(ISF) Re: Question about migrating websites.

In response here . . .

>;>> 1. Make sure you own your domain names and move them to a stand-alone registrar, if they're not already on one. (A stand-alone registrar is one that is not tied to your web-site hosting. Many web hosts will provide this service apart from the actual hosting.) This separates domain registration from the web-site ownership. Also, set up one account that controls all of the domain names; this will make administration easier. The registrar should also control the name servers for your domains. The name servers are what tells everyone where your web-sites and your mail servers are and it's important that you administer them.>>>>

Actually I recommend just the opposite. Have all your registration, files, etc on with one vendor. Makes it much easier to manage. Now instead of having domain names managed elsewhere, you have them all in one spot, set everything to automatic renewal with a valid CC.

>>> 2. If you don't have a local copy of all of your sites, get it now. It should be set up on an in-house computer system so that you can actually run the web-site locally. You need this for testing and development so that you're not making changes directly on your site. (I know this seems obvious, but I have seen cases where the only copy of a web-site was the one on the provider and all changes were made directly.)>>>>

Just keep a directory named "sandbox" or something similar on your host, moving files back and forth between in-house, live, back etc, only leads to problems down the road in my experience. You can be sure that your in house site will never have have the same internals as the site where you really are hosting. On the other hand I do have my entire web infrastructure mirrored on my iBook for when I can't get a net connection and for those subway rides I can get some work in.

3. Consider moving your email in-house. You refer needing a lot of storage and support for mobile staff. You should consider Exchange as an option - this is one thing that Microsoft has, in fact, nailed! However, if you are using Linux or Unix internally there are some Exchange-like options, including Open Xchange, MailStudio, SuSE Openexchange, Zimbra, Bynari, PHPGroupWare, and ExchangeIT!, to name only a few of the suites on the market, that you will want to consider.

Personally, I would never move my email in-house. Let your ISP run the whole thing. PS, is there anyone out there who does not have a gmail account yet?

4. If you have a certificate, make sure you own it. You can then move it wherever your want. If you don't own it, get a new one.

Ok, I can live with that one. Just make sure it's always up to date.

5. Make a list of the specific Unix tools you refer to in the point on supporting your on-line advocacy and off-line databases.

OK, sounds cool. Put this all into a local Wiki too. Consider setting up a blog too. Time to get both applications online, all of about 15 mins.

6. Decide how much storage you mean by "reasonably large storage capacity." This will depend on how big each of your web-sites are (including the online store) and how much you expect them to grow. (Remember, storage is attached to individual web-sites by provider - not to the customer.)

Storage questions are almost a non-issue. You'll probably get 100X more then you'll ever need, and it should just be about free.

7. At this point you are in a position to look at providers. . . .

dreamhost.com or pair.com. That's it, not even worth spending the time looking elsewhere. IMHO.
_ ed p.

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I'm just one of those optimists who would lose his head if it wasn't screwed on as they say. So for me the one site does it all approach is perfect. If you can manage the multiple operations, then that may perfect for your organization.

Yes, the company that hold all your "stuff" for sure can do anything they want, however statistically i guess the odds are for me less headaches when all my billing, hosting, etc is centralized. And yes, I have been shut down by a billing issue, and it was a pain in the butt, but it was resolved. Did I move 2 dozen web sites from that host? No, but I did get a backup ISP. Would not have helped DNS issues, but I can mirror all my data to a second site for $17.95 a month. Sites like dreamhost (+500,000K) accounts, pair (+190,000K) accounts are in business to keep me happy, so a billing issue is usually handled pretty quickly. I look at that interface to Go Daddy, and it freaks me out.

Yes, I did sell my soul to Google too! If I had a new non-profit IT infrastructure to build from scratch, I would "experiment"; a bit, and go just about 100% with Google based web applications (WP, Spreadsheet, Email, Calendar, etc). Could it be a mega failure? For sure, however on this one I would bet that over the long haul, I think the overall productivity of the organization could be measured in orders of magnitude greater then if they want with the tried and true. When I see the Microsoft, Outlook, Active Directory, .Net job postings for jobs in non-for-profits, I shudder and run for the hills. But that's just me.

ed p.

--
the Blog: http://www.utopiaparkway.com
the Karma: http://www.coderswithconscience.com
the Projects: N00/">http://flickr.com/photos/86842405N00/
the Store: http://astore.amazon.com/httpwwwutopic-20

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Some very good points Ed, except for #1...

The problem with having your registration with the same vendor as your host, is that if you suffer hosting issues, billing problems, etc. and this leads to a poor relationship with your host, then moving your domains elsewhere can be impacted. There are more than plenty of horror stories of hosting companies also holding domain ownership hostage and unwilling to transfer the name elsewhere, especially if something such as a billing issue arises and they say you owe money when you disagree. They can restrict changes to the domain, refuse to transfer, etc. until you bring the balance to $0, which leaves you with few options.

The old "don't put all your eggs in one basket" saying gained new life with domain hosting/registration. I highly recommend the two be separate.

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