Server and System Status

We recommend you follow these steps to set up a new email account:

1. Select a new host and open an account
2. Lower TTL on MX record to 300 seconds (5 minutes)
3. (Set up new server)
4. Set up email accounts and forwarders/aliases
5. (Migrate old email)
6. Point DNS to new server

Unless you’re going to run your own server, you don’t need to set up your own server, but your host will need to set up your account.

Technically you can migrate email later, it doesn’t have to be migrated first. But ideally, when we do migrations, we generally migrate first. We’re just dealing with a client that didn’t do it first, and it’s been a disaster.

We should note that currently, once your email is transferred, you won’t be able to communicate with us via email, because we ourselves haven’t done what we need to do, which is transfer and properly host email on our domain.

Now that I have had a little time to breathe and respond to the many emails we’ve received, let me take a moment to review things and make a few statements.

First of all, the only service that has suffered and is suffering is the email. Of course, that’s the primary and biggest service that we provide. The DNS and web hosting is completely unaffected, so your websites and the DNS on which they rely are safe. That’s little solace, I get it, but it’s one less thing to worry about for now during this time of turmoil. You don’t need to rush to take care of those yet.

We will provide all the assistance you need for the services we provide and support, but if you are transferring to XYZ Stack ‘Em Deep And Sell ‘Em Cheap Hosting Company (or Fastmail), you need to follow the instruction they give you. You have all the passwords for your email accounts, and if you don’t have one for some reason, you can log into the mail server control panel and reset any you don’t have.

On the note in the second paragraph, as their name suggests, Fastmail does not host websites. They will host small, static websites, but not full dynamic ones using PHP (such as WordPress). We have no recommendation for a new web hosting company.

We also need to note that you don’t have to host everything in the same place with the same company. That’s not always obvious to all people.

We caution you not to transfer your domain registration right away. This can be a time-consuming process that will delay your ability to manage what’s important, your email. Better to change your DNS records at NinerNet first, and worry about transferring the domain registration later.

We will have more comments to make, but we wanted to make those for now.

After spending all weekend trying to get the existing mail server working, we have decided to face the facts and give up.

That means we have essentially been forced to choose option two, much against our wishes. We can’t address demands for our time and give the necessary time and attention to those who feel they are more important than all the rest of our clients, and demand something nobody can have right now. And, to be honest, we can’t hold everyone hostage while we amuse ourselves doing something of little value.

The server and your saved email are online and accessible. What you need to do now is find a new host.

I wish I could say that I have spent lots of time thinking about this and I just need to copy and paste my suggested plan of action, but I can’t because I haven’t. I can only recommend that you don’t feed the growing empire of the oligopoly of Google and Microsoft, but I realise I’m tilting at windmills. The only company we might recommend is Fastmail (commission link|clean link).

As I said, the server and your email are accessible, and your email can be transferred as any new host would do, or as you do using your email program as you use it every day.

We are available to assist through normal email support channels (email to us works only from a domain we host), subject to ensuring we are communicating with the authorised representative(s) of each domain we manage.