Beyond Lift-and-Shift: Strategic VMware to AWS Migration
While moving to a new home can be incredibly stressful, imagine the complexity of moving your IT infrastructure to the cloud. While potentially transformative, migrating from VMware to AWS presents its own unique set of challenges. This transition requires embracing new cloud-native paradigms, a shift in mindset and expertise, and a deep understanding of how AWS operates differently from the familiar VMware environment.
2024-09-02
Aries Youssefian, Managing Consultant
The Difference Between VMware Workloads and AWS?
One major advantage of migrating VMware workloads to AWS is the elimination of the need to manage hosts. AWS takes responsibility for the underlying infrastructure, freeing your team to focus on more strategic tasks.
Migrating to AWS revolutionizes how you manage infrastructure and virtual machines (VMs):
No more host management
AWS handles the underlying infrastructure, freeing your team from hardware maintenance and upgrades.
Flexible and scalable resources
VMs can be easily created, modified, or removed as needed, allowing you to scale your resources up or down to match demand.
Focus on innovation
Your team can shift focus from routine maintenance to strategic initiatives that drive business value.
This cloud-native approach provides numerous benefits, but it requires adapting to new practices:
Automation
Embracing Infrastructure as Code (IaC) to define and manage your infrastructure efficiently.
Learning new skills
Understanding the nuances of managing workloads in AWS, such as utilizing AWS-specific tools and services.
Agile advantage
The long-term benefits of agility, scalability, and cost-efficiency far outweigh the initial investment in learning and adaptation.
Assessing the Cost and Feasibility of a VMware to AWS Migration
Consider moving from VMware to AWS despite the challenges involved. Your teams will have to adjust to these changes, as they will be working with fewer graphical interfaces. For example, while RDP can access Windows boxes on EC2, direct interaction is more limited. This makes reskilling essential, and your teams will need to become familiar with tools and practices like Infrastructure as Code (IaC).
But consider this: isn't this the future for your team? A cloud-native world? Transitioning from manual VM management to defining workloads and configurations through code will greatly improve efficiency and scalability and enhance your team's skills. Tools like AWS CloudFormation, Terraform, and AWS CDK can be beneficial in this regard.
Moreover, not all workloads need to be modernized immediately to make the migration more digestible. Some may benefit from a lift-and-shift approach, with gradual modernization over time. This applies to businesses primarily using Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) software, as the cloud provides a strong Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) abstraction, making it easier to manage and scale. For those who develop their software, AWS offers a robust Platform as a Service (PaaS) with many value-added services, enhancing development capabilities. This includes AWS Lambda for serverless computing, Amazon ECS/EKS for container orchestration, and AWS Glue for data integration.
What Are the Key Benefits of Migrating VMware Workloads to AWS?
Moving to AWS offers significant benefits such as scalability, resiliency, and potential cost savings. AWS provides extensive compute power and built-in resiliency, with a global infrastructure that ensures high availability and fault tolerance. Transitioning from VMware’s on-premises infrastructure to AWS can result in substantial savings, encompassing operational costs and capital expenses. AWS’s pay-as-you-go model is particularly advantageous in this regard.
Security and compliance are crucial considerations when leveraging AWS. Utilizing AWS's robust security features and ensuring compliance with industry regulations and internal policies is essential. Implementing governance frameworks to manage resources, monitor usage, and control costs will help maintain order and efficiency in the new environment. Tools like AWS CloudFormation, AWS Config, and AWS CloudTrail can assist in this process. Performance monitoring and optimization will be ongoing, with tools like AWS CloudWatch playing a critical role.
Regarding hybrid cloud solutions, AWS Direct Connect and AWS Storage Gateway can enable seamless integration between on-premises infrastructure and the AWS cloud, ensuring data and applications are accessible and manageable across both environments. Additionally, AWS Outposts can extend AWS infrastructure and services to on-premises data centers, enabling a truly hybrid experience.
Best Practices for VMware to AWS Migration
Here are some tools and strategies to consider when you migrate from VMware to AWS:
Cloud cost optimization and cloud economics
Controlling cloud costs is vital in ensuring the transition is financially sustainable. Utilizing AWS's cost management tools and services, such as AWS Cost Explorer and AWS Budgets, will help track and control spending, ensuring resources are used efficiently.
Cloud compliance and governance
Establishing policies and procedures to ensure that the cloud environment complies with industry standards and internal policies is necessary. AWS professional services can assist in creating a comprehensive cloud migration strategy, ensuring a smooth transition while addressing any compliance concerns.
AWS Migration Hub for VMware-specific migrations
This can streamline the process, providing a central location to track and manage migrations. Additionally, VMware HCX and VMware vMotion are valuable tools for facilitating the migration of VMs to AWS. VMware Horizon on AWS and VMware Tanzu on AWS offer further integration capabilities, enhancing the overall VMware to AWS migration experience. VMware Cloud on AWS partners can provide specialized support, ensuring the migration is successful.
AWS Managed Services (AMS)
AMS can provide ongoing operational support, ensuring the AWS environment is managed efficiently. Cloud migration tools and services from AWS, including the AWS Migration Acceleration Program (MAP), can further simplify the migration process, offering guidance and resources to support the transition.
Cloud Cost Optimization and Cloud Economics
IMPORTANCE
Cost control is paramount in cloud migration. Unforeseen expenses can quickly add up.
AWS TOOLS
- AWS Cost Explorer: Provides detailed cost breakdowns and usage reports, helping you identify areas for potential savings.
- AWS Budgets: Lets you set custom budgets and receive alerts when spending exceeds thresholds.
- Reserved Instances (RIs) and Savings Plans: Offer discounted pricing for predictable workloads.
Cloud Compliance and Governance
NECESSITY
Ensuring regulatory compliance and internal policy adherence is crucial to avoid legal and security issues.
AWS SERVICES
- AWS Config: Tracks resource configurations and changes, allowing you to detect compliance deviations.
- AWS Security Hub: Aggregates security findings from various sources, providing a central view of your security posture.
- AWS Professional Services: Can provide expert guidance on cloud compliance best practices and implementation.
AWS Migration Hub for VMware-Specific Migrations
VALUE
Simplifies migration planning and tracking, providing a centralized dashboard for monitoring progress.
VMWARE TOOLS
- VMware HCX: Facilitates large-scale, live migrations with minimal downtime.
- VMware vMotion: Enables seamless migration of live VMs between on-premises and AWS environments.
VMWARE INTEGRATIONS
- VMware Horizon on AWS: Provides cloud-based virtual desktops and applications.
- VMware Tanzu on AWS: Simplifies running Kubernetes workloads on AWS.
Ollion OlliOnDemand Services
BENEFIT
Accelerates cloud initiatives across Security, Infrastructure, DevOps, and Cloud Cost Management through a flexible model of fractional ownership of an assigned team. Optionally, backed by Ollion’s 24x7x365 Global Service Center, bringing the best of both Managed Services and Agile delivery to drive continuous improvement and operational excellence.
OLLIONDEMAND SERVICES
- Infrastructure Management: Ensures high availability and performance through an IaC approach.
- SecurityOperations: Detect and Respond real-time by event-driven operational teams that respond to incidents and outages
- Cost Optimization: Continually assesses and optimizes your cloud spending to reduce underutilization.
AWS Migration Tools and Services
- AWS Migration Acceleration Program (MAP): Offers financial incentives, training, and technical expertise to help you migrate successfully.
- AWS Application Migration Service (AWS MGN): Simplifies lift-and-shift migrations with automated replication and cutover.
- AWS Database Migration Service (AWS DMS): Helps you migrate databases to AWS with minimal downtime.
Additional Considerations
- Network Connectivity: Establish secure and reliable network connectivity between your on-premises environment and AWS.
- Data Transfer: Plan for data transfer costs and choose the most efficient transfer methods.
- Training and Skill Development: Ensure your team has the necessary skills to manage your AWS environment effectively.
Closing Thoughts
Yes, moving is a pain. However, the decision to move is often driven by the aspiration to enhance one's current situation. The shift from VMware to AWS represents a significant and impactful transition that has the potential to greatly enhance your company's agility. This migration empowers faster resource deployment and promotes a culture of innovation, ultimately leading to reduced time to market.
By thoughtfully considering these aspects and engaging in thorough planning, Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and technology leaders can make well-informed decisions and facilitate a seamless and successful transition. Leveraging cloud computing's capabilities can serve as a robust mechanism to propel and enhance a company's agility.
As a trusted partner with extensive experience in VMware optimization and cloud migration, Ollion is uniquely positioned to guide you through this transition. Our cloud consulting services ensure that you unlock the full potential of the cloud while mitigating the risks and complexities associated with your VMware environment. Take advantage of our free consultation and let Ollion's experts guide you through a seamless transition to the cloud.