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  1. #1

    When you acquire a new host...

    When you acquire a new host do you switch all the clients to your server or do you keep them on the server they are on? Also if do you keep the old hosts website or do you have it redirect to yours?

    Me personally, I think I would want to switch all my newly bought clients over to my server, so I can drop the second server cost, assuming my server can handle all the clients, and its CPanel. Although I would think this would be a pain. As for the website I would probably redirect so I don't have to continue to offer the old host's plans.

    What do you guys think?
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  2. #2
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    You can do this either way, but from an ease-of-management perspective, it makes far greater sense to transfer the clients you acquire to your own platform. The Website redirection would be very wise, as well.
    Daniel B., CEO - Bezoka.com and Ungigs.com
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  3. #3
    Its easy enough to transfer from their server to yours if you have CPanel but you have to worry about their DNS servers and where they are pointing dont you?
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  4. #4
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    Yes, DNS would be an issue. There would definitely be some downtime. But you could offer some compensation (free month, etc.).

  5. #5
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    It all depends on what the hosting company is selling. For example, whe we bought some clients - we bought only the clients. The hosting company kept the servers.

    When we sold all the clients, we kept our servers. As far as DNS / downtime, we transferred all the data over to the new client and then we updated the DNS locally on the servers. This way - everything started to point over to the new servers. We then gave the client the new name servers to use and they updated it at the registrar. There was never any downtime with them due to the move.

  6. #6
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    I used to do it on a case by case basis. If they were using special applications like ruby on rails or php 5.2 etc I would keep it on their servers. Possibly consolidate some servers to cut down costs.

  7. #7
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    this is offtopic i know but

    hey bubbles19518

    didnt expect to see you here!

    -doc flabby

  8. #8
    Hey Doc! Didn't really expect to see you here either heh.
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  9. #9
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    You can't make these kinds of decisions and apply them to ALL takeovers. Each takeover is different. We've done them both ways (kept their servers on some - migrated to ours on others). It really depends on the situation.

    --Tina
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  10. #10
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    Right,

    But it's a good idea to keep them on the same server for a while, makes the transition smooth - host takeovers are very risky IMO, clients never like them.

  11. #11
    Deciding whether to keep the servers or the "old" website and all that is really a personal decision and can only be made depening on the size of the sale, etc...

    The big problem/difficulty is the nameservers used by all the clients you are purchasing.

    Most clients do not like to "touch" their domains, because they are afraid of breaking something that is not currently broken. They are also sometimes very difficult to contact. Many times, we have purchased a bunch of new clients, and about 20% of them don't respond to any form of contact at all. They just ignore all emails, etc..

    So then if we want to make them change their nameservers for their domains, we must contact them individually by phone, spend lots of time to discuss with them, and often "walk" them through the change to their domain name in the case they don't know how to do it themselves.

    It is not technically difficult to do all this, but it can significantly add to the *time* of consolidating the new clients... and time equals money.

    It is much easier, we've found, to make sure we also get the nameservers domain name when we buy another company. Then we just keep it, update the nameservers, and no further work is necessary.

    Imho, the purchase price of a company for sale is lower if the seller does not include the domain that is used for the nameservers.

    Hope that helps.
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  12. #12
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    where do you guys buy clients from, you find a webhost that is going under or something?

    would be interesting to know.
    pseudonymuk

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by pseudonymuk
    where do you guys buy clients from, you find a webhost that is going under or something?

    would be interesting to know.
    I wouldn't buy a host that was going under. If a company is failing, there's usually a pretty good reason (poor planning, overcrowded servers, too cheap prices, etc.) and I wouldn't want to deal with it.

    --Tina
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  14. #14
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    It depends, do you want to manage one or two companies? You could keep those clients on their own servers and run two hosting companies, or you could expand your company by transferring the clients and redirecting their old site to yours.

    I would personally move his clients to my servers and redirect the domain, to enlarge my company. I couldn't handle two hosting companies at this point in time. I think it would be much easier to manage everything 'under one roof' so to speak.
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  15. #15
    If you provide a good clean switch from the server you purchase, to your server, without any problems. How many clients do you think leave simply because the host changed hands?
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  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by bubbles19518
    If you provide a good clean switch from the server you purchase, to your server, without any problems. How many clients do you think leave simply because the host changed hands?

    5 out of 100.

    --Tina
    ||| 99.999% Uptime SLA!!!
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  17. #17
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    A little birdy told me that Endurance lost three times that many when they migrated the old PowWeb customers. Of course that was not what you'd call a "clean switch." How could it be when they started moving files months before switching DNS? These kids today and their crazy schemes!
    datapimp - You only get one soul, ya dig?

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by datapimp.com
    A little birdy told me that Endurance lost three times that many when they migrated the old PowWeb customers. Of course that was not what you'd call a "clean switch." How could it be when they started moving files months before switching DNS? These kids today and their crazy schemes!
    They moved files MONTHS before switching DNS?!?! My god.

    --Tina
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    Plenty of space and bandwidth to fit your needs!
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  19. #19
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    They brought NetApp fileservers in, dumped the contents of the PW NetApps over to them, then crated the temporary ones up and sent them back to Boston. They started this process at least two months before switching DNS.

    When someone who shall remain nameless asked them if that wasn't going to be, oh, I don't know, problematic, their response was, "Most sites don't change very often."

    Now in their defense, they allowed users to "opt-out" of automatic migration and set a date so they could be plan for the move, but database driven sites did not have an easy go of it. As you might imagine.

    You know, that's what I heard, anyway.
    datapimp - You only get one soul, ya dig?

  20. #20
    IMHO, keep the existing server and ensure that all clients start using a specific set of nameservers.

    Then when all have corrected their nameservers, copy all accounts over to new server(or rather your existing server/s) and when done simply change nameserver IPs to the new server.

    Additionally, set the nameservers on the old server to point to your new server IPs so even if some DNS hasn't propagated across, the old server will tell the browser to point to the new server.

    Most clients will hardly notice or experience any downtime in this way!
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  21. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by suhailc
    IMHO, keep the existing server and ensure that all clients start using a specific set of nameservers.

    Then when all have corrected their nameservers, copy all accounts over to new server(or rather your existing server/s) and when done simply change nameserver IPs to the new server.

    Additionally, set the nameservers on the old server to point to your new server IPs so even if some DNS hasn't propagated across, the old server will tell the browser to point to the new server.

    Most clients will hardly notice or experience any downtime in this way!

    I would never buy clients unless the domain/nameservers came with the deal. If you start making clients jump through hoops (changing nameservers) right away, after the sale, you're going to lose many of them.

    --Tina
    ||| 99.999% Uptime SLA!!!
    Plenty of space and bandwidth to fit your needs!
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