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Enterprises are by definition complex, multi-operational businesses that serve customers on a large scale. The cloud, including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS) offerings, has increasingly become the most effective way for enterprises to operate their most critical business applications. For enterprises that are finally ready to make the move to the cloud, creating an enterprise cloud migration plan is a process that can be daunting. In the initial stages, the personnel that will make up the enterprise migration team should be selected, and a full view of the current environment should be assessed.
When it comes to Azure migrations, tools such as the Migration Assessment Tool and ASR Deployment Planner will give users insight into which parts of their workload will benefit from a move to the cloud, allowing them to consider how the migration will impact overall performance and affect costs.
There are six main points to consider when planning your enterprise’s Azure migration:
1. The migration model that the application will use
2. Current state assessment and future state planning
3. How to accomplish the move
4. Storage configuration options
5. Security and availability solutions
6. Migrating and maintaining your Azure deployment
In this post we’ll take a deep dive into each of these points, and show you how NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP can also help your enterprise’s Azure migration.
1. Application Migration Models
Analysis has shown that optimal migration to the cloud can be nested under two model types: Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). Each of these two models has two variations:
| IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service) | |
|
Rehost: Redeploys your current setup on an IaaS without making changes. Also known as Lift and Shift. |
Revise: Fits existing coding into the new cloud environment by modifying or extending the code currently in place |
The PaaS options are as follows:
| PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service) | |
|
Refactor: Existing code is run on top of the cloud |
Rebuild: Discards the existing code in favor of re-architecting on top of the cloud |
The model a company chooses to use should reflect its business type and goals.
The PaaS model, for instance, will benefit companies that work primarily online and with software development. This is because Azure PaaS offers services such as Azure App Services, which provide serverless architecture capabilities that allow R&D teams to focus on innovating for the company, rather than maintaining infrastructure.
The fastest method to accomplish migration is the IaaS rehosting, aka “Lift and Shift.” Rehosting uses the infrastructure components of Azure. Other options include a mixed IaaS-PaaS configuration, or completely replacing the service a company offers with a new one based in the cloud. Deciding between an Azure PaaS vs. IaaS services will largely be dependent on your existing application’s requirements.
Another Azure migration path is for an enterprise that is currently deploying in another cloud, such as AWS, to redeploy in Azure. There are a number of reasons why an enterprise would want to move from one cloud provider to another, including more attractive pricing, unique Azure features, better compatibility with existing applications, or to unify data silos. However, carrying out such a move can be difficult, as the platforms are not built to interact. Their native migration tools simply aren’t able to move data between one cloud, such as AWS or Google Cloud, to Azure. That’s where NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP can come in, making it possible for data to transition seamlessly between clouds.
2. Assessment and Planning the Azure Migration
The initial phase of any cloud migration is a current-state assessment of the on-premises environment to identify the connectivity of the different tiers of the application, their dependencies on on-premises resources if any, and legacy configurations that need to be updated before migration. This process helps in deciding the scope of the migration of the application, i.e. whether it will be possible to rehost and revise to IaaS or if it will be necessary to refactor and rebuild to use PaaS. The information gathered in the assessment phase goes directly into the planning phase, where deeper evaluations of the application will be done to fine-tune the migration approach.
In large-scale environments, manually assessing environments for cloud migration is not feasible. For this purpose, Microsoft offers multiple tools to help customers in this process. The basic tool that can be used is a MAP assessment toolkit that can generate an Azure VM readiness report by scanning the on-premises environment. It can provide precise information regarding the compatibility of the existing servers with the Azure platform. However, note that it does not take the dependency aspects on other services into account.
The Azure Migrate service helps to assess VMware or Hyper-V (preview) environments and report on their feasibility for migration. This tool also helps you to group machines related to the same application to visualize and assess the dependencies, something which helps in the planning process. The assessment report can be downloaded in an Excel format. After running an Azure Migrate assessment, you can leverage services like Azure Site Recovery or Azure Database Migration service for moving your application and data to Azure. The Azure Website Migration Assistant tool can help in automated assessment and migration of websites running on Microsoft Internet Information Services (Microsoft IIS).
3. Accomplishing the Migration to Azure
The objective of the move should result in a lower TCO and improved performance at lower costs. By setting your goals early on, you will be able to take advantage of Azure VM Sizing to make sure these parameters are met. Map toolkit and Azure Migrate also provide recommendations on the target Azure VM size based on their assessment results.
Azure runs on the proprietary Hyper-V platform from Microsoft, which makes lift-and-shift rehosting procedures onto the Azure blob storage from an on-premises Hyper-V environment as simple as transferring a VHD from the old environment to the new one.
Azure Site Recovery (ASR) enables customers to continuously replicate virtual or physical servers to Azure, and then migrate using a simple failover process. It also offers a test failover approach, which can be used to test functionality of applications before the actual Azure deployment. The popularity of running Linux on Azure virtual machines has also led Suse and Red Hat to offer their own services in Azure through BYOL or monthly fees.
4. Using the Appropriate Azure Storage Types
Regardless of whether a migration is based on an IaaS or PaaS model, storage costs will increase over time. To keep rising costs under control, it is crucial to get to know the different Azure storage types and to select the storage account type that appropriately meets the application’s performance, read/write operations, and replication requirements.
The right storage service will be determined by the data types in use: both IOPS and throughput will be factors to consider. Make certain you understand the IOPS nuances for different types of storage and test this with tools like IOMeter and SQLIO to simulate workloads.
Pro tips: For some virtual machine tiers, you can use storage spaces to combine the IOPS from several disks. Also, you get temporary SSD storage when creating a VM, which can be utilized for things such as Pagefile or SQL TempDB.
One way to tackle storage in Azure is to use the concept of managed disks, which overcomes a lot of limitations inherent in storage accounts
Moving cold storage data to the Azure Cool Blob storage format is another way to keep costs down. It is both cost effective and simpler to accomplish than alternatives. Since Cool Blob is meant for infrequent access, it is ideal to use for data that cannot be deleted but is accessed sporadically, such as backup data for example. For long-term retention of data archives for compliance or regulatory purposes, the Azure Archive storage tier can be used, which offers a low-cost, high-value cloud cold storage option.
With Azure’s StorSimple solution, for instance, you get to build on your prior expertise of on-premises storage solutions, but with a unified management console for both on-premises and cloud storage workloads. Another option to maintain compatibility with enterprise-grade products is to use NetApp® Cloud Volumes ONTAP, which not only provides the familiar Cloud Volumes ONTAP features of NetApp FAS products, but also automates data movement in the cloud and provides a central console for operational insights and resource cost monitoring.
Certain virtual machine tiers allow users to combine IOPS from more than one disk by taking advantage of storage space. When creating a virtual machine, users are granted temporary SSD storage that can be used for Pagefile or SQL TempDB.
Becoming familiar with the use of managed disks will also help deal with storage issues with Azure.
5. Azure Security and Availability Solutions
Public cloud usage comes with a major concern: security. With some loss of data sovereignty and infrastructure control, it is important to make sure to have a strategy for encrypting all at-rest data in place. For Windows, Bitlocker Drive Encryption and Azure Key Vault can be an excellent starting point while devising this strategy.
Linux users can supplement Azure Key Vault with DM-Crypt. Another important technology that helps encrypt data at rest is Azure Storage Service Encryption (SSE), which encrypts the data as it is stored in Resource Manager Storage Accounts.
The Azure marketplace also hosts many third-party vendors who offer their own encryption services. A service such as BYOL can offer a low-cost solution to protecting expensive appliances. Networking resources will not get lost in an infrastructural move to the cloud. Built-in technologies such as network security groups and Azure WAF can control the flow of traffic with the aid of technologies like route tables and User Defined Routes. These technologies can also be used to setup advanced use cases such as forced tunneling.
Azure Virtual network gateway helps setup traditional VPN connections for use cases such as site-to-site VPN and Vnet-to-Vnet VPNs. Apart from this, always ensure that you have a holistic view of threat vectors through the Azure Security Center for Azure or even hybrid deployment scenarios.
It should go without saying that any security measures that are enacted should also keep RTO and RPO objectives in sight. Depending on your environment, maintaining Azure high availability will incorporate tools such as availability sets, and availability zones, ASR and Azure backup, and guest clustering. Cloud Volumes ONTAP for Azure also has a dual-node confugutation that can make it easy, and secure, to maintain your business continuity.
All of these features have capabilities that will meet specific backup and data recovery goals. Availability sets use fault domains and update domains to guarantee uptime while performing planned or unplanned maintenance. Availability zones can be used to protect your applications from data center failures. VMs in availability zones are deployed in multiple data centers with independent power, cooling, and networking to protect against data center level availability issues.
Guest clustering uses Storage Spaces Direct for high-availability and load-balancing features of VM workloads. For more on security solutions and Azure resilience, refer to this guide.
6. Migration to Azure and Beyond
After spending considerable time on assessment, planning, and testing out your new environment, you are finally ready to move your workload to Azure. Now you need to think about migrating huge amounts of data to the Azure data centers.
Tools such as Azure Storage Explorer and AzCopy can help move data to and from the blob-based Azure storage. Objects such as files and VHD can be easily migrated using these native tools. But what if your data is too big to migrate through these conventional tools?
Consider using Azure Import/Export service, which can physically ship hard drives with the on-premises data directly to Azure data centers.
When it comes to hybrid deployments, use of exclusive networks such as ExpressRoute can significantly reduce transfer time of data between environments. Azure Site Recovery, already mentioned, is also a good feature to help you move VM-based and physical server workloads to the cloud. Microsoft also provides out-of-the-box support of hybrid cloud for enterprises. With products such as Windows Azure Stack, for example, Microsoft has enabled enterprises to deploy a true hybrid cloud. Windows Azure Stack brings Azure Resource Manager, blob storage, and fault domains (among other features) to your on-premises data center, transforming it to a true, scalable private cloud solution.
And when it comes to Azure databases, don’t forget to make use of the SQL Database Migration Tool to move SQL databases from on the premises to the cloud. A tool that can help you in this process is Data Migration Assistant (DMA), which detects compatibility issues and allows you to move data to an Azure SQL database. Similarly, the Azure Website Migration Assistant tool can help in automated assessment and migration of websites running on IIS.
For enterprises that are currently using NetApp storage systems, moving to Azure with SnapMirror® data replication technology is a cost-effective and fast way to carry out the migration. SnapMirror and Cloud Volumes ONTAP for Azure can also continue to help you manage a deployment, especially if your enterprise is deploying a hybrid deployment, keeping data synced in all the repositories automatically and at low cost.
Read More On Azure Migration
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Azure Migration Tools: One-Click Migration for VMs and Data
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Learn about Azure’s migration tools and how they can help you simplify and automate migration of on-premise workloads, as part of your Azure migration strategy.
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Azure Managed Service Provider: How to Save Time and Reduce Cloud Overhead
Traditional managed service providers performed basic system tasks, like troubleshooting or monitoring. However, MSPs have evolved to provide many different services, including data security, software delivery, and cloud migration.
Azure MSPs can take over certain IT responsibilities in your Azure cloud. This includes service monitoring, financial monitoring, financial management, governance assessment, optimization, and migration.
Read more in Azure Managed Service Provider: How to Save Time and Reduce Cloud Overhead.
11-Step Azure Migration Checklist
An Azure migration has as many considerations and moving parts as a migration to any cloud. There are high costs involved and should the proper safeguards not be in place, there are a lot of potential risks too. To help guide new users, Azure has a four-step process to getting prepared for a migration.
This post will introduce you to the Azure migration process, and provide you with a convenient Azure migration checklist that you can use when you are ready to start your own migration to Azure. Besides the Azure migration checklist, you’ll also get some background on why organizations are moving to the cloud, insight into what moving an application to Azure entails, and some step-by-step guidance.
Read more in 11-Step Azure Migration Checklist.
Azure Migration Strategy: Four Steps to the Cloud
This post is a complete introduction to the four models that Azure has classified for Azure migrations: Rehost, Refactor, Rearchitect and Rebuild. Each has its own set of benefits, costs, and risk factors, and choosing the one that is right for your deployment isn’t always easy, but it’s the first step towards building your Azure migration strategy.
Find out the full details on each of these cloud deployment models, and which Azure migration strategy can most benefit from the added help of NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP.
Read more in Azure Migration Strategy: Four Steps to the Cloud
Azure vs AWS Pricing: Comparing Apples to Apples
The choice between the two major cloud providers isn’t always so easy. When it comes to comparing Azure vs AWS pricing, is there any real difference to help you make the decision one way or the other? This post takes a granular look at the differences between Azure vs AWS pricing so that you can make the right choice for your public cloud provider.
Besides looking at pricing, we’ll also compare some Azure and AWS services side by side, and look at how NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP can make the costs of deploying in either cloud significantly lower.
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Azure Migration Program: 4 Key Elements
The Azure Migration Program (AMP) allows customers and partners to work directly with Microsoft when planning and implementing Azure migration projects. Learn about the four key components of the Azure Migration Program, which can help you train staff on cloud migration, automate migration tasks, and get expert help from Azure.
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4 Ways to Migrate SQL to Azure
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Migrate SQL Server to Azure: Options, Tools, and a Quick Tutorial
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Migrate Databases to Azure: 3 Quick Tutorials
Azure provides several options for migrating databases from an on-premises data center or other cloud providers. Learn how to migrate relational, NoSQL, and SAP databases to Azure, with simple step by step tutorials.
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See Our Additional Guides on Key IaaS Topics
We have authored in-depth guides on several other topics that can also be useful as you explore the world of IaaS.
Cloud Migration
Learn about cloud migration and what major challenges to expect when implementing a cloud migration strategy in your organization.
See top articles in our cloud migration strategy guide:
- Cloud Migration Tools: Transferring Your Data with Ease
- Cloud Data Integration 101: Benefits, Challenges, and Tools
- 3 Cloud Migration Approaches and Their Pros and Cons
AWS Migration
Learn about Amazon’s basic framework for migration, and how to plan for common challenges that affect almost every migration project.
See top articles in our AWS migration guide:
- 5 Steps to the Cloud: AWS Migration Checklist
- AWS Case Studies with NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP
- AWS Database Migration Service: Copy-Paste Your Database to Amazon
AWS EBS
Learn what is AWS EBS and how to perform common EBS operations. Including five highly useful EBS features that can help you optimize performance and billing.
See top articles in our guide to AWS EBS:
- Are You Getting Everything You Can from AWS EBS Volumes?: Optimizing Your Storage Usage
- AWS EBS Volume Backup with EBS Snapshots
- Cloning Amazon EBS Volumes: A Solution to the AWS EBS Cloning Problem
AWS EFS
Learn about AWS EFS, your backup options, how to optimize performance, see a brief comparison of EFS vs EBS vs S3, and discover how Cloud Volumes ONTAP can help.
See top articles in our guide to AWS EFS:
- EFS Performance Do’s and Don’ts
- Understanding AWS Shared Storage for Files, Block Storage, Object Storage and VDI
- AWS NFS File Shares with Amazon EFS: 5 Key Considerations
Azure Cost Management
Learn about tools and practices that can help you manage and optimize costs on the Microsoft Azure cloud.
See top articles in our Azure cost management:
- Azure Cost Management: Visualize, Predict and Optimize Your Azure Bill
- Azure Cost Optimization: 12 Ways to Save on Azure
- Azure Storage Pricing: Blobs, Files, Tables and Managed Disks
AWS Cost Optimization
Learn how AWS cost optimization works, free Amazon tools that can help manage costs, and best practices for reducing your cloud bill.
See top articles in our AWS cost optimization guide:
- AWS Costs: 3 Ways to Save Big and 10 Price Variations to Watch Out For
- AWS Storage Costs: All in One Place
- AWS Cost Saving Guidebook Shows How You Can Optimize EBS Costs
AWS High Availability
Discover how high available systems are reliable and resilient and see how AWS can help you achieve high availability for cloud workloads, across 3 dimensions.
See top articles in our AWS high availability guide:
- AWS Availability Zones: Architecture and Considerations for Planning Your Deployment
- AWS Data Loss Prevention: 5 Strategies and 5 Tools You Can Use
- AWS GovCloud Services: Sensitive and Classified Data on the Public Cloud
Azure High Availability
High availability is one of the major benefits of cloud services. The guarantee that your data will remain accessible is critical to supporting high priority workloads and applications and is the reason many move to the cloud in the first place.
This guide explains what high availability is and how to optimize Azure high availability.
See top articles in our Azure high availability guide:
- Azure Availability Zones: An In-Depth Look
- Azure High Availability with Cloud Volumes ONTAP
- Azure Proximity Placement Groups and Cloud Volumes ONTAP
Linux on Azure
Learn how to use Linux on Azure, including guides for cloud-based enterprise Linux deployments and performance tips.
See top articles in our guide to Linux on Azure:
- Solve Enterprise Linux File Requirements in Azure
- Build Your Own Enterprise NFS Service
- Linux on Azure Workload Migration: Challenges and Solutions
HPC on Azure
Discover services and techniques for cloud-based HPC, including unique Azure HPC features and use cases.
See top articles in our guide to HPC on Azure:
- Cloud Architects: Supercharge Your HPC Workloads in Azure
- Migrate Legacy Apps to the Cloud
- Solve Azure HPC Challenges eBook
SAP on Azure
Learn about all SAP solutions offered as a service on Azure, including HANA, S/4HANA, NetWeaver and Hybris, migration considerations and best practices.
See top articles in our guide to SAP on Azure:
- SAP HANA Architecture: Components, Storage Types, and Cloud Offerings
- Start Your SAP on Microsoft Azure Cloud Journey
- SAP HANA Certification for Azure NetApp Files
VDI on Azure
Learn what options are available for VDI on Azure. Understand how the architecture works and discover best practices for VDI deployments.
See top articles in our guide to VDI on Azure:
- FSLogix: An In-Depth Look
- Azure Windows Virtual Desktop: How to Setup, Deploy, and Manage a Cloud-Based VDI
- Azure VDI Pricing: Understand Windows Virtual Desktop Costs
AWS Big Data
Learn about the tools AWS provides for building big data infrastructure, including data lakes and big data analytics systems.
See top articles in our guide on AWS Big Data:
- AWS Data Lake: End-to-End Workflow in the Cloud
- AWS Data Analytics: Choosing the Best Option for You
- AWS ElastiCache for Redis: How to Use the AWS Redis Service
Google Cloud Migration
Learn how to migrate your workloads and data to Google Cloud, including in-depth comparisons between GCP and other cloud providers, tools, strategies, costs, and more.
See top articles in our guide on Google Cloud migration:
