Website backup and migration

Email is what breaks during a website move

The website is usually the easy part of a migration. The damage comes from the DNS records around it. Change nameservers without copying the mail records, and email stops arriving, often without anyone noticing for a day. Verification records for Google, Microsoft or your email platform vanish, and services quietly stop working.

Before touching anything, we record every DNS entry, every scheduled task on the server and every place the site sends email from. After the switch, we test sending and receiving email, form submissions and payment notifications. The old host stays active until all of it works.

Testing before switching, not after

Many migrations are done by copying files and changing DNS in one go, then fixing whatever breaks while visitors watch. We copy the site to the new host first and test it on a temporary address. Broken image paths, missing PHP extensions and database connection errors are found and fixed before anyone else can see them.

The DNS change itself happens at a quiet hour. Because DNS changes spread gradually, some visitors reach the old server and some the new one for a while, so both must work during that window. We keep the old site in read-only mode where possible, so orders or form entries are not lost on the wrong server.

• Every DNS and mail record recorded before changes
• Site tested on the new host before the switch
• DNS change timed for low traffic
• Old host kept until email, forms and payments are confirmed