Azure Migrate
Well the ideal or basic steps in any migration are discover
what to migrate and how to migrate and once migration is done then optimize to
get the best output or benefit. Similarly, when we migrate to the cloud from
on-premises we must go through Discover, Migrate and Optimize. There are
various tools in the market to perform the discovery and come up with the
assessment. In this article, we will be discussing Azure Migrate that’s inbuilt
in Azure now and you can create your Migrate project and perform the task for
the successful migration.
Azure Migrate is appliance based and agent-less, which
perform non-intrusive discovery of on-prem workloads and Assessment of
discovered workloads which includes:
1.
Azure readiness summary: Which of your on-premises
machines are suitable for Azure?
2.
Size recommendations: What are the appropriate
Microsoft Azure Virtual Machine sizes and Azure disk sizes based on the
performance history of the on-premises virtual machine?
3.
Monthly costs: The estimated cost for
running the machines in Azure.
Azure migrate bases the assessment on several values that we
will check latter for now below are the things that you need to keep in mind –
• Target location:
By default, Azure Migrate assumes the Azure location to which you want to
migrate is the location in which you create the migration project.
• Storage redundancy:
What is the type of storage that the Azure Virtual Machines will use after
migration? Currently Azure Migrate supports only Locally redundant storage
(LRS).
• Pricing plans:
You can specify whether you're enrolled in Software Assurance and can use the
Azure Hybrid Use Benefit, and whether you have any Azure offers that should be
applied. You can also specify any subscription-specific discount (in a
percentage) that you might be getting on top of the offer.
• Pricing tier:
Azure Migrate takes Azure Virtual Machine tier pricing into account to meet
your exact requirements. By default, the Standard tier is used.
Azure Migrate primarily supports Infrastructure-as-a-Service
(IaaS)-based assessments for lift-and-shift migrations. However, during the
discovery process, if database servers are found, Azure migrate will recommend
the use of Azure Database Migration Service and for others ASR.
Steps for Using Azure Migrate:
1.
Create a
migration project in Azure.
2.
Azure
discovers information about on-premises machines using a virtual machine called
the Collector Appliance. Download
the appliance setup file, which is in Open
Virtualization Appliance (.ova) format, and import the file into the
on-premises vCenter server as a virtual machine.
3.
After you've
created the Collector virtual machine, connect to it and run the Collector.
4.
The
collector service uses VMware PowerCLI cmdlets to collect metadata about the
on-premises virtual machines from the vCenter Server. Note this is an agentless
discovery and you do not need to install anything on the ESXi hosts or the
virtual machines for metadata collection.
5.
The
collector service collects information about virtual machines, including cores, memory, disks and disk sizes, and
network adapters. It also collects
performance data for the virtual machines, including CPU and memory use, disk
IOPS, disk throughput (MBps), and network output (MBps). Collected metadata
is then pushed to the Azure Migrate project and can be viewed in the Azure
portal.
6.
You can then
create an assessment for a group of
virtual machines in the Azure Migrate portal. The assessment report can be
viewed in the portal, or it can be downloaded in an Excel format. The
assessment report includes information about Azure readiness,
Steps covered by
Azure Migrate -
1.
Prepare your
environment.
2.
Discover
virtual machines.
3.
Group
virtual machines
4.
Assess the
groups of virtual machines
.
We have mentioned the basic 4 steps covered by the Azure
Migrate in order to provide the Discovery report and assessment. Let’s see one
by one –
Step 1: Prepare your
environment
Start by confirming you have met the prerequisites for using
Azure Migrate.
Azure Migrate prerequisites -
1. To get started with Azure Migrate, you need a Microsoft
Azure account or the free trial.
2. Assess VMware Virtual machines located on vSphere ESXi
hosts that are managed with a vCenter server running version 5.5, 6.0. or 6.5
3. The ESXi host or cluster on which the collector VM runs
must be running version 5.0 or later.
4. To discover virtual
machines, Azure Migrate needs an account with read-only administrator credentials for the vCenter server.
5. Create a vCenter virtual machine in .ova format. Download an appliance and
import it to the vCenter server to create the virtual machine. The virtual
machine must be able to connect to the internet to send metadata to Azure.
6. Set
statistics settings for the vCenter server to statistics level 2 or 3. The default Level 1 will work, but Azure
Migrate won't be able to collect data for performance-based sizing for storage.
After you complete the prerequisites, you have the option to
tag your virtual machines to help accelerate assessments. Alternatively, you
can group the virtual machines later, after discovery.
Tag your
Virtual Machine in vCenter for ease as, Planning migrations is easier when you
tag the virtual machines you want to migrate. Using tags, you can jumpstart the
assessment, because the Collector automatically creates groups of virtual
machines for you based on the tag values. However, this is an optional step and
if you do not have tags in vCenter server, you can group virtual machines using
the Azure Migrate service.
Use these
steps to tag your virtual machines in vCenter server.
1. In the
VMware vSphere Web Client, navigate to the vCenter server instance.
2. To review
current tags, click Tags.
3. To tag a
virtual machine, click Related Objects > Virtual Machines, and select the
virtual machine.
4. In
Summary > Tags, click Assign.
5. Click New
Tag, and specify a tag name and description.
6. To create
a category for the tag, select New Category in the drop-down list.
Step 2: Discover virtual machines
Using Azure Migrate to
discover on-premises workloads involves these steps.
1. Create a Project.
2. Download the
Collector appliance.
3. Create the Collector
virtual machine.
4. Run the Collector to
discover virtual machines.
5. Verify discovered
virtual machines in the portal.
Create Project:
Azure Migrate projects hold the metadata of your on-premises
machines and enables you to assess migration suitability.
Use these steps to create a project –
Search for Migration and provide the information for the
project.
Download the Collector appliance –
The Collector appliance
is a single file in Open Virtualization Appliance (.ova) format that you
download and run on an on-premises environment to discover on-premises
workloads. Follow these steps to download the Collector.
1. Select the project,
and click Discover & Assess on the Overview blade.
2. Click Discover
Machines, and then click Download.
NOTE: There are 2 type
of appliance download appropriate appliance based on your preference –
a.
One-Time discovery
b.
Continuous discovery (preview)
3. Copy the Project ID
and project key values to use when you configure the Collector.
Create the Collector virtual machine –
In the vCenter Server,
import the Collector appliance as a virtual machine using the Deploy OVF
Template wizard.
1.
In vSphere Client console, click File >
Deploy OVF Template.
2.
In the Deploy OVF Template Wizard > Source,
specify the location for the .ovf file.
3.
In Name and Location, specify a friendly name
for the Collector virtual machine, the inventory object in which the virtual
machine will be hosted.
4.
In Host/Cluster, specify the host or cluster on
which the Collector virtual machine will run.
5.
In Storage, specify the storage destination for
the Collector virtual machine.
6.
In Disk Format, specify the disk type and size.
7.
In Network Mapping, specify the network to which
the Collector virtual machine will connect. The network must be connected to
the internet to send metadata to Azure.
8.
Review and confirm the settings, and then click
Finish
Run the Collector to discover virtual machines –
1.
In the vSphere Client console, right-click the
virtual machine > Open Console
2.
Provide the language, time zone, and password
preferences for the appliance & Run collector short-cut on the desktop,
check for updates.
3.
In the Azure Migrate Collector, open Set Up Prerequisites,
and then
4.
Accept
the license terms, and read the third-party information.
5.
The Collector checks that the virtual machine
has internet access. If the virtual machine accesses the internet via a proxy,
click Proxy settings, and specify the proxy address and listening port. Specify
credentials if proxy access needs authentication.
6.
The Collector checks that the Windows profiler
service is running. The service is installed by default on the Collector
virtual machine.
7.
Select to download and install the VMware
PowerCLI.
8.
In Specify
vCenter Server details, do the following:
·
Specify the name (FQDN) or IP address of the
vCenter server and the read-only account that Collector will use to discover
virtual machines on the vCenter server.
·
Select a scope for virtual machine discovery.
The Collector can only discover virtual machines within the specified scope.
Scope can be set to a specific folder, datacenter, or cluster, but it shouldn't
contain more than 1000 virtual machines.
·
If you’re using tagging on the vCenter server,
select tag categories for virtual machine grouping. Azure Migrate automatically
groups virtual machines based on tag values in the category. If you're not
using tagging, you can group virtual machines in the Azure portal.
9.
In Specify migration project,
specify the Azure Migrate project ID and key that you copied from the portal
10.
In View collection progress, monitor
discovery status about what data is collected by the Azure Migrate collector.
Verify VMs in the portal –
For one-time discovery, the
discovery time depends on how many VMs you are discovering. Typically, for 100
VMs, after the collector finishes running, it takes around an hour for
configuration and performance data collection to complete. You can create
assessments (both performance-based and as on-premises assessments) immediately
after the discovery is done.
For continuous discovery (in
preview), the collector will continuously profile the on-premises environment
and will keep sending the performance data at an hour interval. It is strongly
recommended to wait for at least a day before creating any performance-based
assessments for the VMs.
1.
In the migration project, click Manage > Machines.
2.
Check that the VMs you want to discover appear
in the portal.
Create and view an assessment
After VMs are discovered, you group them and
create an assessment.
1.
In the project Overview page,
click +Create assessment.
2.
Click View all to review the
assessment properties.
3.
Create the group, and specify a group name.
4.
Select the machines that you want to add to the
group.
5.
Click Create Assessment, to create
the group and the assessment.
6.
After the assessment is created, view it
in Overview > Dashboard.
7.
Click Export assessment, to download
it as an Excel file.
Assessment details
An assessment includes information about whether the
on-premises VMs are compatible for Azure, what would be the right VM size for
running the VM in Azure and the estimated monthly Azure costs.
Azure
readiness
The Azure readiness view in the assessment
shows the readiness status of each VM. Depending on the properties of the VM,
each VM can be marked as:
·
Ready for Azure
·
Conditionally ready for Azure
·
Not ready for Azure
·
Readiness unknown
Points in consideration –
Ø
For VMs that are ready, Azure Migrate recommends
a VM size in Azure. The size recommendation done by Azure Migrate depends on
the sizing criterion specified in the assessment properties.
Ø
If the sizing criterion is performance-based sizing, the size recommendation is done by
considering the performance history of the VMs (CPU and memory) and disks (IOPS
and throughput).
Ø
If the sizing criterion is 'as on-premises', Azure Migrate does not consider the performance
data for the VM and disks. The recommendation for the VM size in Azure is done
by looking at the size of the VM on-premises and the disk sizing is done based
on the Storage type specified in the assessment properties (default is premium
disks).
Ø For VMs that aren't ready or conditionally
ready for Azure, Azure Migrate explains the readiness issues, and provides
remediation steps.
Ø The VMs for which Azure Migrate cannot identify
Azure readiness (due to data unavailability) are marked as readiness unknown.
Monthly cost
estimate
This view shows the total compute and storage
cost of running the VMs in Azure along with the details for each machine. Cost
estimates are calculated considering the size recommendations done by Azure Migrate
for a machine, its disks, and the assessment properties.
Confidence
rating
Each performance-based assessment in Azure
Migrate is associated with a confidence rating that ranges from 1 star to 5
star (1 star being the lowest and 5 star being the highest). The confidence
rating is assigned to an assessment based on the availability of data points
needed to compute the assessment. The confidence rating of an assessment helps
you estimate the reliability of the size recommendations provided by Azure Migrate.
Confidence rating is not applicable to as on-premises assessments.
For performance-based sizing, Azure Migrate needs the
utilization data for CPU, memory of the VM. Additionally, for every disk
attached to the VM, it needs the disk IOPS and throughput data. Similarly for
each network adapter attached to a VM, Azure Migrate needs the network in/out
to do performance-based sizing. If any of the above utilization numbers are not
available in vCenter Server, the size recommendation done by Azure Migrate may
not be reliable.
For details click
here
About Collector
Appliance – It’s a lightweight appliance for the assessment of the vCenter
environment.
Collector Pre-Req :
Ø
Internet Connection
Ø
Time Sync
Ø
Collector Service running
Ø
VMWare PowerCLI installed
Collector Communication chart –
Performance-based
sizing
For performance-based sizing, Azure Migrate
starts with the disks attached to the VM, followed by network adapters and then
maps an Azure VM based on the compute requirements of the on-premises VM.
·
Storage: Azure Migrate tries to map every disk
attached to the machine to a disk in Azure.
Note
Azure
Migrate supports only managed disks for assessment.
o To
get the effective disk I/O per second (IOPS) and throughput (MBps), Azure
Migrate multiplies the disk IOPS and the throughput with the comfort factor.
Based on the effective IOPS and throughput values, Azure Migrate identifies if
the disk should be mapped to a standard or premium disk in Azure.
o If
Azure Migrate can't find a disk with the required IOPS & throughput, it
marks the machine as unsuitable for Azure. Learn more about
Azure limits per disk and VM.
o If
it finds a set of suitable disks, Azure Migrate selects the ones that support
the storage redundancy method, and the location specified in the assessment
settings.
o If
there are multiple eligible disks, it selects the one with the lowest cost.
o If
performance data for disks in unavailable, all the disks are mapped to standard
disks in Azure.
·
Network: Azure Migrate tries to find an Azure VM that
can support the number of network adapters attached to the on-premises machine
and the performance required by these network adapters.
o To
get the effective network performance of the on-premises VM, Azure Migrate
aggregates the data transmitted per second (MBps) out of the machine (network
out), across all network adapters, and applies the comfort factor. This number
is used to find an Azure VM that can support the required network performance.
o Along
with network performance, it also considers if the Azure VM can support the
required the number of network adapters.
o If
no network performance data is available, only the network adapters count is
considered for VM sizing.
·
Compute: After storage and network requirements are
calculated, Azure Migrate considers CPU and memory requirements to find a suitable
VM size in Azure.
o Azure
Migrate looks at the utilized cores and memory, and applies the comfort factor
to get the effective cores and memory. Based on that number, it tries to find a
suitable VM size in Azure.
o If
no suitable size is found, the machine is marked as unsuitable for Azure.
o If
a suitable size is found, Azure Migrate applies the storage and networking
calculations. It then applies location and pricing tier settings, for the final
VM size recommendation.
o If
there are multiple eligible Azure VM sizes, the one with the lowest cost is
recommended.
As on-premises sizing
If the sizing criterion is as
on-premises sizing, Azure Migrate does not consider the performance history
of the VMs and disks and allocates a VM SKU in Azure based on the size allocated
on-premises. Similarly for disk sizing, it looks at the Storage type specified
in assessment properties (Standard/Premium) and recommends the disk type
accordingly. Default storage type is Premium disks.
Dependency visualization
Dependency visualization in Azure Migrate allows you to
create high-confidence groups for migration assessments. Using dependency
visualization you can view network dependencies of machines and identify
related machines that needed to be migrated together to Azure. This
functionality is useful in scenarios where you are not completely aware of the
machines that constitute your application and need to be migrated together to
Azure.
·
To leverage dependency visualization, you need
to associate a Log Analytics workspace, either new or existing, with an Azure
Migrate project.
·
You can only create or attach a workspace in the
same subscription where the migration project is created.
·
To attach a Log Analytics workspace to a
project, go to Essentials section of the project Overview page
and click Requires configuration & create workspace on the same region
·
The associated workspace is tagged with the
key Migration Project, and value project name, which you can use to
search in the Azure portal.
To use dependency visualization, you need to
download and install agents on each on-premises machine that you want to
analyze.
·
In addition, if you have machines with no
internet connectivity, you need to download and install Log Analytics gateway
on them.
You don't need these agents on machines you
want to assess unless you're using dependency visualization.
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