Transfer hosting
Last Post 12/12/2011 2:12 PM by Joseph Craig. 3 Replies.
Author Messages
ashio
Nuke Active Member
Nuke Active Member
Posts:33


--
05/31/2011 7:57 PM
    Hi,

    We are in the process of changing our hosting company to Godaddy (even though we have issues with installing DNN before - because of the 24/7 service, unlimited bandwidth and value for money) we are giving Godaddy another go.

    I have been advised to copy all the files onto the server and that should pretty much it.
    My only concern is that there will be some technical cliches and worried that the process won't be as smooth as advised.

    Any one who has experience in transfering an exisiting website to another hosting company?
    I would be grateful if you could share some of your experiences/recommendations and findings in this area.

    Any tips on the transfer of the database too?

    Thanks.

    Joseph Craig
    DNN MVP
    Posts:11667


    --
    06/01/2011 9:24 PM
    You will need to transfer both the web directory and the database. I don't have experience doing this with sites hosted by GoDaddy. But, contrary to the situation a few years ago, it does seem that GoDaddy supports installation of DotNetNuke in the root directory. More importantly, their website refers specifically to DotNetNuke, and it implies that their Tech Support folks can help you out.

    On a side note, I've phoned GoDaddy for help several times in the last few months -- in relation to domain registration and SSL certificates, with a billing issue or two thrown in. In every case, I've been impressed with the quality of the service, and the relatively short phone waiting times.

    Joe Craig, Patapsco Research Group
    Complete DNN Support
    William Flather
    Nuke Newbie
    Nuke Newbie
    Posts:1


    --
    12/12/2011 1:09 PM
    Joe,
    We've been happy with GoDaddy support for simple websites, and at their prices, it is a great value. We are always able to reach a live, english speaking person at GoDaddy within a reasonable amount of time.
    However........
    We also host several DNN sites at GoDaddy and have used their DNN install wizard to set them up. If you can use this to install to the root we would like to know about it.
    We have also grown frustrated with the unreliablilty of their DNN release update and version upgrade wizards, all too often they kill our site and we need to rebuild page by page, ruining their low-price savings.
    When we ran their rel 5.x to rel 6.1 upgrade, their wizard failed to create and build several folders and admin tools were not available. Their tech support was of no help. We eventually found whch folders were missing (through other web searches) and ftp'd them into place manually. We informed Tech support what was missing and what we had to do, yet several weeks later when we ran the update on another 5.x site with the same result. THey never fixed their script, even thought we had told them about it and there was wide griping about it on the web (search on: godaddy DNN6 upgrade problem).
    Once we figured that out, DNN then released a version update (6.1.0 to 6.1.1). THis ran fine on two DNN sites, on the third the first attempt resulted in a site that would not use the DNN CSS regardless of what skin was selected, so we basically got text and images with not formatting. GoDaddy tech support offered no solutions. We rolled back (successfully thank God) and tried again. THis time the site would not come up at all giving us a web.config file error. Roll back this time was unsuccessful. Error message said that we should change a setting in the web.config file to provide a more detailed error message, but we were unable to update web.config, getting a file in use message. Finally one of our staff discovered that IIS had no virtual folders listed, so the default folder had to be re-created in IIS, pointed to the physical folder and permissions propogated to all child folders. GoDaddy tech support was apparently unable to figure this out and we had to find it on our own.
    If you don't have your own advanced DNN technical know how, you cannot rely on GoDaddy to provide it. Even though they create and provide thier own DNN support wizards, they can't fix them when they break.
    Any time we need to update a DNN release for a GoDaddy hosted site we cringe and wonder if it will be a 15 minute job or a 3 day job.
    We have one site migrated to PowerDNN, and except for the fact that the pricing listed on their website is extremely misleading, they did everything they promised quickly and skillfully.
    However, most of our clients are small municipalities and non-profits and $240/year is a steep hosting cost for them. If I can find a host that can provide cheaper hosting, 2 GB of space per site, DNN install scripts and automated DNN update wizards that work, even if we have to pay for that service, we will move there in a flash.
    Anyone have recommendations?
    Please don't suggest GoDaddy.
    Joseph Craig
    DNN MVP
    Posts:11667


    --
    12/12/2011 2:12 PM
    I'm told that it's possible to install DotNetNuke in the root directory at GoDaddy.

    But, I do prefer to do hosting with a company on whom I can rely when things go badly. As you have discovered, PowerDNN is one such company.

    Joe Craig, Patapsco Research Group
    Complete DNN Support


    ---