?? Fast-Track Your Migration: A Seamless Workshop for Transitioning On-Prem Applications to AWS

Recently, I embarked on a migration project to AWS, utilizing the AWS 3-Phase Migration Strategy—assess, mobilize, and migrate/modernize—to seamlessly transition on-premises servers to the cloud. This approach facilitated a smooth migration and established a foundation for a Cloud Center of Excellence (CCoE), enabling future migrations. The entire process leveraged AWS cloud-native tools, including Application Discovery Service (ADS), Migration Hub, and the Application Migration Service (MGN).

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Before embarking on the migration journey, it's crucial to understand your existing on-premises environment. AWS Application Discovery Service (ADS) plays a vital role in this phase. It helps you gather information about your applications, their dependencies, and performance metrics. By creating a comprehensive inventory of your resources, ADS allows you to make informed decisions regarding which applications to migrate and the best migration strategies.

I started the workshop by installing AWS Discovery Agents in my on-prem servers. Once the agents are installed, AWS migration hub will start reflecting these serves.

Data collection from on prem-servers will start automatically. From the below screenshot, you can notice the data such as CPU and RAM usage, Disk reads and writes, Network Read and Writes and etc. collected for ofbiz server.

AWS Migration Hub allows you to visualize a server's dependencies. The visualization of these dependencies helps you verify all of the resources required to successfully migrate each of your applications to Amazon Web Services. This feature is available only for data gathered using AWS ADS Agent. You view network connections by using the network diagram. When using the network diagram, you can visually review large amounts of data to understand what server dependencies exist. Understanding these server dependencies helps you plan how to group together the needed resources to support an application for migration to AWS.

The below network diagram depicts how all on-prem servers are interrelated.

Migration Hub also generates EC2 instance recommendations based on the data collected from on-prem servers. This feature analyzes the details about each server, including server specification, CPU, and memory utilization data. The compiled data is then used to recommend the least expensive Amazon EC2 instance type that can handle the existing performance workload.

Migration

I moved on to the migration phase using AWS’s Application Migration Service. AWS MGN provides Migration dashboard, so you can monitor the replication progress. After successful migration, you can launch the migrated application using Load balancer DNS.

Key Takeaways from My Workshop on AWS Migration

1. Simplicity: The migration process to AWS is remarkably straightforward. Tools like AWS Application Discovery Service and Application Migration Service make it easy to gather data and automate resource deployment. This simplicity allows teams to focus on strategic tasks rather than getting bogged down in complex configurations.
2. Speed: The speed of the migration process is a standout feature. With the use of AWS Discovery Agents, data collection happens in real-time, enabling a faster assessment of your current environment. This quick turnaround allows organizations to minimize downtime and accelerate their move to the cloud.
3. Cost-Effectiveness: Migrating to AWS can lead to significant cost savings. By optimizing resources and leveraging AWS’s pay-as-you-go pricing model, organizations can reduce their overall IT expenses. This makes it easier to allocate budgets to other critical areas of the business.
4. Favorite Feature: One feature I particularly appreciate is the graphical network visualization provided by AWS. This tool offers a clear view of application dependencies and connections, which is invaluable for planning and executing a successful migration. It not only enhances understanding of the existing infrastructure but also ensures that nothing critical is overlooked during the transition.

Feel free to reach out to me if you have questions regarding this entire workshop, I will try and answer from my experience.