• Security & Recovery · nginx

Website down and the old hosting is gone: emergency migration

Website down: what comes first? Find out whether the hosting has failed, the domain has stopped pointing to the server, or the site itself is broken; that determines whether a move is needed at all. If the platform is unreachable and nobody gives a recovery time, we find the last usable backup, bring the site up on a new server, switch the domain and check payments, delivery and email. We keep the same page addresses; if the backup does not allow that, we will tell you before work starts. On the night of 23–24 September 2026, a Russian strike destroyed the Ukrainian data center of MiroHost (Forbes.ua, AIN.ua).

See how it works
Price
after a free audit
Guarantee
30 days after project sign-off
First reply
within 2 hours of your request
Price
after a free audit
Guarantee
30
days after project sign-off
First reply
within 2 hours of your request
Timeline
5–10
business days including checks; with a fresh backup, the site may be back up sooner
Where we move it
you choose the platform, European or Ukrainian; the server is registered in your name
Page addresses
we keep them the same; during restoration, a 503 code, not a 404
Cost
after a free diagnosis
Process steps

Transparent stages with approval at every step

Total duration:5–10 days

  1. Diagnosis

    first hours

    We check the server, DNS and access to the domain registrar. If the hosting is alive, no move is needed, and we tell you so right away.

  2. Finding a backup

    up to 1 day

    We gather everything that survived: archives outside the platform, local exports, the repository, backups held by a previous contractor. We do a trial deployment of the freshest one and see whether the site comes up.

  3. New server, DNS and a 503 page

    1–3 days

    The server is prepared on the platform you choose and registered in your name. If the DNS zone is alive, we issue the certificate right away via DNS validation: regular HTTP validation will not pass while the domain points to a dead server. If the zone went down with the hosting, we first recreate it with a separate provider and change the NS records, and issue the certificate once the change has propagated. On a site with HSTS, not even the 503 page will open without a certificate, so until then returning customers will see a browser error. After that the domain points to a maintenance page with a 503 code, which is appropriate for days, not weeks.

  4. Restoring the site

    1–2 days

    The site is deployed from the backup and checked on a temporary address. Then the live site replaces the maintenance page on the domain. If the zone was recreated at the previous stage, the NS records have already been changed; they do not propagate instantly, and the caching time of the dead zone's records can no longer be lowered.

  5. Integrations

    1–2 days

    A real order goes through from the cart to payment and the shipping label. After that we update IP allowlists, the domain's mail records, scheduled tasks and marketplace feeds.

  6. Search engine check

    1 day

    Same addresses, 200 response codes, robots.txt and the sitemap in place, canonical links pointing to the correct domain. We submit the sitemap to Search Console.

  7. What to do if the platform disappears again

    1 day

    One page: where the backups are, who has access to the domain, how to get back up from them and what to check afterwards. Setting up the backups themselves and monitoring are separate services: “Site backups with recovery verification” and “Site availability monitoring”.

Technologies & integrations

What we build on and what it connects to

Stack

  • nginx
  • Apache
  • PHP
  • MySQL / MariaDB
  • PostgreSQL
  • Docker
  • restic
  • rsync
  • Let's Encrypt
  • DNS zones and NS records

Integrations

  • domain registrar
  • DNS provider
  • LiqPay
  • monobank
  • Nova Poshta
  • Ukrposhta
  • Rozetka
  • Prom
  • 1C / BAS
  • SMTP and domain mail records
  • Google Search Console
  • uptime monitoring
What's included

Complete list of work and what you get as a result

  • Diagnosis: what exactly is unreachable and whether there is access to the domain.
  • Finding the last usable backup and a trial deployment, not just a check that the file exists.
  • A new server on the platform you choose, registered in your name.
  • A certificate via DNS validation; if the DNS zone went down with the hosting, after it is recreated and the NS records are changed.
  • A maintenance page with a 503 code served from the new server during restoration, so the search engine does not treat the pages as gone.
  • Recreating the DNS zone with a separate provider if it went down with the old hosting.
  • Checking payments, delivery, marketplaces, data exchange with accounting, scheduled tasks and email.
  • A list of data lost between the backup and the outage, including email, and where to partially recover it from.
  • A one-page instruction: what to do if the platform disappears again.
When this service isn't right

What's not included — so there are no surprises at delivery

  • Payment for the new hosting and domain; they are registered in your name.
  • Recovery of data that is not in any backup.
  • Updating or reworking the site beyond what is needed to launch it.
  • Round-the-clock on-call duty and an uptime guarantee.
  • Claims against the previous provider.
Who it's for

Situations where this service delivers results

Scenario 1 of 4

The platform is down, but a backup exists elsewhere

A backup on your computer, in cloud storage or with a former developer. Then the site can be brought up on a new server; the only questions are how fresh the backup is and whether it deploys.

We'll review your situation in a free audit
Wait for the provider or bring the site up elsewhere

How this option differs from the alternative

Wait for the old platform to be restoredOur approach
Timelinenamed by the provider, who may not know itdepends on the backup and DNS; we name it after the first diagnosis
Datapossibly complete, if the servers survivedthe state as of the last backup, plus whatever can be gathered manually
Search resultsthe longer the site is unavailable, the greater the risk of losing rankingsa short pause with a 503 code, same addresses
What nextthe same dependency as before the outageyou have written instructions, and independence from a single platform comes from separate backups and DNS outside the hosting
Free audit

Instead of a price, a free diagnosis: what failed, where your backups are and whether they can be restored elsewhere

For a site that is already down, this is the first diagnosis: what failed, where the backups are, what can be restored and how much data will be lost.

What we measure

  1. What exactly failedthe server, the DNS zone or the site itself; if the hosting is alive, no move is needed
  2. Whether the backups are reachable nowa backup with the same provider is down along with it; we look for everything that survived elsewhere
  3. Whether the backup deploys on another servera trial deployment on a clean machine, not just a check that the archive exists
  4. Who holds the domain and DNSwhether you can access the registrar account and where the DNS zone lived
  5. What is tied to the old serverIP allowlists in payment systems and delivery services, data exchange with accounting, the domain's mail records
  6. How much data has been lostorders, customers, catalog changes and email between the last backup and the outage

What you get

  • a conclusion on whether the site can be brought up elsewhere, and from which backup
  • a list of what will have to be configured again after the move
  • an estimate of lost data and ways to partially recover it
  • a work estimate

Timeline: 1–2 business days; for a site that is down, the first reply within 2 hours

Why is it free

In an outage, the most expensive hour is the first one, spent figuring out who is responsible for what. You need the answer to “is there anything to restore from” regardless of who will do the move.

What's next

You get a conclusion and a plan. Then a contract and the work, or you move on your own using our checklist.

Short form: your contact and site URL

Did not find your case?

Describe how it works on your side — we will tell you whether “Emergency website migration” fits and what it means in your situation. No brief and no call: one question, one answer.

Contract and paperwork

We work officially

Contract, act and invoice — for every project, not just large ones.

Trusted by6 brands

Trusted by: Kvant Energy, GYPSUN, Naturel Cosmetics, Pancer Protection, LUGI, BeeTech

Terms fixed in writing8 points

  • Contract, act and 30-day warranty

    Every project gets a written contract: scope, deadlines, amount, acceptance procedure. After delivery — act and invoice, then 30 calendar days of warranty.

  • Sole proprietor & bank transfer

    The contractor is a registered sole proprietor. Payment by invoice with closing documents.

  • Rights & access — yours

    Code, design and materials transfer to you after full payment. Domain, hosting, repository and analytics are registered to you.

  • Client portal instead of email chains

    During the project you get access to a portal: contracts, invoices, acts and project status in one place.

  • Sites in nine countries

    Our sites run in nine countries: besides Ukraine — Poland, Germany, Austria, England, Norway, Bulgaria, Moldova and Spain.

  • Verifiable numbers

    Every case in the portfolio comes with a link to a live site and a technical measurement.

  • Audit first, then pricing

    There is no price list on the site intentionally: the scope of the same work differs multiples between clients.

  • We say "no" when unsure

    If the task isn't ours or the deadline is unrealistic — we tell you upfront.

  • Contract, act and 30-day warranty

    Every project gets a written contract: scope, deadlines, amount, acceptance procedure. After delivery — act and invoice, then 30 calendar days of warranty.

  • Sole proprietor & bank transfer

    The contractor is a registered sole proprietor. Payment by invoice with closing documents.

  • Rights & access — yours

    Code, design and materials transfer to you after full payment. Domain, hosting, repository and analytics are registered to you.

  • Client portal instead of email chains

    During the project you get access to a portal: contracts, invoices, acts and project status in one place.

  • Sites in nine countries

    Our sites run in nine countries: besides Ukraine — Poland, Germany, Austria, England, Norway, Bulgaria, Moldova and Spain.

  • Verifiable numbers

    Every case in the portfolio comes with a link to a live site and a technical measurement.

  • Audit first, then pricing

    There is no price list on the site intentionally: the scope of the same work differs multiples between clients.

  • We say "no" when unsure

    If the task isn't ours or the deadline is unrealistic — we tell you upfront.

We sign NDAs on request. After completing the work, we delete our access to your services ourselves.

What affects the price

Why two seemingly identical tasks are priced differently

  • Where the backup is and how fresh it isYesterday's archive stored outside the platform usually deploys within hours. If the backup has to be assembled from several sources (code from the repository, the database from a local export, images from somewhere else), the work grows severalfold.
  • State of DNS and the domainIf the DNS zone is alive with a separate provider, changing one record is enough. If it went down with the site, we recreate the zone from scratch and change the NS records at the registrar.
  • Number of integrationsEach payment system, delivery service, marketplace feed or accounting data exchange is checked separately, and some have to be re-registered to the new server address.
  • The old server's environmentIf the site ran on a programming-language version that the new server no longer has, it has to be either run in a container with the old version or adapted right away, and those are different amounts of work.
  • Data volumeA database of hundreds of megabytes and a catalog with tens of thousands of images mean different copying and integrity-check times.
Cases

Tasks and results in numbers — all metrics measured by us

irrigation systems store on OpenCart 3, catalog of 300 items

Task
A store built to sell irrigation systems; we took its external parameters and used them to compile a list of what would have to be configured again on a new server.
Solution
An external measurement without server access: HTTP headers, HTML size, a real checkout from the cart to the list of delivery and payment options, and the sitemap.
Result
Measured on 1 August 2026 from the outside, without a migration: an nginx web server with HTTP/2 and brotli; the homepage HTML is 22.5 KB compressed versus 143.6 KB uncompressed, so compression must be enabled on the new server right away. The checkout has 6 delivery methods from 2 carriers and 3 payment methods, including LiqPay; each is checked separately after the move. The XML sitemap returns 0 bytes, so the addresses to check would have to be taken from the HTML sitemap with 89 links. We did not carry out an emergency migration for this store; this is only a measurement of its current state.

online store of an official garden tool dealer

Task
The store of an official garden tool dealer; we recorded what in it is tied to the domain and the certificate, and what to check first during a move.
Solution
An external measurement: protocol and security headers, breaking the sitemap down into unique addresses, a list of payment and delivery methods and connected services.
Result
Measured on 31 July 2026 from the outside, without a migration: HSTS is enabled for a year (max-age 31536000), so a returning customer's browser will not open the site without a valid certificate, which is issued before the DNS switch. 4 payment methods, including LiqPay and installment payments, 2 carriers, a Rozetka feed and Google Analytics: all of this goes on the checklist after the move. The sitemap has 1,300 unique addresses, and after the move they must respond the same way. We did not carry out an emergency migration for this store; this is only a measurement of its current state.
What we need from you

We can't start without this — best to prepare in advance

  1. Access to the domain registrar account; without it the site cannot be switched anywhere.
  2. All the backups you have, even old ones, and where they are stored.
  3. Access to payment system, delivery service and marketplace accounts.
  4. Contact details of the previous developer or contractor, if there was one.
  5. One point of contact who makes the decisions.
If something is missing — let us know, we'll help you gather it or do it as a separate task.
FAQ

Most frequently asked questions — with concrete answers

My website is down: what should I do in the first hour?

Check three things separately. Does the hosting control panel open, and does the server respond on its IP address? That is about the hosting. Does the domain resolve to any address at all? That is about DNS. Does the server respond, but with an error? That is about the site itself. Next, gather every backup you have and make sure you can log in to your domain registrar account. With that, you can make a decision.

Can a website be moved to another host if the old one is completely unreachable?

Yes, if there is a backup outside the old platform and you have access to the domain. The site is deployed on a new server from the backup, and the domain is switched to it. In this scenario nothing can be taken from the old server, so everything depends on what has survived elsewhere.

The hosting provider made the site backups, and they were stored there too. What now?

Then they are unreachable along with the site. We look for whatever may have survived: exports on your computer, an archive held by a previous developer, code in a repository, the catalog in marketplace feed files or in your accounting system, orders in emails and payment dashboards. A full database cannot be assembled from this, but the catalog and pages can often be restored. We tell you what exactly is achievable after the first diagnosis.

How long does it take to restore a website from a backup on a new server?

From 5 to 10 business days, including integration checks and a search engine check; with a fresh backup, the site itself can be back up within hours. DNS switching is separate: an NS record change at the registrar does not propagate instantly, typically taking from a few hours to a day or two, and it can no longer be sped up if the old zone is down. It takes longer when the backup is assembled from several sources or the site ran on a programming-language version that the new server does not have.

What happens to my Google rankings while the site is down?

The longer the site is unavailable, the greater the risk. So during the restoration it is better to point the domain to a maintenance page with a 503 code: that tells the search engine the pause is temporary. After the move we keep the same page addresses if the backup allows it, and we do not change the structure; a 503 is appropriate for days, not weeks. Any changes to addresses or design are better done separately and later.

What about orders placed between the last backup and the outage?

They will not be in the restored database. Some can be gathered from order notification emails, the payment system dashboard and the delivery service dashboard. If the database backup was taken while orders were being written, some records may be inconsistent, so we check integrity after deployment. We compile a list of discrepancies, and entering them is the manager's job, because only they know what has already been done with those orders.

Why are payments not coming through or shipping labels not being created after the move?

Most often it is not the address that breaks, but what relies on it. The payment callback URL stays the same if the domain stays; but IP allowlists in the payment system or delivery service, the new server's firewall, the certificate and scheduled tasks all need checking. The domain's mail records may point to the old server's IP, and then the site's emails land in spam. We check all of this with a real order, not by eye.

Where should I move: within Ukraine or abroad?

Both options are possible, and the decision is yours. What matters more than the country is that backups, DNS and the site itself do not live in one place: then losing one platform does not take everything with it. If a Ukrainian data center is critical for you, we will deploy in Ukraine, but keep the backup elsewhere. The server is registered in your name.

What about business email on the domain: is it gone along with the hosting too?

If the mailboxes lived on the same hosting, the emails in them disappeared along with the server: they can only be recovered from a backup, if there was one. New mail needs MX records and a separate mail service; this is handled together with DNS. If email matters to you, mention it at the first diagnosis.

What is a disaster recovery plan, and does a small store need one?

Disaster recovery sounds impressive, but for a store it is one or two pages: where the backups are, how to get back up from them, who has access to the domain, what to check after the move and who does it. We draw up such a plan at the end of every emergency migration.

Site down because of the hosting? Let's start with a diagnosis

Send us the site address and whatever you know about backups. First reply within 2 hours; the diagnosis is free.

View cases
  • Reply within 2 hours
  • No commitment
  • We work under a contract

There is no price list on the site on purpose: the same work differs several times over between two clients, and a “from” figure explains nothing in that case. First a free audit — we count your pages, duplicates and speed — then we name the sum and the deadline and fix both in the contract.