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Migration of Legacy Shared Hosting Accounts to Cloud Linux
Posted by Helpdesk Admin on 09 June 2018 06:14 PM

Important notice for customers of our Legacy Shared Hosting subscriptions.

For the past 14 months, we have been deploying new customer shared hosting subscriptions using our next generation Cloud Hosting platform. This is a highly available clustered hosting system based on Cloud Linux LVE technology that increases the isolation and security of shared hosting accounts. We are now ready to commence moving our legacy shared hosting subscriptions onto our newer platform so that existing customers can benefit from the improved service.

What are the differences between the legacy hosting and the new system ?

The new system provides enhanced security and better performance for our hosting customers. The main benefits are:

  • Improved isolation between accounts. A misbehaving customer will not affect performance of other customers' sites.
  • Multiple PHP versions including hardened versions with back-ported security patches (5.5, 5,6, 7.0, 7.1, 7.2)
  • Full support for TLS (Transport Layer Security) version 1.2, newer cURL libraries.
  • SNI support removing the need for unique IP addresses for SSL
  • Option for larger mailbox sizes on different plans, removing the 1GB limit.
  • Clustered system, individual node failure or maintenance will not cause downtime
  • High Performance EMC Unity Flash storage system.
  • Increased number of websites per subscription
  • Increased traffic and disk-space allowances.
What data is being migrated?

The migration simply copies the physical website files from the existing server(s) to the new cluster and duplicates the hosting configuration on the new system. Email is unaffected, that remains on the same servers and storage systems as currently. Databases are likewise unaffected as they remain on the same servers, separate to the hosting platform. By default, PHP will remain as the same major version as on the current server (PHP5.5) however after migration it will be possible to select different versions from 5.5 to 7.2.

Will the upgraded service cost more ?

No, we are simply updating the web hosting portion of subscriptions, the expiry date, renewal costs and control panel access details will remain unchanged.

Can I opt out of migration?

Unfortunately it is not possible to opt out as the new platform is required to provide safe and secure standards compliant hosting for all our customers.

How does the migration process work?

Initially we will copy your website files to a new hosting cluster. When complete, we will update the DNS records on your domain to point to the new hosting IP address. The update time on our DNS records is typically one hour. You will see an upgrade order placed on your hosting account during the migration - this is to ensure your subscription billing information is carried forward - the value on the order will normally be zero. After migration, your upgraded service will continue to operate and renew at the same rate and cycle as before. You will use the same control panel to access it, simply the name of the service plan will have changed.

Are any services ceasing?

The rarely used AW Stats service is being withdrawn, this can be replaced by Webalizer Stats or you can use Google Analytics, Statcounter or similar tools to obtain website usage data. References to deprecated services such as SiteBuilder 4.5, Front Page Extensions, Catch-all email accounts and Majordomo will be removed.

Will my website(s) be offline for long?

In general, websites will function normally during the migration process, however as the IP address of the website may change there may be a period of time (average about 30 minutes) when the site is unavailable to some visitors because of cached DNS information.

How will I know when my site is being migrated ?

We will let you know shortly before migration commences by sending an email to the appropriate account contact email address (in the case of a company, to the designated technical contact). We'll also notify you again shortly afterwards. We will be commencing bulk migrations during in Q3 and these are will continue through May 2020. If you would like your account migrated earlier, this is no problem, just email migrations@irishdomains.com or log a ticket with the Helpdesk and we will do our best to facilitate.

What should I do before the migration starts?

No customer action is required in advance of the migration however please check what name servers your domains are using. If, as is the case for most customers, you are using Irish Domains name servers (ns1/ns2.irishdomains.com) then no action will be required. If you are using third party name servers (e.g. Microsoft, Amazon, DNS.com etc.) you may wish to alter the expiry time (TTL) on your website DNS records in advance of migration, so that that the subsequent DNS changes propagate faster.

In addition to this if you’re using any services such as Cloudflare, Sucuri etc please be aware that you may need to update the endpoint IP address post migration.

If you have concerns before or after migration, please contact migration@irishdomains.com or create a Helpdesk support ticket.

What should I do during migration?

No specific customer action is needed during migration but you should avoid making changes to your website site files during the process as such changes may be lost or only partially copied. You should not attempt to install or remove site-vault applications such as WordPress until the migration process has completed.

What should I do after migration?

Once you receive the email confirming that migration is complete, you should verify that your website is working properly. We'll do a visual check on all moved websites, but we don't have access to password protected parts of your applications so you should check all functionality afterwards. If you have concerns or find any issues you cannot resolve easily, please contact migration@irishdomains.com or create a Helpdesk support ticket.

If you are using third party name servers (e.g. Microsoft, Amazon, DNS.com etc.) then you will need to update the A record for your domain to point to your new hosting IP address - this will be contained in the pre/post migration emails.

You may need to review your FTP settings and update the host name or IP address in any FTP program you use to maintain your website.

What will happen to my custom DNS records?

The only DNS records that will change are the "System" records related to web hosting, MX records and all other custom records will remain unchanged.

What if I have questions or encounter issues with my website after migration ?

 

If you have any questions or post-migration issues, please contact our team at migration@irishdomains.com and we'll be happy to help.