Transfering Hosting & email account on Webhosting UK servers.

[Akash84]

Hi all,

I recently deployed a site I had been developing with Web Hosting UK after lots of looking around/reading up/reviews and Webhosting UK ended up being at the top scoring 5/5 pretty much throughout.

I then needed support and got it promptly so... now I'm back for more (sort off!)

The story starts...
A long time ago, I registered a domain name with another vendor. I added the e-mail package ontop and have been using them for about 3 years for only email.

Recently, I've had issues and the support from them has been appauling usually taking 3-4 days to reply a one liner. Today, I find myself almost 24 hours without email because "something" has banned my home ip address on their end and so I can only check my mail on my phone or at work.

So this is what I want to do and I guess I just need some answers...

1. Can I transfer that domain name to Webhosting UK ?
2. Can I transfer the whole email system over?
3. Will there be downtime? As you can appreciate, this is used for both personal and business so I would not be able to afford any downtime.
4. If it is yes to all the above - what basic package (for now) do you offer that can allow me to have :

*6 mailboxes (I usually give about 50-60mb each)
*Spam filter
*webmail

Currently, it sits on a Cpanel system which I am happy with. Overtime, once I get my own site sorted, I can then purchase more space/services.


If the above 4 points gets the ticks...then I would also be interested in moving another domain name over to you but this is actually for the site I already host with you.
Again, as this domain is live, I could not afford it to go down.

Having said the above, if downtime is required, how long would it be? My thinking is if it is a few hours, it could be a evening task or maybe even over a public holiday (though I need to find out if the business using the other domain is closed or not)


Thanks in advance and apologies for the lecture of a thread!

A

[James]

Hi Akash84,

I have answered all your questions as follows:-

1. Can I transfer that domain name to WHUK?

Yes, you can transfer the domain under our registry. If you could provide the domain name then I would be able to explain you the transfer process.

2. Can I transfer the whole email system over?

If you are using cPanel control panel then it's possible to transfer all your emails on to our server. You will have to consider one of our cPanel hosting plan.

3. Will there be downtime? As you can appreciate, this is used for both personal and business so I would not be able to afford any downtime.

Yes, there might be couple of hours downtime, as it takes time for the DNS propagation.

4. If it is yes to all the above - what basic package (for now) do you offer that can allow me to have :
*6 mailboxes (I usually give about 50-60mb each)
*Spam filter
*webmail

You may consider one of our cPanel hosting plan to run your emails as well as your websites. You will be able to create number of email accounts through cPanel control panel. cPanel provides SquirrelMail and Horde webmail program through which you can access your emails at any time, from anywhere, from any machine. Spam filter is also included in the package.

If the above 4 points gets the ticks...then I would also be interested in moving another domain name over to you but this is actually for the site I already host with you.
Again, as this domain is live, I could not afford it to go down.

There should not be any downtime in this case because the website is already hosted with us and you are already using our name servers for this domain name.

To be on the safer side I would suggest you to make this switch over on weekend.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to post it here.

[Akash84]

Thanks James
That was very helpful as per usual!

In regards to downtime for those few hours, what happens to the emails during that time...do they bounce back or are they queued?

I'm not fussed at all about the existing emails as they actually end up in Outlook (desktop client as opposed to web) at the end of the day anyway. My confusion or lack of understanding is in that I have several mailboxes under that domain name (for example, ]john @ domainname .uk .com, harry @ domainname. uk.com etc etc)
I'm confused on how they get transferred over if that makes sense?

The domain name is akashDOTukDOTcom (sorry just putting in spam measures)
Not sure about advertising rules but if you enter that in the browser, you'll see who I am with currently if you need to know that information.

Bear in mind that you would only in theory be transfering the above name over and not the "site" as there is no site currently. All I use it for at present is the 6 odd mailboxes which is based on XXXX@domainnameAbove.uk.com


In regards to the other name one, it is for a shop that trades over the weekend too so they really wouldnt be able to have any downtime
Obviously they are shut overnight so.. is it possible for the process to happen then?


On another note, it has taken almost 24 hours for the other guys to get in-touch to ask a query and that was after I had to chase it up... terrible eh?

[Rachel]

Hi Akash,

In regards to downtime for those few hours, what happens to the emails during that time...do they bounce back or are they queued?

Once the account is transferred over and DNS changes are made, the domain will keep resolving from either of the servers (current & new server). So, the emails will be received on one of the servers.

I'm not fussed at all about the existing emails as they actually end up in Outlook (desktop client as opposed to web) at the end of the day anyway. My confusion or lack of understanding is in that I have several mailboxes under that domain name (for example, john@domainname.uk.com, harry@domainname.uk.com etc etc) I'm confused on how they get transferred over if that makes sense?

From what I understand from your initial post, you have cPanel hosting with your current host for this domain. You can request the support dept. to transfer the account data for you. They will be doing a full backup/restore for your account that will transfer all the email accounts on the new server.

Bear in mind that you would only in theory be transfering the above name over and not the "site" as there is no site currently. All I use it for at present is the 6 odd mailboxes which is based on XXXX@domainnameAbove.uk.com

I'll put it this way - Domain transfer and hosting account transfer are 2 different things. Domain transfer is the process of changing the registrar of a domain name. It basically refers to transferring the management of your domain name from one registrar to another. Coming on to Hosting transfer, this refers to changing web hosts/ servers. The cPanel to cPanel transfer will migrate the email accounts and any other data for your website on the new server.

In regards to the other name one, it is for a shop that trades over the weekend too so they really wouldnt be able to have any downtime
Obviously they are shut overnight so.. is it possible for the process to happen then?

Indeed. You can specify the time you need the migration to take place.

I hope that helps. In case you have any questions or concerns feel free to post