client:
Old Live site hosted with Network Solutions
: http://acidist.com
New Beta site hosted on Azure
: http://beta.acidist.comOnce we work out the bugs in the beta, we will change the DNS for the @ record and poof everyone suddenly starts flowing to the new design.
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@IRJ said:
@scottalanmiller said:
Whoa. Stop. NO legit host would ever ask you to transfer your domain. That's a scam.
Ok I have 3 options
"I want to register for a new domain"
"I want to transfer my domain"
"I will update my nameservers on an exsisting domain or I will register a new domain"I presume the 3 options here are what you see at 1&1 domain panel? No worries...just find a new registrar and use that new registrar to transfer your domain.
Worry about pointing dns until after domain is transferred to new domain registrar.
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@technobabble said:
I presume the 3 options here are what you see at 1&1 domain panel? No worries...just find a new registrar and use that new registrar to transfer your domain.
Worry about pointing dns until after domain is transferred to new domain registrar.
Why transfer the domain at all, unless he's unhappy with 1&1 as a registrar.
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@Dashrender said:
@technobabble said:
I presume the 3 options here are what you see at 1&1 domain panel? No worries...just find a new registrar and use that new registrar to transfer your domain.
Worry about pointing dns until after domain is transferred to new domain registrar.
Why transfer the domain at all, unless he's unhappy with 1&1 as a registrar.
Why indeed...I presume I felt as he was bailing from 1&1 completely....so if not...the above not necessary. @IRJ will just need to update the nameservers to point to his new host or do as @scottalanmiller said.
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@IRJ said:
@scottalanmiller said:
You run the two sites side by side and then switch over with DNS when you are ready. You don't repoint DNS until the new site is 100%.
Do i need to purchase another domain in the meantime?
No. There should be no domain purchases or changes.
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@IRJ said:
@scottalanmiller said:
You need to start by separating your services. First, move your DNS hosting to a third party like CloudFlare (free, and awesome.). That needs to be done and stable before you consider anything else.
Are you talking about moving my domain or just pointing it?
I'm talking about changing your DNS host. Nothing more. Not changing registrar nor reprinting DNS.
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It's fine to bail on 1and1 and move to GoDaddy or whomever but there is no need and even if you do, this isn't the time for that.
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@scottalanmiller said:
It's fine to bail on 1and1 and move to GoDaddy or whomever but there is no need and even if you do, this isn't the time for that.
Yes definitely don't do all of these things at the same time, you'll have a nightmare on your hands.
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Yes, each step is something to do alone. And changing the Registrar doesn't need to be done at all.
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I would use someone else. While having things in one place is nice, you should not be forced to move your domain. The update your name servers is the right choice to maintain your domain and DNS other than at your web provider. It is not hard to do, but can be confusing your first time through. You might want to make contact with your domain registrar for help.
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@bsouder said:
I would use someone else. While having things in one place is nice, you should not be forced to move your domain. The update your name servers is the right choice to maintain your domain and DNS other than at your web provider. It is not hard to do, but can be confusing your first time through. You might want to make contact with your domain registrar for help.
Thanks. That is exactly what I did.
Unfortunately, I am going to have to rebuild my website. I sold most of my inventory on it anyways. So rebuilding it wont be too bad.
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Why do you have to rebuild things?
