In the highly digitalized and largely cloud-powered world of the 21st century, the question “migrate or not to migrate” isn’t relevant any longer, since enterprises and individuals realize the perks of leveraging cloud facilities and hydrate the cloud by the dozen.
Today, average computer users and virtual machine (VM) owners are more interested in some applied aspects of migration and ask how to migrate WordPress to AWS or other similar questions.
Being a seasoned player in the sphere of cloud migration services, Axisbits considers it vital to make the most of migration by developing an efficient cloud migration acceleration program. But before embarking on the process, you should choose the type of migration you are going to undertake.
Types of VM Migration in Cloud Computing
Migration types are distinguished depending on whether the VM is running when the procedure occurs.
- Cold migration is performed when the VM is powered off and when the process is over, the old VR is deleted from the host facility. The two major benefits of this migration type are its maximum compatibility (with different CPU families allowed) and the absence of shared storage to accomplish it. However, for large businesses and companies with a non-stop operation cycle, this strategy is unacceptable since they can’t afford any downtime in their functioning.
- Live migration is achieved without outing either the operating system or any application. Its shortcomings and fortes are the opposite of those of cold migration. On the one hand, you can use your database and applications while the procedure is underway. On the other hand, you must closely watch for compliance with CPU compatibility requirements and make extensive use of shared storage facilities.
- Warm (suspended) migration is a strategy in-between. Here, the VM is taken out of the operation – but just for a few seconds. This time is needed to copy CPU and RAM registers to the target host, after which the functioning of VM is resumed. Thus, no shared storage is required, but you still have to make sure CPU compatibility is observed.
Being a complicated and multi-faceted process, cloud migration is subject to a number of challenges.
Top 5 Challenges of Cloud Migration
While developing a comprehensive cloud migration program, you should pay special attention to the following bottlenecks.
1. The Choice of the Cloud Vendor
What factors are crucial to help you out in selection throes? The three basic criteria to go by are the parameters of the cloud facilities, the scope of offered services, and available pricing plans. On balance, Amazon Web Services offers the best correlation of these aspects, so it is no wonder AWS takes the top position among all public cloud providers.
2. Optimizing Expenditures
Although working with cloud facilities is always cheaper than keeping in-house equipment, infrastructure, and personnel, you should make sure even the lean budget is worth its price. It means utilizing to the full extent the rented environment and services and minimizing expenditures on the hardware and software that remain in standby mode. To do that, you should opt for the most beneficial pricing model and see which suits you better – paying for the infrastructure capacity or the period of usage.
3. Minimizing Impediments
Cloud migration is a serious endeavor involving the transfer of huge amounts of data that takes quite a longish time to prepare and implement. This process disrupts the routine workflow and poses the threat of continuous downtime. Consequently, you should shape your migration strategy in a way that keeps turmoils and hiatuses to a minimum.
4. Engaging Expertise
Such a complicated procedure as cloud migration requires a skillful and experienced team to see it through. Approach the selection of a cloud migration provider wisely, taking into account their portfolio, expertise, and pricing policies.
5. Taking Care of Security
Among all risks in cloud migration, this one is one of the most feared. Why? Because customers actually lose control of their cybersecurity and delegate it to the third party. However, measures taken by the provider are quite adequate to dispel all apprehensions. What should be stressed instead is security efforts during the migration process, when software and data are especially vulnerable to breaches and leakages.
Keeping these challenges in mind, you should develop your migration strategy.
The Nitty-Gritty of Cloud Migration Acceleration
Offering services both in cloud migration consulting and implementation, the experts of Axisbits recommend following a foolproof algorithm to successfully accomplish your migration project.
At the pre-migration stage, you must:
Map out a detailed migration plan.
- List all data, apps, and other software you are to migrate and provide their backup.
- Allocate budget to be spent on migration.
- Opt for the cloud type (single/hybrid/multi-cloud, public/private).
- Select a cloud services provider.
- Choose cloud migration solutions to be utilized for the procedure.
- Find a reliable and experienced cloud migrator to assist you in the journey.
During the migration itself you should:
- Start small. The first elements to be moved should be some simple application with as few dependencies as possible. When it is relocated, make sure it functions in the new environment as expected. If everything goes smoothly, proceed on a greater scale.
- Identify repeatable patterns and automate them. It will not only save valuable time and keep disruption to a minimum but provide overall consistency of the migration as well.
- Keep a close eye on the process all the time to ensure every component scheduled for migration was relocated and nothing was left behind. Cloud-native monitoring tools available from the vendor (like AWS CloudWatch logs) are of great help to this end.
- Utilize the provider’s support to the utmost. AWS technical account managers who come as a part of the support package extended by the vendor must become a virtual part of your migration team as a universal reference source for technical details and guidance.
At the post-migration phase, don’t neglect to:
- Test every element of the freshly created environment to check whether all key performance indicators (KPIs) are identical to the parameters exposed at the pre-migration stage. Testing analytics tools included in the package by the vendor can essentially streamline this procedure.
- Keep in constant touch with the cloud facilities provider. Robust communication with the vendor is a coal-and-ice practice for flawless operation and efficient maintenance of the new system.
Conclusion
Cloud migration is a complex process that requires meticulous planning and accurate implementation. To accelerate its smooth progress and accomplishment, it is wise to address professionals in the field who will accompany you all along the way and ensure the ultimate success of the endeavor at an affordable price.
