At the end of 2019, Windows 2008 server will become EOL (End Of Life) and cease to be supported by Microsoft. In response to this, we will be retiring the platform which we have had in operation since 2011 and migrating accounts to a Debian based operating system well before this.
Unfortunately due to the age of the operating system and the cross vendor platforms there is no direct migration path between systems and will requires changes on both our side and customer applications. (such as emails programs)
The change does bring around a vast number of new features and security options such as SSL (Secure) email which is now becoming industry standard.
All user accounts will need to be migrated by the 30th Aug 2019 when the platform will be turned off. We are currently migrating accounts on a domain by domain basis due to the manual requirement to transfer account data.
Users that have existing accounts setup as IMAP will simply need to delete there accounts when told to and re-create there them with the new server details provided. While we will make every effort to help and backup data, we are limited in what remote assistance we can provide due to unmanaged nature of the product and would strongly suggest users backup there email to local storage prior to making any changes.
Changes our side to DNS will require time to populate around the internet and some disruption is expected on your migration day. Sadly this cant be avoided but we will do all we can to minimize this.
Affected customers will be contacted directly and you are welcome to contact us to expedite your move.
UPDATE 01 – 04/07/2019
In order to ensure data consistency, we have moved to suspend logins to the old platform and would advise anyone who still has access to no make changes until after you have migrated your account as data may be lost.
UPDATE 02 – 10/07/2019
End users will start to see messages about new accounts being created. This is expected as they are being cloned on to the new platform. It also ensures we have up to date contact information for the migration email to follow
UPDATE 03 – 15/07/2019
It has come to our attention that the formatting on the mass email sent out last night has broken. We have uploaded the original email below.
Dear sirs,
Further to our recent advisory on the retirement and renewal of the existing webhosting & email platform. (Details can be found at https://noc.structuredcommunications.co.uk/?p=1387)
Please find below further details and plans on the account migrations that will affect you.
Due to the more modern file structure and use of secure connections on the new platform. Users are advised against simply updating existing email accounts by changing the server details. For ease, users are advised to create a new separate account on there respective email clients and devices using the new server details at the bottom of this email.
Initially, once you create the duplicate account, the contents of the inbox will be out of date. Upon creation of the new account and once you are ready to migrate please visit http://noc.structuredcommunications.co.uk/EasyHTTP/ and complete the form.
Within 24-48 hours the contents of your mailbox will be synchronised to your new account and will begin downloading on your devices. (This may take time if you have a large inbox) Your old account will then stop working and can be deleted from your email client and devices.
Structured Communications will take steps to preserve your email data however is in no way responsible should data loss occur and advise clients to always keep their own data backups.
If you have your email client configured for POP3 based email, then we would advise you to consult your IT personal as the above will result in data loss. You are welcome to contact us if you have questions.
Due to the unmanaged nature of this product and data protection, Structured Communications will be limited in the assistants it can offer end users in setting up and deleting accounts. We can however refer users to one of our IT partners who can offer remote assistance at a charge.
NEW SERVER DETAILS:
USERNAME: Your full email address
PASSWORD: Your existing password
INCOMING SERVER: plesk.easyhttp.co.uk
PORT: 993
ENCRYPTION METHOD: SSL or TLS
OUTGOING SERVER: plesk.easyhttp.co.uk
PORT: 465
ENCRYPTION METHOD: SSL or TLS
OUTBOUND AUTHENTICATION: YES (use same username and password)
Users with a website and custom DNS entries have been mirrored where possible
We understand these changes can be quite confusing and will do all we can do assist and answer any questions however they are necessary.
We will send out reminders for accounts that’s have not migrated before the August 2019 deadline. Should you take no action then your email accounts will stop working and we may lose the ability to sync your inbox data from the date it was initially cloned.
You can contact us on support@structuredcommunications.co.uk or call 0203 301 4000 (even if you want to confirm this email has been sent by ourselves)
UPDATE 04 – 19/07/2019 – User Guides
UPDATE 05 – 01/08/2019 -Helping Users Migrate
We have been working internally to looks at options of migrating current DNS records. This is possible however without the use of SSL due to the IP miss-match between old and new.
In order to assist users in the short term we are moving records requiring little changes if any to email clients. This will allow users to move over before the cut over date automatically, however changes will be required long term as non-SSL connections are turned off.
Domains where no contact has been made will commence from the 05/08/2019. Users should see no interruption.
UPDATE 06 – 30/08/2019 -Extended Deadline
We have, at our own discretion extended the “switch off” date until the 03/09/2019.