Donaldson R F
Servers & Hosting (Plesk, CloudPanel, Linux)
Plesk Website & Database Migration
Move a single website and its database from one Plesk server (or hosting account) to another.
The Problem
Moving a site yourself risks missing a database table, a cron job, or an SSL certificate — and DNS changes mean any mistake can mean real downtime while you figure out what went wrong.
About this problem
A single site migration looks simple until you count everything attached to it: the database, any cron jobs, SSL certificates, and DNS-dependent settings that all have to move together and work identically on the new server. Missing even one of these is how a migration that looked successful breaks something a few days later.
This comes up when moving a specific site to new hosting, consolidating sites onto fewer servers, or leaving a host whose service has gone downhill.
What's Included
- Full file and database transfer to the destination
- Recreating cron jobs, SSL certificates and domain settings
- Low-downtime DNS cutover planning
- Verifying the site works identically on the new server before you point DNS
What's NOT Included
- Moving more than one site unless agreed upfront
- Changing CMS or platform as part of the move
- Domain registrar or DNS provider changes
How It Works
- Inventory everything the site depends on: files, database, cron jobs, SSL certificate, and domain-specific settings.
- Transfer files and database to the destination server, preserving file permissions and ownership.
- Recreate cron jobs and SSL certificates on the new server so nothing silently stops working.
- Plan a low-TTL DNS cutover to minimise the window where traffic could split between old and new.
- Verify the site works identically on the new server before DNS is actually switched over.
In practice: you buy the service, send over whatever access or details the job needs, I investigate and do the work, and you confirm it's resolved before we call it done.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Will my website go down during migration?
- Not if planned properly — the site stays live on the old server throughout, and DNS is only switched once the new server is fully verified, so downtime is limited to normal DNS propagation at most.
- Do I need to change my domain registrar to migrate a website?
- No, migrating a website's hosting doesn't require touching your registrar — only the DNS records need to point to the new server.
- What's the biggest risk when migrating a website myself?
- Missing something non-obvious that the site depends on — a cron job, a specific PHP setting, an SSL certificate — that works until it's suddenly not there on the new server.
- Can email be affected by a website migration?
- Only if email is hosted on the same server and MX records change as part of the move — a pure website migration with mail hosted elsewhere shouldn't touch it.
- How long does a single site migration take?
- Typically same-day for a standard site, with DNS propagation afterwards taking anywhere from minutes to a few hours depending on the previous record's TTL.
- Can I migrate just one site from a server with multiple sites on it?
- Yes, migrating a single site doesn't require touching the others on the same server — this service is scoped to exactly the one site unless agreed otherwise.