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Cloud Data Migration

Cloud migration is the process of moving digital operations, data, applications, and processes from on-premises infrastructure to cloud infrastructure. It requires preparation and planning but results in cost savings and flexibility. Legacy infrastructure refers to outdated hardware and software still in use that is less efficient and secure than updated solutions. Migrating to the cloud provides benefits like scalability, reduced costs, improved performance, and flexibility. However, migrating large databases and ensuring data integrity and continuous operations during migration pose challenges. An on-premises to cloud migration typically involves establishing goals, creating a security strategy, copying over data, moving business intelligence, and switching production to the cloud. Common cloud migration strategies are rehosting, refactoring

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44 views6 pages

Cloud Data Migration

Cloud migration is the process of moving digital operations, data, applications, and processes from on-premises infrastructure to cloud infrastructure. It requires preparation and planning but results in cost savings and flexibility. Legacy infrastructure refers to outdated hardware and software still in use that is less efficient and secure than updated solutions. Migrating to the cloud provides benefits like scalability, reduced costs, improved performance, and flexibility. However, migrating large databases and ensuring data integrity and continuous operations during migration pose challenges. An on-premises to cloud migration typically involves establishing goals, creating a security strategy, copying over data, moving business intelligence, and switching production to the cloud. Common cloud migration strategies are rehosting, refactoring

Uploaded by

LoL CluB
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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What is cloud migration?

Cloud migration is the process of moving digital business operations into the cloud.
Cloud migration is sort of like a physical move, except it involves moving data,
applications, and IT processes from some data centers to other data centers, instead
of packing up and moving physical goods. Much like a move from a smaller office to
a larger one, cloud migration requires quite a lot of preparation and advance work, but
usually it ends up being worth the effort, resulting in cost savings and greater flexibility.

Most often, "cloud migration" describes the move from on-premises or legacy
infrastructure to the cloud. However, the term can also apply to a migration from one
cloud to another cloud.

What is legacy infrastructure?


In computing, hardware or software is considered "legacy" if it is outdated but still in
use. Legacy products and processes are usually not as efficient or secure as more up-
to-date solutions. Businesses stuck running legacy systems are in danger of falling
behind their competitors; they also face an increased risk of data breaches.

Legacy software or hardware may become unreliable, may run slowly, or may no longer
be supported by the original vendor. Windows XP, for instance, is a legacy operating
system: released in 2001, its capabilities have been exceeded by later releases of
Windows, and Microsoft no longer supports the operating system by releasing patches
or updates for it.
Infrastructure includes servers, networking equipment, applications, databases, and
any other business-critical software or hardware. Legacy infrastructure, such as aging
servers or physical firewall appliances, may slow down a company's business
processes. It may also add more security risks as original vendors drop support for
their products and stop releasing security patches.

Legacy infrastructure is typically hosted on-premises, meaning it is physically located


in buildings or on property where the organization operates. For instance, many
businesses host an on-premises data center in the same building where their
employees work.

Companies that rely on on-premises legacy infrastructure are unable to experience the
benefits of cloud computing. Because of this, most enterprises today have made at
least a partial migration to the cloud.

What are the main benefits of migrating


to the cloud?
• Scalability: Cloud computing can scale up to support larger workloads and
greater numbers of users far more easily than on-premises infrastructure,
which requires companies to purchase and set up additional physical
servers, networking equipment, or software licenses.

• Cost: Companies that move to the cloud often vastly reduce the amount
they spend on IT operations, since the cloud providers handle maintenance
and upgrades. Instead of keeping things up and running, companies can
focus more resources on their biggest business needs – developing new
products or improving existing ones.

• Performance: For some businesses, moving to the cloud can enable them
to improve performance and the overall user experience for their customers.
If their application or website is hosted in cloud data centers instead of in
various on-premises servers, then data will not have to travel as far to reach
the users, reducing latency.
• Flexibility: Users, whether they're employees or customers, can access the
cloud services and data they need from anywhere. This makes it easier for a
business to expand into new territories, offer their services to international
audiences, and let their employees work flexibly.

What are the main challenges of


migrating to the cloud?

• Migrating large databases: Often, databases will need to move to a


different platform altogether in order to function in the cloud. Moving a
database is difficult, especially if there are large amounts of data involved.
Some cloud providers actually offer physical data transfer methods, such as
loading data onto a hardware appliance and then shipping the appliance to
the cloud provider, for massive databases that would take too long to
transfer via the Internet. Data can also be transferred over the Internet.
Regardless of the method, data migration often takes significant time.

• Data integrity: After data is transferred, the next step is making sure data
is intact and secure, and is not leaked during the process.

• Continued operation: A business needs to ensure that its current systems


remain operational and available throughout the migration. They will need
to have some overlap between on-premises and cloud to ensure continuous
service; for instance, it's necessary to make a copy of all data in the cloud
before shutting down an existing database. Businesses typically need to
move a little bit at a time instead of all at once.

How does an on-premises-to-cloud


migration work?
Every business has different needs and will therefore follow a slightly different process
for cloud migrations. Cloud providers can help businesses set up their migration
process. Most cloud migrations will include these basic steps:

1. Establish goals: What performance gains does a business hope to see? On


what date will legacy infrastructure be deprecated? Establishing goals to
measure against helps a business determine if the migration was successful
or not.

2. Create a security strategy: Cloud cybersecurity requires a different


approach compared to on-premises security. In the cloud, corporate assets
are no longer behind a firewall, and the network perimeter essentially does
not exist. Deploying a cloud firewall or a web application firewall may be
necessary.

3. Copy over data: Select a cloud provider, and replicate existing databases.
This should be done continually throughout the migration process so that
the cloud database remains up-to-date.

4. Move business intelligence: This could involve refactoring or rewriting


code (see below). It can be done piecemeal or all at once.

5. Switch production from on-premises to cloud: The cloud goes live. The
migration is complete.

Some businesses turn off their on-premises infrastructure at the end of these steps,
while others may keep legacy systems in place as backup or as part of a hybrid
cloud deployment.
What cloud migration strategy should
enterprises adopt?
Gartner, a highly influential information technology research company, describes 5
options for organizations migrating to the cloud. These cloud migration strategies are
commonly known as the "5 R's":

• Rehost - Rehosting can be thought of as "the same thing, but on cloud


servers". Companies that choose this strategy will select an IaaS
(Infrastructure-as-a-Service) provider and recreate their application
architecture on that infrastructure.

• Refactor - Companies that choose to refactor will reuse already existing


code and frameworks, but run their applications on a PaaS (Platform-as-a-
Service) provider's platform – instead of on IaaS, as in rehosting.

• Revise - This strategy involves partially rewriting or expanding the code


base, then deploying it by either rehosting or refactoring.

• Rebuild - To "rebuild" means rewriting and re-architecting the application


from the ground up on a PaaS provider's platform. This can be a labor
intensive process, but it also enables developers to take advantage of
modern features from PaaS vendors.

• Replace - Businesses can also opt to discard their old applications


altogether and switch to already-built SaaS (Software-as-a-
Service) applications from third-party vendors.

What cloud deployment style should


companies choose?
In addition to cloud migration strategy, businesses need to decide how their cloud
deployment will look once the migration is complete.
A hybrid cloud mixes two or more types of environments, combining public
clouds, private clouds, or on-premises legacy data centers. For a hybrid cloud
deployment to work well, integration must be tight across all deployed clouds and
data centers – just as team members need especially tight communication if they're
spread out across different offices.

A multicloud deployment combines two or more public clouds. (Public clouds are
shared by more than one customer.) Multicloud can serve several purposes:
redundancy/backup, cost savings, or leveraging features from different cloud
providers, for instance.

Deploying a single cloud from just one cloud vendor is not always feasible for a
business, but it is an option. Cloud providers offer both public clouds and private
clouds – the difference being that private clouds are not shared with any other
business.

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