Topics Discussed:
-
- Cloud Migration Overview
- Types of Migration
- Steps to a Successful Migration
- Key Points in Planning
- Application and Database Migration Best Practices
- Detailed Migration Strategies
- Setting Up a Landing Zone
Cloud Migration Overview:
Migration isn’t just about moving from on-premises to the cloud.However, migration also involves upgrading on-premise resources, which can increase the total cost of ownership (TCO). At this point, organizations consider shifting to the cloud for better scalability, availability, and cost-efficiency. Cloud adoption is not only a trend but a necessity for many organizations today, especially with the rise of startups that are cloud-native from the start.
Types of Migration:
- On-Premises to Cloud: This is the most common migration type, where organizations transition from local data centers to cloud providers. This move is often driven by the need to reduce costs, increase scalability, and leverage cloud-native services.
- Cloud to Cloud: Organizations might migrate from one cloud provider to another, seeking better pricing, features, or regional compliance. This requires careful planning to minimize downtime and ensure data integrity.
- Re-Architecting (Cloud Optimization): After migrating to the cloud, businesses often optimize their cloud infrastructure by redesigning applications to use cloud-native features like serverless computing and managed services. This process can lead to significant cost savings and performance improvements.
Steps to a Successful Migration:
- Assessment:
– Application Understanding: Start by thoroughly understanding the application—its purpose, architecture, and dependencies.
– Connectivity: Identify all connections, including internal networks, external systems, and third-party services like payment gateways.
- Planning:
– Migration Roadmap: Create a detailed plan outlining the steps, timeline, and resources required.
– Cost Estimation: Budget for the migration, including potential costs of downtime, cloud resources.
- Execution:
– Framework Deployment: Set up the necessary frameworks and tools to support the migration.
– Testing: Rigorously test the migrated application in a staging environment to ensure stability and performance.
– Production Go-Live: Once testing is successful, move the application to production.
- Operate and Optimize:
– Operational Management: Post-migration, focus on day-to-day operations, including monitoring, backups, and disaster recovery.
– Optimization: Continuously optimize cloud resources to improve performance and reduce costs. This may involve rightsizing instances, leveraging auto-scaling, or switching to more cost-effective services.
Key Points in Planning:
– Data Integrity: Ensure all connections (internal, external, third-party) are intact and secure post-migration.
– Business Impact: Analyze the potential impact of application downtime on business operations and plan for rapid recovery.
– Cost Considerations: Over-provisioning (e.g., multiple availability zones without auto-scaling) can lead to unnecessary costs. Optimize resource allocation.
– User Experience: Plan to maintain or improve user experience post-migration, minimizing downtime and performance issues.
– Data Quality: Post-migration, ensure that data performance (e.g., IOPS) is on par with or better than on-premises infrastructure.
Application and Database Migration Best Practices:
– Application Migration:
– Containerization: Migrating applications to Kubernetes or other container orchestration platforms can enhance scalability and resilience.
– Serverless: Serverless architecture is ideal for applications with unpredictable workloads, as it allows automatic scaling and reduces the need for infrastructure management.
– Database Migration:
– Managed Databases: Moving to cloud-managed databases can offload maintenance tasks, while serverless databases offer automatic scaling.
Detailed Migration Strategies:
- Re-Factoring/Re-Architecting:
– Modernizing Applications: Legacy monolithic applications can be broken down into microservices, which are more flexible and scalable. Containerization (e.g., using Docker and Kubernetes) and serverless architectures (e.g., AWS Lambda) are popular in modern cloud deployments.
– Utilizing Cloud-Native Services: Leverage managed services (e.g., managed databases, serverless functions) to reduce the operational burden.
- Re-Platforming:
– Platform Transition: This strategy involves moving applications to the cloud with minimal changes, focusing on shifting the underlying platform rather than the application architecture itself.
Setting Up a Landing Zone:
When migrating to the cloud, it’s crucial to establish a well-architected landing zone. This is the foundational environment where your cloud resources will reside. Ensure that:
– Public-facing components (e.g., web servers) are placed in a public subnet.
– Private components (e.g., databases) are in a private subnet to enhance security.
