Patricia's Planet

Because I had used up most of my alloted webspace on my reseller hosting account and because I’ve had problems with using too many resources on a shared server I decided that the time had come to upgrade to VPS or Virtual Private Server.

I can’t really explain what VPS is in my own words because I do not totally understand the descriptions that I have read and know my limitations when it comes to techy stuff. What I do know is that it is considered a stepping stone from shared hosting to dedicated where you have your own server and that I’ll be able to do more with the hosting but I haven’t a clue what.

Anyway I knew that I needed to make the upgrade so went ahead last Friday. Perfect timing I thought, I still had one paid month left on my reseller account and Hostgater would move my sites for free within 30 days. When it came to ordering the VPS I realised that I would have to have a named domain for the account. The options were to buy one through them, buy through another registrar or use one that I had already. I really couldn’t think of anything that I wanted and it was so bad I even looked at flummoxed.org. As I’ve already got a number of domains I looked through them and chose one of my favourites and signed up with that.

It wasn’t long before I got an email confirming my order and asking me to ring them to expedite the order. I couldn’t ring because I had just started with a bad cold and had lost my voice, so as it was late evening here in the UK I went to bed hoping that my throat would be better in the morning.

I didn’t need to ring them the next day because they had set my hosting up already, all I had to do was change the private nameservers to my own and I could get my sites moved. This is where I hit a snag. I use 3 different companies to buy domains from, but I only understand the bumpff on one of those registrars. Unfortunately the domain that I chose is registered at the company with the most complex set up.

I searched through the site and couldn’t find how to change the domain to private nameservers so I sent them a ticket detailing exactly what I wanted to do and asking for their help. Their reply was that it wasn’t necessary to change to private nameservers – Hostgator say that it is necessary. They gave me instructions on how to do it – Hostgator say that they are required to do it for me.

I’ve had a go at doing it, twice now but it isn’t working so I can assume that I made a mistake – but I would when I don’t know what I’m doing. I’ve sent another ticket to the registrars 6 hours ago asking for help with no reply. If this registrar won’t help then I will change the base domain to another that I have registered with an easier to understand and more helpful company.

So a week on I’m still not anywhere nearer using my VPS account and am feeling rather fed up with the whole thing. I guess that if I had bought a new domain with Hostgator when I signed up for the VPS I would probably be up and running by now, or if I had used a domain registered by my favourite more helpful registrar – isn’t hindsight wonderful!

Understanding techy stuff has been my biggest stumbling block ever since I got my first computer 13 years ago. In a way it’s blooming marvellous how much I do understand now and especially when the techy geeks seem to speak a different language from me.

Update

7 hours after my ticket I got a reply from the registrar saying that I had only managed to set 1 nameserver up and here were the instructions again. I went through the process again and almost 2 days later I was able to use my new VPS hosting and what a relief.

I have around 30 domains and my next step was to decide which domains I would get Hostgator to move for me, which I could move myself (XsitePro sites) and which domains were performing poorly as they were and I could repurpose and start afresh.

For the domains that Hostgator will be moving I am making back up copies first. Hostgator will need the passwords for the domains, the reseller account password and the VPS account passwords. I have already set up several hosting plans with differing amounts of space and bandwidth and will let my hosts know which plans I want for which domains.

I feel a lot happier now and am looking forward to my sites loading faster, more space to play with and hopefully less problems. One thing for sure though, even if I have problems Hostgator support is great and especially for those like myself who struggle with techy stuff sometimes. Click here for part 2

If you are interested in hosting with Hostgator use this coupon code offering $9.94 off your first hosting package YORKSHIREPUD just enter that when you apply for your new hosting account and KERCHING you save on your purchase.

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