Worst provider migration I ever survived

So Hostinger died. Not "we're closing" died. Just... stopped. DNS gone. Ticket portal 404. My client's cPanel stuck on their dead server.

I had backups... from 3 days ago. But the new provider (CloudCone) needed me to restore 47 accounts manually. No migration tool.

72 hours. Coffee. Rsync failing on corrupted maildirs. My wife asking if I am alive.

Finally got everything stable. Client never knew. I aged 5 years.

Then TODAY — one year later — I get email from Hostinger. "We'd love to have you back! New ownership, new infrastructure!"

I am scream.

What is your worst migration? Please tell me someone suffered more.

Back when I started, we called it Tuesday.

20 years in this business. I've seen providers vanish with no warning, no backups, no courtesy email. The worst? KnownHost in 2014. Their "datacenter" was a closet in Tampa. When the hurricane hit, the owner posted on Facebook that he was "taking a mental health break."

Mark my words: the consolidation we're seeing now means this will happen again, but bigger. The $3/year crowd doesn't remember because they weren't there.

1) my worst migration experience
A) the emotional damage
I) 2019 OVHcloud acquisition
Ii) they "upgraded" everyone to new panel
Iii) no API
Iv) no export
B) the technical damage
I) 200+ WordPress sites
Ii) manual wp-config.php reconstruction
Iii) client passwords all reset to "changeme123"
Iv) they actually used that string
2) lessons learned
A) always maintain own offsite backups
I) tested monthly
Ii) not just "exists"
C) never trust "we'll handle migration"

Bruno22 sir, I am feel your pain... made VPS last month with similar story... provider from HostPeers copy... gone in 90 days... no refund... no data...

Thank you very much sir for sharing... I am learn from your experience... now I am do backup to three place... not trust one provider... never again sir

I moved everything to docker compose on a HostHatch dedi three years ago. Reverse proxy with traefik. Automated backups to S3-compatible. The provider could vanish tomorrow and I'd have new instance running in 2 hours.

Yes, there's learning curve. But 72 hours of rsync hell versus "docker compose up" on fresh server? Your future self will thank you.

Preachiness aside: Hostinger emailing you back is genuinely insulting. Name and shame.

Docker compose up is the way