Why You Should Migrate Your Web Hosting to Z.com and How to Do It
Table Content
- Why Migrate Your Web Hosting to Z.com?
- Web Hosting Plans Offered by Z.com
- How to Migrate Your Web Hosting to Z.com
- Back Up Your Website Files and Emails
- Back Up Your Database
- Upload Files to Z.com
- Create Email Accounts
- Import Your Database
- Link Your Website to the Database
- Create a Staging Environment (Optional)
- Point Your DNS to Z.com
Table of contents
Why Migrate Your Web Hosting to Z.com?
Choosing Z.com for your web hosting needs comes with numerous advantages:
- New Web Hosting Plan – Z.com has recently launched a new web hosting plan, offering server response speeds that are 3x faster than ever before. Experience unparalleled website performance and faster load times, ensuring a better user experience.
- Affordable Plans – Cost-effective solutions are available for all types of businesses, from personal projects to large-scale enterprises.
- User-Friendly cPanel – Provides an intuitive control panel to manage website files, databases, and emails with ease.
- Robust Security – Enjoy enhanced security features, including SSL certificates, malware scanning, and automated backups.
- Scalability – Seamlessly upgrade your plan as your website grows.
By migrating to Z.com, you ensure better site performance, enhanced security, and reliable support.
Web Hosting Plans Offered by Z.com
Z.com offers a variety of hosting plans to cater to different needs:
- Single Plan: Best suited for beginners and hobbyists with basic website needs.
- Starter Plan: Ideal for small websites and blogs.
- Personal Plan: A great choice for growing businesses and content creators.
- Business Plan: Designed for eCommerce websites and enterprises requiring high performance and additional resources.
Each plan comes with free SSL, unlimited bandwidth and free automated backups. Choose the plan that best suits your needs.
| Single | Starter | Personal | Business | |
| Website | 1 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| SSD Storage | 3GB | 10GB | 50GB | 100GB |
| Bandwidth | Unmetered | Unmetered | Unmetered | Unmetered |
| Email Account | 3 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Database | 1 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Daily Backup | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| SSL Certificate | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Full comparison of Z.com Web Hosting Plan.
How to Migrate Your Web Hosting to Z.com
Migrating your web hosting to Z.com can be done in a few systematic steps. Here’s a comprehensive step-by-step guide:
Step 1: Back Up Your Website Files and Emails
Once logged in to the cPanel of your current hosting, locate File Manager under Files.
Once redirected to your File Manager, right-click on mail and click Compress. The same goes for public_html, right-click and Compress.
Select both mail.zip and public_hmtl.zip files, right-click and click Download.
Done! You have downloaded the backup files of your email and website and are ready to move them to the new server.
Step 2: Back Up Your Database (if you used database for your website)
Once logged in to the cPanel of your current hosting, locate phpMyAdmin under Databases.
Click on the database for which you wish to download a backup. If you are unsure which one to download, check with your current hosting provider.
Click Export.
Export method: Quick Format: SQL Once done, click Export.
Done! You have downloaded your website’s database and are ready to move it to the new server.
Step 3: Upload Files to Z.com
Access cPanel directly through your Z.com account. Once you have reached the cPanel dashboard, locate File Manager under Files.
Click Upload to upload the .zip files you downloaded from your old cPanel.
You can drag and drop your mails.zip and public_html.zip files or click Select File to locate them manually.
Once uploaded, right-click on the .zip files and click Extract.
Done! You can view the extracted files accordingly by checking the respective folders (mail or public_html).
Step 4: Create Email Accounts on Z.com cPanel
Now that the mail files are in the File Manager, you can create all the email accounts in your old server. Locate Email Accounts under Email.
Click + Create and fill in all information correctly. Note: The email address must be the same as your old server’s.
Step 5: Import Your Database
Locate Manage My Databases under Databases.
Name your new database under the New Database field and click Create Database.
Once the new database is created, scroll down to add new users. Fill in the Username and Password fields and keep a record of the information. Once done, click Create User.
Adding User to Database To add users to the new database, select the user from the drop-down menu and click Add.
Check on All Privileges to check all the other boxes below. Once done, click Make Changes.
Return to your cPanel dashboard and locate phpMyAdmin under Databases.
You should be able to see the new database you created earlier. Click on the new database.
Click Import.
Choose file: Select the SQL file you downloaded on your old server earlier.
| Toggle the [Allow the interruption of an import if the script detects it is close to the PHP timeout limit.]: | switch on |
| Toggle the [Enable foreign key checks]: | switch on |
| Format: | SQL |
| SQL compatibility mode: | NONE |
| Toggle the [Do not use AUTO_INCREMENT for zero values] | switch on |
Once done, click Import.
Done! A successfully imported database should look like the following.
Step 6: Linking Website to Database
If your website uses WordPress, you can continue following the steps below. However, if you use a custom HTML/PHP website, you must contact the person in charge of building the website to change it.Locate File Manager under Files. On the left, click on the public_html folder. Right-click on wp-config.php and click Edit.
Click Edit.
DB_NAME: the name of your new database DB_USER: the username that you created for your new user database account DB_PASSWORD: the password that you used to create the account for your user in the database
Note: If unsure, return to your cPanel dashboard and locate Manage My Databases under Databases. Under the Add User To Database section, you can view the DB_NAME and DB_USER accordingly. As for DB_PASSWORD, it is the one you used to create the account for your user in the database.
After editing the wp-config.php file, click Save Changes on the top right.
Done! You have now successfully linked your WordPress website to the database in the new server.
Create Website Staging Environment at Zcom Server (before pointing your domain NS)
Before changing your domain nameservers, the following steps will allow you to test and confirm your website compatibility within the Z.com server.
The process on your old server - Create an A record pointing to Z.com server IP via your current server DNS table (e.g. zcomtest.yourdomain.com) and wait for the DNS to propagate.
The process on the Z.com server (cPanel) - Locate the Z.com server IP under the Statistics section on your cPanel dashboard (on the right side).
- Create an additional subdomain from your Z.com server. Continue reading for how to do so.
Locate Domains under Domains.
Click Create A New Domain.
Under the Domain field, type in your subdomain and click Submit.
Once done, you should be able to see the subdomain URL successfully created.
Navigate to File Manager > public_html folder > select all, right click and click Copy.
Type in the name of the folder created for you while creating the subdomain and click Copy Files.
Done! Now, your files will be in the subdomain folder that was created.
Import your database file You can use the database you imported earlier or follow the steps “Import Database to Z.com hosting” but with a new database name and database user if you want a separate database for the staging site. Confirm your configuration file Follow this guide’s “Linking Website to Database” steps to configure your file.
Note: *Replace yourdomain.com = refer to your own domain name. *Remember that the website staging option on a subdomain is only available in our Personal and Business plans. Free and Starter plans are not eligible due to service specification limits. You may view the following guide on updating the hosts file on your computer to point to Z.com. How to View your Z.com website using a hosts file
Note: After you have confirmed your website is functioning correctly, make sure to remove the lines you just added for testing.
Step 7: Point your DNS to Z.com
This is the final step to move your website hosting to your new Z.com server.
At this point, your website is perfectly set up on your Z.com server. However, it is still loading from your current web hosting provider.
To load your website from your Z.com server, you must set your domain nameserver settings to point to the Z.com server. You have two options when pointing to your domain nameservers.
- Point via Nameservers (*recommended)
- Point via A records (server IP)
How do I know which DNS configuration to use?
It does not matter which option you choose. Your website loads will be the same for both nameserver-pointing options. The only difference is that pointing your domain DNS via nameservers is much simpler.
Nameserver pointing (*recommended)
Pointing your domain DNS via nameservers is more manageable and straightforward. Once propagation occurs and is resolved to all locations, all records on the DNS table will be moved to your Z.com server’s Zone Editor on cPanel.
Note: Nameservers control all your DNS information, including MX, TXT, A Records, etc. This is the most convenient way to point your domain to your website and email server provider.
When changes happen, it can take up to 48 hours before DNS resolves with the new host company.
You can log in to your domain provider account where your domain is currently located, log in to the Client Area (not cPanel), and then go to the domain where you wish to change the nameservers.
It should look something like the following screenshot. Then remove all the old nameservers and update them to Z.com default nameservers, then click Change Nameservers. The website will take up to 48 hours to be propagated.
Z.com default nameservers
- ns-wh1.web.z.com
- ns-wh2.web.z.com
How to check your Domain Nameservers setting
A Records pointing
Using A Records to point your domain to your Z.com server is more challenging than the recommended nameserver pointing.
You can proceed with this option if you wish to keep some services running on your current/old server.
You may need to check your Z.com server IP address. There are multiple records to point to different services like:
- Website
- Other custom records required
Updating your domain DNS table is relatively easy. However, if you find it intimidating, please contact your current/old server provider for further assistance.
You may view the following guide for steps to view the IP addresses at Z.com, to which you will need to point your A Records.
You will then need to check with your current hosting company for instructions on updating these records. How to set-up correct Z.com DNS records to connect my domain and website?
Wait for the DNS records to be propagated/resolved After pointing your DNS records to Z.com, they will need time to propagate online.
Records may take around one hour to update initially on the internet, but they may take up to 48 hours to propagate online.
DNS propagation overview
Note: We are not able to expedite the DNS propagation. DNS will automatically resolve to all locations after a certain period of time, for at least 48 hours.
Once the DNS is propagated on the internet, your website will run under your Z.com server.
Conclusion
Migrating your web hosting to Z.com is a seamless and beneficial move that ensures better website performance, security, and support. By following this detailed guide, you can confidently complete the migration process. Should you encounter any challenges, Z.com’s support team is always ready to assist you. Start your migration today and experience the difference!