Switching to a new host can be a very smooth process or it can be very complicated. Following our steps will ensure that your move is a painless one.

The first step is to find the new host you want to be with and sign up with their service - hopefully BrillianceHost in this case! Make sure not to cancel with your old hosting provider yet, and do not tell them you will be canceling. For the time being you switching host needs to be kept a secret from them, or they could terminate your site early and cause downtime.

At this point you should have hosting accounts with two hosting providers - the old and the new one. You will now upload your entire site from the old host to the new one. This can be done by connecting to their ftp and downloading all your files. Then connecting to the new host's ftp and uploading all your files. If you choose to make us your new host we will transfer your entire site over free of charge!

Things to do before cancelling your old hosting account:

• create your email addresses and email accounts
• backup email lists if you use them (not the same as an address book - you know if you use email lists)
• turn on special features of your old account like spam filters

After you have all your files on both hosting accounts you will change your DNS entries. Your new host should have provided you with their domain name servers or DNS. If they haven't, contact them to find out what DNS entries you should use for your domain name.

DNS entries usually look like the ones below any part of the entires could be different from this example:
ns1.thehostsnames.com
ns2.thehostsnames.com

Once you know what DNS to use on your domain name you will go to wherever you purchased the domain name to make the changes. If you purchased your domain name from your host you may need to ask them to make the DNS changes for you. You will tell them this.... "Hello my domain with you is www.yourdomain.com, my username is yourusername and my password is yourpassword, please change my DNS entries to ???.thednsyoureceived.??? and ???.thednsyoureceived.???.

If you have any questions we would be more then happy to help you, or even make the DNS changes for you. However, we will need access to your domain's registration account to make DNS changes.

Once your DNS changes have been made you will need to wait 24-48 hours before your site will load off the new host. During this period your DNS changes are propogating world wide, and your site will be bouncing from the old host to the new host every other minute randomly. Once this period is up your site will only be loading off the new host.

After 48 hours have passed since you updated your DNS you will now contact your old host you moved from and cancel your account with them.

If you completed all the above steps you have successfully switched hosts, with no downtime at all!