The overall IT services spending on the cloud will hit $1177 billion by the end of 2021. With the adoption rate of the cloud getting more and more popular with each passing day, organizations are looking for the most efficient ways to migrate their on-premise applications to the cloud. But one must follow practical steps when migrating on-premise estate into the cloud, or they may not get the desired results. To help you with that, we have created a roadmap to migrate your on-premise applications to the cloud. Take a look here:
Step 1: Destination Server Architecture First of all, you need a receiving target platform, such as Azure or AWS. Focus on properly architecting the destination server environment before starting your migration irrespective of what you have, i.e., a simple shared hosting account or a complex environment involving load balancers, physical and cloud servers, firewalls, or multiple web-heads.
Destination server architecture requirements are based mainly on several factors, including network bandwidth, compliance standards, elasticity, redundancy, availability, security, and backing up data.
To successfully architect the system, one must understand the current estate and details of their servers. It includes size, concurrent usage, bandwidth requirements, load, IOPS, type of code, access, and authentication by role and location.
Step 2: Perform the Initial Migration
● Preparing the application and database data for transfer to the target environment It involves a fully compressed backup of files or folders that you need to migrate. You also need to make a full copy of the production database. The target platform usually has two components: “Development and Pre-Production Environment” and “Production” environment.
These environments should be the same but must be separated and secured by role and access keys. You just need to copy the machine images and stack them into Production as soon as the Dev-Pre Prod is tested and passed.
● Copying files and data to the target server For this step, you need to set up the application at the destination server environment just how it existed at the source server environment. To avoid potential issues with hard-coded signals, use the same folder paths and the same database names and usernames.
● Restore files on the target server When the files and databases have been copied to the destination server, you can restore them to the appropriate home directory folders. After this, you can restore the database to the respective database server.
● Configuration Now you need to reconfigure the application so it can run in the new environment, for which you will have to identify any/all application configuration-related files. You may need to update the paths and connection strings in the application at the destination server environment if they have been changed.
● Specific server settings Based on the type, build, version, and complexity of the application, you need to configure specific server settings, such as web, database, file system permissions, etc. It is suggested that you have a thorough deployment document which details all the configuration requirements. If not, you can use an Agile or “fast fail” process to do trial and error testing.
● Web application specifics You will need to clone web-heads to the additional web servers if you are migrating to a platform using a load balancer, Otherwise, you will have to repeat the process for the web or application files and all of the additional web-heads that you are planning to rotate.
It also requires setting up file replication across the web-heads. Make sure that the web application is ready for load balancer if you are load balancing it for the first time.
Step 3: From Dev to Production
● Testing You need comprehensive testing before going live. Typically, testing is performed in the Dev-Pre-Production phase, and it must be confirmed before you copy the same stacks and environments to Production. As a part of testing in cloud migration, uses have to assign an IP to the application in Dev-Pre-Prod to configure the destination server environment, restore the database(s), and reconfigure the application. You also need to ensure automated script testing and manual testing.
● Go live Ensure lower TTL values, downtime, efficient database and file synchronization, and address all DNS challenges before going live and cutting over to the new production system.
● Migration support Issues can arise at any stage, at any point, which is why your team must be ready and well-equipped to address them immediately. It usually takes ten business days before you can declare a new platform as stable. At this stage, you need to consider future improvements that may be required for the stable system and how you can reduce direct support headcount.
Endnote Migrating your on-premise applications to the cloud is not a big deal. You only need to follow the right steps in the right order. We hope this roadmap to migrating your existing applications to the cloud helps you do that and simplifies the job. Along with these steps, make sure you follow them with high attention so there are zero chances of an error and the migration can be completed in a short span.