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Azure - Migrating Virtual Machines

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By Sakharam Shinde 5 min read

Introduction

Options for Migrating VM’s to Azure

  • Summary
    • For large-scale migrations: Azure Migrate, Azure Site Recovery.
    • For VMware environments: Azure VMware Solution (AVS).
    • For scripting and automation: Azure PowerShell & CLI, Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC).
    • For manual and smaller migrations: Manual Lift-and-Shift, P2V Tools.
    • For multi-cloud or vendor-agnostic strategies: CloudEndure Migration.
    • For hybrid management before migration: Azure Arc.
  1. Azure Migrate
    • Description: Azure Migrate is a centralized hub for all migration activities, offering tools and guidance for assessing and migrating VMs to Azure.
    • Key Features:
      • Assessment tools to evaluate readiness and performance.
      • Integration with Azure Site Recovery for seamless migration.
      • Dependency analysis and cost estimation.
    • Use Cases: Best suited for large-scale migrations and enterprises looking for a comprehensive solution.
  2. Azure Site Recovery (ASR)
    • Description: ASR is a disaster recovery service that can also be used for VM migration by replicating on-premises VMs to Azure and then performing a planned failover.
    • Key Features:
      • Continuous replication of VMs.
      • Minimal downtime with planned failover.
      • Support for a wide range of source environments, including VMware, Hyper-V, and physical servers.
    • Use Cases: Ideal for scenarios requiring minimal downtime or for organizations already using ASR for disaster recovery.
  3. Azure PowerShell & CLI
    • Description: Azure PowerShell and Azure CLI provide command-line tools for scripting and automating the migration of VMs to Azure.
    • Key Features:
      • Fine-grained control over the migration process.
      • Ability to script and automate repetitive tasks.
      • Integration with Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates.
    • Use Cases: Suitable for DevOps teams and advanced users comfortable with scripting and automation.
  4. Azure VMware Solution (AVS)
    • Description: AVS allows you to run VMware workloads natively on Azure without the need for re-architecting your applications.
    • Key Features:
      • Seamless integration with existing VMware environments.
      • Retain VMware-based management tools (vSphere, vSAN, NSX).
      • Lift-and-shift migration without re-platforming.
    • Use Cases: Ideal for organizations heavily invested in VMware that want to extend or migrate their VMware environment to Azure.
  5. CloudEndure Migration
    • Description: CloudEndure, now part of AWS, offers a migration tool that supports migrating VMs to various cloud platforms, including Azure.
    • Key Features:
      • Continuous data replication with minimal downtime.
      • Automated conversion of source machines to the target environment.
      • Cross-platform support for different operating systems.
    • Use Cases: Best for multi-cloud strategies or for those looking for a vendor-agnostic migration tool.
  6. Manual Migration (Lift-and-Shift)
    • Description: This involves manually exporting VMs from the source environment, converting them (if necessary), and importing them into Azure.
    • Key Features:
      • Manual control over every aspect of the migration.
      • Use of Azure VM Disk conversion tools (like qemu-img or Azure VHD conversion tool).
    • Use Cases: Suitable for smaller environments or when automated tools are not feasible.
  7. Rehosting Using P2V (Physical-to-Virtual) Tools
    • Description: For physical servers or unsupported platforms, you can use P2V tools to create a virtual machine image that can then be uploaded to Azure.
    • Key Features:
      • Conversion of physical servers into virtual machines.
      • Integration with Azure for migration.
    • Use Cases: Appropriate for organizations that need to migrate legacy physical servers to Azure.
  8. Lift-and-Shift with Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC)
    • Description: Using tools like Terraform or ARM templates, you can describe your infrastructure as code and then deploy it directly to Azure.
    • Key Features:
      • Repeatable and consistent deployments.
      • Version control of infrastructure configurations.
    • Use Cases: Ideal for organizations that have adopted DevOps practices and want to maintain infrastructure as code.
  9. Azure Arc
    • Description: Azure Arc allows for the management of on-premises, multi-cloud, and edge environments from within Azure. While not a migration tool per se, it can be used to extend Azure management capabilities to on-premises VMs before migrating them.
    • Key Features:
      • Centralized management across hybrid environments.
      • Extends Azure services to any infrastructure.
    • Use Cases: Suitable for organizations looking to manage on-premises VMs with Azure tools before migration.

Steps for Migrating VMs Using Azure Migrate

  1. Assess
    • Discover
      • Install the Azure Migrate appliance in your on-premises environment to discover and inventory your existing VMs.
      • The appliance collects information about the VMs, including hardware configuration, workloads, and dependencies.
    • Assessment
      • Use the Azure Migrate assessment tool to evaluate the suitability of your VMs for migration.
      • The tool provides recommendations for VM sizes, estimated costs, and potential migration issues.
      • Review dependency analysis to understand application interdependencies and ensure that all related workloads are migrated together.
  2. Plan
    • Migration Strategy
      • Decide on the migration strategy (Rehost, Refactor, Rearchitect, Rebuild, or Replace).
      • Plan the migration wave - group VMs and applications that will be migrated together based on their interdependencies and priority.
    • Prepare Azure Resources
      • Ensure that your Azure environment is ready for the migration by setting up the necessary networking, storage, and VM infrastructure.
  3. Migrate
    • Replicate
      • Set up and start the replication of your VMs from the on-premises environment to Azure using Azure Site Recovery or other supported replication methods.
      • Monitor the replication status to ensure data consistency and integrity.
    • Test Migration
      • Perform a test migration to validate that the VMs will function correctly in Azure.
      • This involves spinning up the replicated VMs in Azure without affecting the production environment and verifying the performance and functionality of the applications.
    • Migrate VMs
      • Execute the final migration by stopping the on-premises VMs and performing a final replication to sync any last changes.
      • Switch over to the Azure environment by bringing up the VMs in Azure.
  4. Optimize
    • Post-Migration Optimization
      • Right-size the VMs in Azure based on performance and cost considerations.
      • Optimize network configurations, storage performance, and security settings to align with Azure best practices.
    • Monitoring and Management
      • Use Azure Monitor and other tools to keep track of the migrated VMs’ performance and health.
      • Implement backup, disaster recovery, and other management policies to ensure ongoing availability and compliance.
  5. Decommission
    • Decommission On-Premises Infrastructure
      • Once you confirm that the Azure environment is functioning as expected, decommission the on-premises VMs and associated infrastructure.
      • Ensure that data and resources are properly archived or deleted as per organizational policies.
cloud, azure, migration
Cloud Azure Migration
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