Changing web hosting provider is involving

I’ve finally (I think) switched over completely from web hosting provider. Wow. Didn’t think there’d be so much to learn in such a short time. In all, I think the site was offline for 2 days or so. During that time (evening and nights, really), I had to master cPanel, Web Host Manager and a bunch of other utils I hadn’t used in the past.

I feel spoiled with cPanel (management console), Horde (webmail reader) and RVskin (cPanel customization module), compared to the spartan utilities my previous webhost offered. And to think I’m paying 50% less, for a hosting company that’s considered in the Top 5 in the continental US. Niiiice. Now, I also have enough space to carve away portions for family and friends, and let them host some of their stuff online.

What I’ve probably found the most difficult is the lack of beginner type documentation for things such as:

• Managing DNS and MX entries
• Where to change what so the website finally works
• Best practices for setting up shared webspaces

I also had some fun with MySQL, given the sheer number of apps I have that rely on it (and PHP). Given this, I think it’s fair to say that Fantastico (an auto-installer for popular open-source apps) will see lots of mileage…