Still have questions? Get more answers from any of the options below: Try our comprehensive Knowledge Base. Call us toll-free at 1-877-323-HOST. Email our knowledgable Support Staff.

1. Sign up for a hosting plan with CrystalTech.
   You can signup via this website by clicking on Order Now (in red) above. It takes us about an hour to get your plan set up on our network.
    
2. CrystalTech will email you once your plan is provisioned on our servers.
   You will receive two emails: a “Website Ready” email that provides your static IP address, our DNS information, account summary, etc., while the second is a "Getting Started with CrystalTech" email that offers links to our Knowledge Base for answers to our most commonly asked questions and how to go about getting your site up and running with us.
    
3. Upload your website files to the IP address we have assigned you, transfer your database and create your email addresses with our Control Center.
   After you have uploaded everything associated with your website to our server, you'll then want to test your site. You can easily do this by typing your IP address into an Internet browser to ensure everything works prior to actually contacting your registrar and pointing the domain to our network.
    
4. Go to your domain name registrar and change your DNS settings to CrystalTech’s.
   You will then need to go to the website of the registrar you originally bought your domain name from (Network Solutions, Register.com, etc.) and log in to their online domain management tool. You will need to replace your existing primary and secondary name server with ours. This change of information will take 24 to 96 hours to propagate and update throughout the web.
    
5. Wait for the propagation to finish (approximately 24-96 hours).
   While the propagation is taking effect, you will have basically two sites available and active - the one at your old host and the one on our servers. This will minimize any lost traffic and/or emails. In order to receive mail from both locations, however, you will need two profiles in your email client - the one that is already drawing email from your old host and the new one drawing email from us. Alternatively, you can also simply use our web mail interface available in the Control Center to get the email that is sent to our servers.
    
6. Cancel with your previous host.
   After the appropriate propagation time, you can go and cancel the hosting account you have at your previous host as all of your website traffic and emails should now be coming to our servers.
    
7. Transfer your domain name. (optional)
   If you would like to transfer your domain and consolidate your registration and web hosting to one source, you can utilize the Domain Registration Admin tool in the DNS section of the Control Center. The domain transfer itself costs NOTHING; we simply add one year of registration onto the expiration date for $8.50 (we utilize MelbourneIT as our registrar). After that, you will able to renew your domain name with a click of your mouse in the Control Center at the same great price.
    

Will I see any downtime when I move my website to CrystalTech?
Not necessarily. The whole moving process usually takes a few days to complete (the longest part being propagation which can take between 24 to 96 hours).

During the transition, whereas some end users may be visiting your website at its new location, others may still be receiving old information and are being routed to your previous host (as long as your files are still active on their servers). Therefore, it is best to continue service with your old hosting provider until your domain name has been completely propagated and is pointing to CrystalTech's servers.

Will CrystalTech transfer my domain name registration?
Any registrar that you would like to use or are currently utilizing is compatible with CrystalTech. However, if you would like to manage both your hosting plan and domain name from within our Control Center, it can be transferred conveniently by following Step #7 listed above. CrystalTech is partnered with Melbourne IT to offer reliable registration at the low cost of $8.50/year.

What if I want to buy a hosting plan but don't want to transfer my domain registration?
You do not have to transfer your existing domain name to CrystalTech to host with us. You can change your primary and secondary domain name servers on your own schedule as we cannot modify any settings with your registrar.

What if I only want an IP site (no domain)?
When going through the Order Form, you have the ability to select an "IP address only" hosting plan. This will provide you with your own static IP address but will not associate any domain with that IP within our network. Therefore, email is not supported with an IP only plan. In the future, if you need a domain associated with the IP, you would need to submit a Rename Request from within our Control Center which does carry a one time charge.

If you have questions or difficulties with any of the steps listed above, please feel free to contact our Support Team.