Migrating data between Pulsed Media services
Moving your data from one Pulsed Media service to another is a copy, not a move. Nothing is removed from your old service until you confirm it. The one rule that protects you: keep both services active and overlapping for at least 7 days, and never schedule the old service to cancel until every byte is verified on the new one. This page explains the timing and why the margin is generous on purpose.
The timing rule
| Guideline | Value |
|---|---|
| Overlap window (both services active) | 7+ days |
| Absolute minimum before you start | 3 days of remaining time on the old service |
| When to cancel the old service | Only after the new one is verified complete |
Reserve at least a week with both services running side by side. Do not begin a transfer if the old service has fewer than 3 days left — that is not enough runway to start safely, let alone finish.
Why the margin is larger than the math
On paper, a few terabytes over our internal network could finish in hours. Planning for hours is planning for the best case, and a data move only has to go wrong once. The 7-day window is built from what actually happens on real transfers:
- Throughput is not constant. A copy that runs at tens of MB/s on large files can collapse to a crawl when it hits a folder full of small files (metadata, subtitles, .torrent files). It climbs back on its own, but the slow stretch is unpredictable and can add days.
- Interruptions happen. A reboot, a maintenance window, or a dropped connection can stop a transfer partway. It resumes, but each restart costs time.
- Verification takes real time. Confirming that everything arrived intact is part of the job, not an afterthought.
- People need runway. If anything needs a look from support, that exchange takes time too. A margin measured in days absorbs all of this without putting your data at risk.
The math tells you the floor. The safety margin covers everything between the floor and reality.
How to migrate
- Order and set up the new service before touching the old one. Confirm it is provisioned and you can log in.
- Keep the old service active. If it is on a plan you intend to cancel, do not schedule that cancellation yet, and make sure it has well over a week of paid time remaining.
- Start the transfer with both services running. Managed and do-it-yourself options are described in our migration knowledge base article.
- Verify on the new service. Check that your data is present and complete before you consider the move done.
- Only then retire the old service. Once you have confirmed everything landed, cancel or let the old service lapse.
Your old service is your safety net
A migration is a copy. Nothing is deleted from your old service during the transfer, so throughout the move your data lives in two places at once. That redundancy is the whole point of the overlap window. As long as the old service is alive, a failed or incomplete transfer costs you time, never data. The moment the old service is gone, that safety net is gone with it. Keep it until you are certain.
Troubleshooting
- The transfer slowed to a crawl. Most often this is a stretch of small files, not a problem with the network or the hardware. It usually recovers on its own. If it stays pinned slow across large files too, open a support ticket.
- The transfer stopped partway. Restart it — a well-behaved copy resumes from where it left off rather than starting over. This is exactly what the overlap window is for.
- The old service is close to expiring and the move is not done. Extend or renew it so the overlap holds. Never let the old service lapse while a transfer is unconfirmed.
See also
- SeedBox — Pulsed Media seedbox plans and overview
- Storage Boxes — high-capacity storage service
- Seedbox_access_via_FTP,_SSH_and_SFTP — the access methods you use to transfer data
- Pulsed Media — company overview