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Cessation of IIS (Window) Legacy Shared Hosting Subscriptions [July 2018]
Posted by Helpdesk Admin on 10 June 2018 04:05 PM

Important notice for customers of our Legacy IIS/Windows Shared Hosting Packages

A small number of customers are using our legacy IIS/Windows shared hosting plans. These older plans are based on a deprecated version of IIS which we will shortly be removing from our systems as it is no longer supported by Microsoft or by our hosting automation systems. Most IIS customers have already migrated to other hosting types at this stage, this notice outlines what will happen to remaining accounts.

Initial change of subscription plan

Legacy IIS plans will initially be migrated to our newer Cloud Linux hosting plans in order to preserve Email and domain configuration. We will switch your plan to the equivalent Cloud Linux package so that it will continue to renew on the same dates and at the same (or lower) rates as before. Access to your account and billing etc. will be through the same control panel as previously.

What data is being migrated?

The migration simply copies the physical website files from the existing server(s) to the new server and duplicates the hosting configuration on the new system. Email is unaffected, that remains on the same servers and storage systems as currently. MySQL databases are likewise unaffected as they remain on the same servers, separate to the hosting platform.

For websites that do not require IIS (Static HTML sites, bespoke PHP sites, WordPress/Joomla websites) we will migrate existing content over to the new Cloud Linux servers and it will continue to run as before, except on a newer highly available clustered platform. For such sites, access to the hosting subscription will be through your existing control panel.

For websites that require IIS (specifically, sites running Classic ASP or ASP.Net, or that use a MS SQL database) we will migrate existing content to a temporary platform based on Plesk Onyx for Windows. This will allow the website to continue run as before, but with the benefit of a better hosting interface and newer available software versions. For windows sites, access will be via a temporary hosting control panel - we will send you access details for this after migration. Additionally, for such migrated subscriptions it will be possible for you to run both IIS (ASP, ASP.Net) and Apache (Linux) websites under the same account at allow ample time to transition to another hosting type. 

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. 

How will I know when my site is being migrated ?

We will let you know 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 will email you again shortly afterwards. We will be commencing IIS migrations in early July 2018 and plan to complete the process by June 20th. 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. If you have concerns, you may 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.

Longer term, you will need to migrate your content to Linux, switch to Windows Cloud VPS, or move to third-party Windows hosting. Is you would like to discuss moving to Cloud VPS, please contact sales@irishdomains.com or create a Helpdesk support ticket.

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 the Helpdesk at migration@irishdomains.com and we'll be happy to help.