Migration is a fearsome word for some in the IT industry. It’s easy to think of long hours, late nights, and many challenges. The word has taken on greater complexity in recent years.
Your IT colleagues used to refer to server migrations as moving to the latest version Linux or Microsoft OS. But, this can now mean so much more. There are many questions when we hear the term “migration”. Is it on-prem or off-prem? Private cloud, public cloud, hybrid, or somewhere in between? Is the server OS being migrated? Or is it about moving to the cloud? If so, how are you doing it? Workloads? Compute? Storage? Storage?
So I’m going to try to limit the scope because server migration is too complex for an IT expert. Let’s look at two possible meanings of migration: to a new OS or to the public cloud. Fair enough?
Migration to a New OSMmigration to a new OSM can be difficult. This is likely something you have already experienced in your career. The path to migration depends on which server OS you have. Perhaps you remember trying to migrate Windows NT to any other operating system in this millennium.
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Start training If this is the case, you don’t need to look far to find a variety of tools that will help you. Before you start to wave your magic wand or Wizard and begin this migration, you should back up your system. Also, make sure to test your backup to ensure you can restore from it. Once you have taken all the necessary precautions, you can go.
Before we get into the future, let’s review some of the most recent history.
A Quick History LessonOne the most important migration points in recent times was Microsoft’s July 2015 deadline to support Windows Server 2003. It was a double whammy in that case. Microsoft had already released two new server versions, so for organizations to make the leap to Windows Server 2012 R2, they would need to go from a 32-bit OS and a 64-bit one. It was not an easy task or cheap. Many of these organizations made the trip to Windows Server 2008, leaving behind one OS. These organizations have simply waited and bought themselves some time before migrating their server operating system. This will likely also mean a hardware migration. As they wait, the cloud becomes more attractive. For organizations like these, offloading their hardware costs may be enough to convince them to move to Microsoft Azure. Microsoft hopes so at least. In a moment, we’ll discuss more.
Okay, now where were we? Yes, migration tools. There are many tools and processes that can be used to assist you in migrating from Windows Server 2008 or UNIX to Redhat Linux.
Windows Server Migration Tools is the best place to start if you’re looking to migrate within Windows. Windows Server Migration Tools can be used by administrators to migrate server roles, features and operating system settings. Redhat Linux offers extensive migration assistance via tools and planning guides.
Redhat also offers a number of labs that focus on deployment scenarios and tools to help you prepare for your migr.