Have you got the HostGator Migration Blues?

Got this notification recently from my web host HostGator. They were planning on migrating my account to a new server.

Hello, Please read this email urgently and in its entirety as it contains very important information regarding your HostGator account on gator1808.hostgator.com.
Your account is being upgraded onto brand new, more powerful hardware which will include the latest versions of cPanel and CentOS. We plan to facilitate this upgrade as quickly and seamlessly as possible. Ensuring your total satisfaction with this maintenance is our primary objective. We will keep you updated via e-mail throughout. The upgrade process itself will result in an exact copy of your account being moved to new hardware and will ensure that the freshest possible up to the minute data is retained.

Once your data switchover is complete we will begin diverting all traffic to your new server so that you do not miss any traffic or experience connectivity problems. Please be aware that there may be minimal amounts of downtime, however we will do everything within our power to ensure a smooth transition. Please note, if you are currently using custom name servers, this process may require a change of IP addresses.

HaHahHaHa.. 🙄

I was perfectly happy on Hostgator’s Gator 1808. Really a super fast and responsive server. I had a small handful of clients on it as well and for the past 3 years things were great.

The migration went off without a hitch. I changed the name servers on my domains, changed the IP address in my FTP client, changed the email servers in my mail client and was moving right along. But i soon discovered my WordPress website was no where as fast loading as before the migration.

Ive been in this situation before, and believe me when someone says they are going to provide me with NEW, Better, Faster, Hardware that it may not be the case.
Well this morning i went to my site and got this database error.

Waited about 10 minutes and tried it again, same thing.

Notice above how i keep HostGator’s support forums subscribed via RSS in my browser. A quick click and this message was posted.

Hello, We apologize for any inconvenience, however we have had to begin emergency maintenance on ‘gator4017’ at this time. We strive to minimize downtime, however currently we do not have any ETA available. We sincerely appreciate your patience as we work to resolve this as quickly as possible.

That was about 4 hours ago – now it’s back up – but my sites are loading at a snails pace. Trying to write this post has taken what seems like forever.

I see others are complaining about their HostGator migration blues too. This guy don’t even need database access, and uses old style html pages with lots of images – and is crying the HostGator Migration Blues!

I have raved about HostGator’s shared hosting to my clients and have many that are using their hosting. It’s not a good sign that a Brand NEW server goes down and needs several hours of emergency maintenance.

If you have had your account migrated by HostGator, what was your experience?