Most modern organisations can’t cope day to day without a solid IT infrastructure to run their business.
Many SMEs rely on legacy on-premises systems, while others operate in a public cloud. Whichever end of the spectrum you operate on, once you’ve decided to switch to a private hosting option, your next immediate concern will be the migration process.
Website server migration and changing web hosting providers can feel intimidating, especially if you’re worried about lengthy downtime, losing data, broken functionality, and unexpected errors.
However, it’s likely worth the effort and risk if your current host is not meeting the growth and scale you need or is leaving your site vulnerable to risks.
With proper planning and the right private hosting partner, like BlackBox Hosting, known for our seamless and hassle-free migration, you can move hosting from one host to another with minimal disruption.
In this guide, we’ll explore the importance of private hosting for UK SMEs and the key steps in the downtime-free migration process.
What is Server Migration?
Server migration refers to the process of moving data, applications, and services from one server to another. It could refer to a number of services, including data centre migration, cloud migration, OS/hardware upgrades, or virtualisation.
What Private Hosting Means for UK SMEs
Private hosting refers to creating a dedicated hosting environment, either on-premises or in your host’s data centre. Unlike shared or public hosting, private hosting offers you dedicated infrastructure, unmatched security, scalability, and firm control over resources.
However, many UK SMEs rely on shared hosting, despite rising demands for better security and performance. When you migrate from shared hosting to a private hosting server, your business stands to benefit in terms of performance, scalability, security, and cost control.
Why SMEs Migrate to Private Hosting
Before we dig deeper into the how, let’s understand the reasons why UK SMEs change web hosting providers.
- You’ve outgrown your current setup
- Your old server is unable to handle growing traffic or complex workloads
- Your current hosting provider may not be able to meet the latest compliance standards
- You want to reduce latency for users in a specific region
- Your business needs a more resilient and secure environment against emerging cybersecurity threats
As a private hosting provider, BlackBox Hosting can help you meet all these requirements with fully managed private cloud solutions hosted in UK ISO‑certified Tier 3+ data centres, offering ~99.999% uptime, custom infrastructure, and GDPR-aligned sovereignty.
Take a look at how we approach our hosting in this explainer video.
Planning and Executing a Downtime-Free Migration
The key to a successful migration process is in-depth planning.
Choose a Private Host That Offers Migration Support
The best way to ensure a smooth and successful migration with minimal downtime or risk is by choosing a reliable private hosting provider, like BlackBox, that offers a streamlined migration approach and end-to-end support.
BlackBox Hosting follows best practices in server migration and provides unmatched support and guidance when you’re moving hosting from one hosting provider to another.
Still unsure? Here our client, Gemstone, a software development company, talks about their transition from multiple WordPress websites to our managed hosting platform.
Audit Your Current Setup
Before you move hosts, you need to audit your current setup to know what you’re moving. From checking OS versions, software, and patch levels to recording dependencies between systems, a thorough audit will help you avoid any surprises.
Prepare Your Site for Transfer
Preparation is key during the migration process. Once you know what you need to move, the next step is preparing for the transfer. Ensured you’ve backed up all files, databases, and emails; temporarily disabled caching and security plugins; and noted current DNS and email settings to quickly reconfigure after the move.
Pick the Right Time
Timing is key for a smooth and effective server migration process. Find out the best times when user activity and traffic are low to minimise the window of downtime.
If you’re aiming for zero downtime, you’ll need load balancers and blue-green deployments. Load balancers route traffic to servers that are still online while the process takes place behind the scenes.
Blue-Green deployments create a parallel server environment and route traffic to it only when everything is ready and working.
Backup Everything
Triple-check if you’ve created a complete backup of your data, apps, and configurations. Ideally, you need two or three sets of backups stored in different locations, preferably as a cloud backup.
Enhance your safety net with BlackBox Hosting’s Backup as a Service. With our 3-2-1 backup approach, you don’t need to worry about missing or overlapping data and files during migration.
Update Your DNS Settings
Get ready to point your domain to a new host once everything is set up and ready. Avoid downtime by:
- Lowering your DNS TTL (Time to Live) at least 24 hours before the move
- Executing the switch during off-peak hours
- Monitoring your site closely during the transition
Test the Migration Process
Make sure you test your site in a staging or temporary environment to fix any issues that may come in the way of the transfer. This allows you to mirror your live setup, allowing testing for any performance or compatibility issues, as well as run your QA and dev teams through various scenarios.
This is where cloud hosting shines, allowing you to be flexible in your resource needs without any hardware investment.
Execute the Migration in Phases
Avoid migration-related risks and downtime by taking a steady, phased approach instead of going all out at once. Do this by:
- Migrating non-critical services first
- Moving databases during off-peak hours
- Gradually switching over live traffic via DNS changes or load balancers
Validate and Optimise Post-migration
Once you’ve successfully migrated, one last step remains: validation and optimisation. Ensure you run application migration tests, check for broken links, missing files, and permission issues, and monitor performance and user feedback.
Partner with BlackBox Hosting for a Hassle-Free Migration to Private Hosting
Website server migration doesn’t always mean risks and downtime. With comprehensive planning, the right tools, and a reliable private hosting partner like BlackBox Hosting, you can move hosting from one host to another securely.
Our team of IT experts is always at hand to guide and support you through the migration process.
Once you confirm, leave it to us to manage everything, from secure data transfer to complex DNS changes.
If you’ve outgrown your current hosting, don’t wait for services to break. Contact us today for a smooth and reliable migration process.
