Migrating an application workload from on-prem to AWS using ADS, Migration Hub & MGN

Recently had the opportunity to migrate an application from On-prem to Cloud using Amazon MGN Service.

AWS MGN is a highly automated lift & shift solution that expedites and provides a simplified cost-effective solution to migrate applications to AWS.

MGN is AWS's recommended service to migrate large number of cloud, physical and virtual servers without the inconvenience of extended maintenance windows or service interruptions along with ensuring compatibility. MGN is agent-based and works on the basis of replicating source servers into the target account in AWS.

AWS Application Discovery Service is installed on all target servers intended to be migrated from On-prem to AWS.

Replication Agent Installation:

Post-replication, servers are automatically launched into the intended target account, a seamless operation that ensures resilience, agility, productivity along with cost savings to the end customer. MGN is a regional service offered in multiple regions globally.

Another service that works hand in hand with AWS MGN is AWS Migration Hub.

Migration Hub allows users to organize servers into applications and then track the progress of MGN at the server and App levels even as servers are migrated into multiple AWS regions.

Migration Hub is accessible from AWS MGN Navigation Menu.

ADS enables discovery of target workloads and facilitates in collecting system & OS information, time series utilization of performance data, process data and network connections with a 15 second polling interval which is sent to AWS every 15 minutes. This helps not only in discovering server workloads but also map dependencies for a much smoother migration experience.

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Migration Readiness Assessment (MRA):

MRA is very crucial in understanding IT Service Delivery Model, Cloud Objectives, Portfolio Governance, Risk & Cost Management models of the Customer that intends to migrate to the Cloud. Both the Cloud Provider (AWS in this case) and key business and technical stakeholders of the end customer sit together to discuss the overall benefits, Total Cost of Ownership and value the customer can achieve by migrating to Cloud. Also, other areas of Operations like Business Continuity Planning, Incident, Change & Problem Management, Security Strategy, Governance risks & Compliance, DevSecOps principles, Lifecycle Security capabilities, CI/CD, Quality Management etc. are understood well by both parties before moving to the next phase.

Migration to AWS is broken down into three phases: Asses, Mobilize & Migrate.

Assess - Understand the goal of the customer and reasons for migrating from Datacenter to Cloud that would help build a Business case for migration.

Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) which is the direct and indirect costs helps customers measure the benefits of migrating to Public Cloud.

Work with customer to have the Migration Readiness Assessment (MRA) ready to make an informed decision before the big leap.

Mobilize - Have all necessary resources lined up that are essential including training personnel on Cloud native tools and services, establishing a CCOE (Cloud Center of Excellence), ensuring organizations are DevOps ready. Mobilization phase bridges the gap in readiness for organizations that are considering moving to AWS.

Migrate - Implementation of the Migration plan occurs in this phase. Depending on the appetite and urgency, Organizations would choose to either just Migrate (Rehost) and Modernize later to adopt and leverage Cloud Native services to improve agility and save costs to bring down TCO in a longer run.