We regret to announce the closure of Wolfstar's
web hosting business effective
January 31, 2008.
All Wolfstar customers have been sent a letter detailing the reasons for this decision. Wolfstar LLC remains in operation, but our web hosting business unit is now closed. Existing customers have until January 31, 2008 to move to another provider.
We know that customers who are not familiar with the technical details of web site operation may be overwhelmed. We've put together a few simple steps for you to follow to help you get your site moved to another provider.
1. Select a new provider.
While this may seem obvious, it is one of the hardest steps. Don't
select your new provider on cost alone as you will almost always be
disappointed. Contact them and ask if they have someone who can assist
you with migrating your site from another provider. Wolfstar staff will
archive your data and make it ready for export, but we can not actually
perform the transfer to another host for you. If you're not comfortable
doing it yourself, ask the new provider to help you.
2. Copy all of your data over to the new
provider.
This is simple if you have a "static" web site with only HTML web
pages and pictures. Just copy the entire directory structure from your
Wolfstar account to your account on the new server. You will need to be
familiar with SCP (secure copy) to do this for yourself. Otherwise, you
might wish to hire a consultant.
If you have a "dynamic" web site such as Zen Cart, the waters will be a little harder to navigate. You must set a date to shut down your store, and not take any more orders. (We will, however, put up a page telling customers that your store is "under construction" and giving them whatever contact information you wish so they can reach you by email, phone, or postal mail.) Once your store goes down, a Wolfstar engineer will carefully back up all of your static data (web pages & images) as well as your dynamic data (customer and product databases) and put it into a standard archive format that the new provider can read. You can then download this archive file to the new provider, who will be responsible for unpacking the data into the correct places.
3. Move your domain name.
Wolfstar acts as the domain registration agent for our customers'
domain names. You will need to move your domain to a new provider. Most
web hosting companies will gladly take over your domain registration, but
if not, you can easily transfer your name to a registrar who can handle
your domain registration independently from your new host. Please do not
overlook this step! If you do not move your domain name to another
registrar, not only will your site stop working, but you might lose your
domain name.
4. Verify that the transfer was
successful.
After your data is up and running on another provider, and you have
pointed your domain name to the new server, look at all of your data (web
pages, images, databases, etc.) and make sure it looks OK. Wolfstar's
sole liability is to provide you with a fresh copy of your data if the
problem is shown to be caused by us during the backup process. We will
absolutely not be liable for any incidental or consequential damages. As
we will not be retaining customer data once the transfer is completed, it
is up to YOU to make sure that the transfer was successful.
5. Get to know your new host better.
If you haven't already done so (and if not, why not?), take some time
to review your new provider's support offerings, terms of service, and so
on. Make sure you know who to contact and how to contact them.
6. Go back to business as usual.
Once you've made it to here, the hard part is done. Your site should
now be "live" on a new server, and you can return to building
relationships with your customers.
Data CD's are available
We know that you might want to have a permanent backup of your data as
it existed on Wolfstar's servers at the time of the migration. We will be
happy to make an archival data CD for you. If ordered before January 15,
the cost will be $50 plus shipping. Please allow 10 to 15 days to receive
your CD. You can also order express service (3 to 5 days) for $100 plus
shipping.
After January 15, add $25 to the prices above. And for those unfortunate souls who wait until after January 25, the price goes up to $200 plus shipping, and no express service will be available. This steep price difference is deliberately intended to encourage users not to wait until the last minute. All CD orders must be paid in advance before your CD will ship. We accept business checks by mail or fax. We also accept PayPal for your convenience.
OK so how do I reach you? We request that you FAX any requests to us toll free at 1-866-WOLFSTAR, or request support via your usual support channels. We are no longer offering telephone support.
We are very sorry to have to announce the closure of our web hosting business unit. It pains us that this decision was necessary. We thank all of our loyal customers for their support over the past several years, and we wish you all success as you continue your business endeavors.
M. Wolf McSherry
President / Chief Engineer
Richard L. Griffin
Vice President, Customer Relations