As technology evolves, there are multitudes of possibilities that unveil before us. One such accomplishment in the tech domain is the advent of Cloud computing. The cloud expertise has made the most working process simpler, accessibility much more effortless, sharing, storing, and privacy better.
What is Cloud computing?
Cloud computing is nothing but a consolidation of services that has in-house databases, channels, servers, software architectures, combined networking protocols, and other domains which are capable of providing more faster, reliable, secure, and flexible access to the user in order to make the method of working and productivity more effective and seamless. Not all designs are the same and alike in the cloud, and there is no one size fits all solutions. Multiple strategies, several models, and types come together in curating the right kind of solution for your business requirements. The cloud domain is built into public cloud, private cloud, and hybrid cloud. Among the three deployments of cloud computing architecture, the user can choose whichever fits them best. Cloud offers a broad range of services like Infrastructure as a service (IaaS), Platform as a service (PaaS), software as a service (SaaS), along with serverless computing.
Another significant advantage of using the cloud is that you have the privilege to pay just for just the services you avail; thereby, it aids in reducing your cost of operation, helps you in managing your organization or Infrastructure in a better way, and to scale down the adversaries as your organization evolves and change over time.
What is Cloud Migration?
Besides working in a physical office environment, there happens to be a lot that takes place virtually. With the change in dynamics of technology and the workforce, more businesses and organizations feel the need to adapt to the digital environment and virtual workplace. The process of Cloud Migration plays a significant role in making people achieve the same.
The process of shifting and moving the inefficient and outdated legacy systems like asset sources, servers, databases, and many other working applications with programs from a familiar hardware environment to the virtual cloud setting is called as Cloud Migration. This process can be done wholly or in a partial manner. This complete migration requires more careful examination and analysis followed by drafting an effective cloud migration strategy to make the execution process smoother and more compatible. Various techniques are available in the cloud migration protocol, and the organizations can just lift and shift, re-platforming, or build from scratch according to their prerequisites and needs.
Covid19 and its impact on working remotely
With the uncertain times of the pandemic around the corner, most businesses have already carried out the process of working remotely. The onset of Covid19 has only resulted in the acceleration and rapid boost for the adoption of cloud by various key players in the market. With the help and assistance of cloud, the businesses and organizations have found themselves to effectively combat the struggles and challenges that arise from the crisis and working distant. The management and administration of IT setting is done more better using cloud because it is entirely done by the cloud servers, and there are no hassles to be involved by sending man force in the hectic times of lockdown to work on-premise. The same efficiency and effectiveness can be rendered from the safety and comfort of their homes without compromising communication and productivity.
A very significant advantage that is appreciated by most companies is that the Cloud IT assets don’t use tied up and combined on-premise workloads. They just make use of the virtual machines and other VM aspects that allows to user to interlink their work, share resources and operate in a very hassle-free and seamless manner. Because of all these, the process of scaling becomes significantly simpler when accessing digital services when using the cloud, which therefore means there is no need for extra staff to handle the real-time on-premise storing, networking, and other connecting tasks. Since the scalability of the cloud is higher, it has become one of the most reliable and trustworthy modes of working for many companies. These find their applications in almost all domains, including share market, finance, healthcare, distant education, and so on. Engaging these techniques of cloud has already made the process of working from home easier for employees.
Platforms that can be migrated to Azure
Several applications, machines, databases, software, and other physical servers can be migrated to the cloud with ease. To the cloud environment, you can easily migrate your,
· VMware virtual machines
· Hyper-V virtual machines
· On-premise physical servers
· Other applications and servers that run on any other clouds like Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Multiple techniques and strategies are available for all these kinds of cloud migration processes.
Steps for Cloud Migration to Microsoft Azure
Creating a company’s digital transformation but migrating all their data center and legacy infrastructure to the cloud can be a very tricky task at times. The migration process must be schematically planned and proceeded further by assessing all the organizational requirements, needs along with the cloud service provider. There are specific steps that are essential to be followed while curating the migration process, and they must be done in an orderly manner.
Preparation for Cloud journey
To gear up for the preparation process, the current phase of the organization, its vision, and future goals must be deeply analysed and synchronised. This can be the basis of the strategy the cloud service provider is planning to draft for the migration process. An excellent guide called Cloud Adoption Framework gives out all the information needed for the migration in detail along with the examples of certain practises and toolsets available in each segment.
Also, selecting the right kind of cloud migration strategy matters the most. According to the levels of integration, the companies can go for it. For basic and shallow levels of integration, the IaaS model serves the best if changes made in the servers are lesser in the cloud. For deep levels of integration and higher-order modification, then PaaS and SaaS are the right kinds.
Cloud Migration Strategies
The Cloud Migration strategy is very famously called as the 5R’s technique and is explained below in detail.
1. Rehosting
This technique is also called a lift and shift mechanism. Here the migration of the entire on-premise setup is shifted into the cloud without making any alterations to the architectural model. This technique claims to be the most user-friendly, on budget, and convenient when compared to all other migrating strategies. The only fallback associated with this technique is that it is not capable of using the full potential that the cloud offers. Many a time, due to this, latency issues and other complexities appear and pose risks in the migration process.
2. Replatforming
A little modification takes place in this step of re-platforming, but it is almost as same as the lift and shift approach. These changes are made in the architectural design of the cloud, so it enables the database or the server in the cloud to effectively connect to the resources and make better use of them. It is called as re-platforming or refactoring is because of the fact that there are modifications done to the basic software of the cloud architecture. There no high-level cost factor when it comes to re-platforming, but it performs as effectively and productive as all other cloud strategies.
3. Refactoring
When all the database, services, and applications are re-designed, code altered before migrating to the cloud environment, then the process is called as refactoring. There are more advantages with this technique, like more scalability, higher performance, speed, and many more. Though performing this strategy is a bit tough, its resilience and agility are to be much appreciated. If done correctly, this procedure can bring you more profit in the long run.
4. Rebuilding
Many times, an advanced approach is essential when migrating to the cloud. Many existing applications and services may be outdated and not efficient enough to suit the cloud setting. Such applications must be rebuilt from scratch. This technique consumes a sophisticated amount of time and is also on the higher end when it comes to the cost factor.
5. Repurchasing
Merging attributes and certain features with another service is termed as repurchasing. Here the workloads, servers, and services used will be in the shared format. This technique is more budget-friendly and less time-consuming. There is also no need to imply high efforts to get it done. The outcomes of this process are also found to be reliable and effective.
Replication
Once all the strategy formulation is done, then it leads to replication. Here all the servers, databases, and applications that are planned to be migrated will be made a copy of. Also, a tool called Azure Resource Manager is used to construct templates that are used for later configurations. Certain devices like Azure database migration service, VMware solutions, Microsoft native tools, and Azure migrate can help you with a seamless migration process to Azure.
Orchestration
Once the replication is complete, the relaunch begins. Here all the applications will be set right for the new cloud environment in a more reliant manner. But, in this step, the usage of Azure native tools cannot be employed. This is one of the most significant steps in the process of cloud migration and should be done with care.
Testing
Before making the actual migrations, you can also go in for a quick test migration process and see how well it works for the organization. Azure gives you that choice. A simulation cover setup can be done using the replicated data by VNet in the Azure. A complete check of all the potential issues can be looked into, examined, and analysed before the complete migration takes place.
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