Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) are increasingly turning to cloud platforms such as Microsoft Azure to streamline their operations and enhance scalability. However, navigating the migration process to Azure can be complex, demanding careful preparation and implementation to guarantee a smooth transition.
VMware migration
Azure VMware Solution provides organisations with options when migrating to Azure. To minimise business continuity risks, cut down on complexity, and shorten the migration time an organisation can move VMware resources from on-premises datacentres to a dedicated cloud environment on Azure. With the Azure VMware Solution, organisations can gradually add cloud services as the company grows, allowing implementation of cloud technology at a suitable speed.
SQL Server migration
Azure SQL Database is the recommended option when migrating SQL Server workloads that require a fully managed platform as a service (PaaS). Azure SQL Database has built-in high availability, intelligent query processing, scalability, and performance capabilities to suit many application types. In addition, applications can be modernised using the PaaS capabilities and eliminate any dependancy on technical components.
Key factors to consider when adopting this migration process are:
- Number of servers and databases
- Size of databases
- Acceptable business downtime during the migration process
When migrating data to the Azure SQL Database the time to migrate can depend on both the number of objects in a database and the size of the database.
Multiple datacentres
Migrating multiple datacentres is similar to consolidating datacentres. After migration, the cloud emerges as the all-in-one datacentre solution for various assets. Validation and IP address alignment are the most likely scope expansions during the migration process.
Recommended actions for the success of cloud migration with multiple datacentres include:
- Evaluate network conflicts: Network, DNS, and other conflicts are common when consolidating datacentres into one cloud provider. Testing for conflicts is essential during migration to prevent disruptions to cloud-hosted production systems.
- Update routing tables: When networks or datacenters are consolidated, routing table modifications are frequently necessary.
Data requirements exceed network capacity
In a cloud migration, a network is used to synchronise and replicate assets between the cloud and the current datacentre. Network capacity is frequently exceeded by the current data size requirements of different workloads. Therefore, the process of migration can be radically slowed, or in some cases, stopped entirely.
To prepare for this scenario, suggested actions during the migration process are:
- Copy storage: This method can be used to transfer files from file servers, backups, archives, applications, and HDFS data. There are also third-party partner solutions that use Azure Data Box for migration. When using these solutions, large amounts of data is transferred offline and then synchronised later on the network at a smaller scale.
- Ship the device: After data is copied, the device can be shipped to Microsoft. Once the data is imported and received, it can be accessed through an Azure Storage account.
- Restore the asset: Verify that the data is available in the storage account. If the data is available, the data can be used in Azure Files or as a blob.
- Synchronisation: Should drift synchronisation be necessary for a migrated asset, a third-party solution can be utilised to keep the files synchronised until the asset is recovered.
