Tutorial / Cram Notes
Prioritization and migration of workloads to the cloud are critical aspects of a cloud architect’s responsibilities, particularly when preparing for an AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional certification. To ensure a smooth and cost-effective migration, workloads must be evaluated, and a migration strategy, such as wave planning, must be developed. This approach often involves organizing applications into groups or “waves” that will be migrated over time.
When planning for migration, the first step is to conduct a thorough assessment of the current environment. This includes cataloging all applications, workloads, and their dependencies. Using tools like AWS Application Discovery Service can help in collecting necessary information about on-premises data centers.
Prioritization of Workloads
Once the assessment is complete, it’s essential to prioritize the migration of workloads based on a set of criteria:
- Business Impact: Evaluate workloads based on the value they bring to the business. Business-critical applications might be given priority over less critical ones.
- Complexity: Analyze the complexity of the migration for each workload. Applications that can be easily moved without significant refactoring could be moved earlier to show quick wins.
- Dependencies: Understanding the dependencies between applications is crucial. You’ll want to migrate dependent workloads together to avoid functionality issues.
- Compliance and Security Requirements: Regulatory requirements might dictate the migration order for some workloads due to data sovereignty and protection needs.
- Cost-Benefit Analysis: Evaluate the expected cost savings or performance benefits that each migrated workload will offer.
It’s helpful to use a matrix to categorize workloads based on these criteria. For example:
| Application | Business Impact | Complexity | Dependencies | Compliance | Cost-Benefit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CRM System | High | Medium | High | Low | High |
| Email Server | Medium | Low | Low | Medium | Medium |
| Custom App | Low | High | Medium | High | Low |
Wave Planning
Once workloads have been prioritized, the next step is to organize them into migration waves. Wave planning strategically groups applications to streamline the migration process. An example wave plan could look like this:
- Wave 1: Quick wins. Low-complexity, independent applications. E.g., a standalone document storage system.
- Wave 2: Business-critical applications with minimal dependencies. E.g., the primary CRM system that requires minimal modification for cloud deployment.
- Wave 3: Complex applications that might need slight modifications or have a few dependencies. E.g., custom internal applications that integrate with the CRM system.
- Wave 4: Highly complex applications requiring significant refactoring or re-architecting, or have many dependencies. E.g., legacy applications that need to be containerized or redesigned as microservices.
The wave approach mitigates risks by allowing the architectural team to learn and adapt from each migration wave. There’s a logical progression from the simplest to the most complex, allowing for the sequential buildup of expertise and the resolution of unforeseen issues with minimal impact.
Automation and Tools
AWS provides several tools for migration that can be used to automate and manage the migration process:
- AWS Migration Hub: Acts as a central location to track migration across multiple AWS and partner solutions.
- AWS Server Migration Service (SMS): Automates the migration of on-premises servers to AWS.
- AWS Database Migration Service (DMS): Helps migrate databases to AWS quickly and securely.
Automation scripts and infrastructure as code (IaC) using AWS CloudFormation or Terraform can speed up the provisioning of AWS resources for the incoming workloads.
Post-Migration Activities
After each wave, it’s important to validate the migration:
- Ensure that the applications work correctly in the AWS environment.
- Conduct performance and security assessments.
- Optimize cost and usage.
Regular post-migration reviews ensure that the moved workloads meet the desired business outcomes and provide the foundation for continuous improvement in cloud operations.
In conclusion, workload migration to AWS requires careful planning, prioritization, and phased execution through wave planning. Leveraging AWS tools and implementing automation facilitate an efficient and seamless migration. Such thorough preparation aligns with the competencies tested in the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional exam, which expects candidates to demonstrate an advanced understanding of complex cloud migration scenarios.
Practice Test with Explanation
True or False: You should prioritize the migration of workloads that have the least business impact first to minimize risks during the migration process.
- True
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: Typically, you might prioritize the migration of less critical workloads initially to establish processes and gain experience, but this is not always the case, sometimes it depends on the business objectives, cost, return of investment, and technical challenges.
When conducting wave planning for workload migration, which of the following factors should be considered? (Select TWO)
- A. Availability of skilled personnel
- B. Phase of the moon
- C. Total size of data to migrate
- D. Color of your server racks
Answer: A, C
Explanation: Availability of skilled personnel is crucial for a successful migration, as is understanding the total size of data to migrate. The phase of the moon and color of server racks are irrelevant factors.
True or False: During workload migration, it’s best to migrate all workloads at once to minimize total migration time.
- True
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: Migrating all workloads at once can increase risk and complexity. It’s typically better to migrate in stages or waves to ensure that each workload is successfully transferred and fully operational before moving to the next.
What is the primary goal of wave planning during migration?
- A. Ensuring the most critical applications are migrated last
- B. Spreading out the migrations evenly over a long time
- C. Managing the migration in smaller, more manageable groups
- D. Migrating everything quickly regardless of risk
Answer: C
Explanation: Wave planning aims to manage the migration in smaller, more manageable groups or ‘waves’ to reduce risks and allow for lessons learned in early waves to be applied to later ones.
True or False: Wave planning in workload migration should only consider the technical complexity of migrating each workload.
- True
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: While technical complexity is important, wave planning should also consider business priorities, dependencies, and the potential business impact of moving each workload.
Which migration strategy implies rehosting applications on the cloud without making any changes?
- A. Refactoring
- B. Replatforming
- C. Rehosting
- D. Retiring
Answer: C
Explanation: Rehosting, also known as “lift-and-shift,” involves moving applications to the cloud without modifications. This is often the first wave in a migration strategy because of its simplicity.
True or False: It is not important to assess the performance of workloads after each wave of migration.
- True
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: Assessing the performance of workloads after each migration wave is important to ensure that they meet expected performance standards and provide the opportunity to troubleshoot any issues before proceeding further.
What should be done after migrating a workload during a wave planning strategy?
- A. Immediately delete the source systems
- B. Monitor and validate the performance of the migrated workload
- C. Move on to the next wave without validation
- D. Archive the entire workload for historical purposes only
Answer: B
Explanation: After migrating a workload, it’s crucial to monitor and validate the performance of the migrated workload to ensure it meets the necessary requirements and to optimize resources accordingly.
True or False: Dependencies between applications do not need to be considered when planning the migration waves.
- True
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: Understanding and considering the dependencies between applications is critical in wave planning to ensure that dependent applications are migrated in a coordinated manner to avoid disruptions.
When conducting wave planning, what is an essential preparatory step?
- A. Writing a press release
- B. Allocating unlimited budget for migration
- C. Conducting a detailed portfolio discovery and assessment
- D. Purchasing new hardware for the cloud
Answer: C
Explanation: Conducting a detailed portfolio discovery and assessment is essential to identify the interdependencies, technical complexity, and readiness of the applications for migration.
In the context of migration, what does the “6 R’s” strategy include? (Select THREE)
- A. Rehost
- B. Remove
- C. Refactor
- D. Reject
- E. Replatform
- F. Retain
Answer: A, C, E
Explanation: The “6 R’s” include Rehost, Refactor, Replatform, Re-purchase, Retire, and Retain. ‘Remove’ and ‘Reject’ are not part of this strategy.
Interview Questions
What factors should be considered when prioritizing workloads for migration to AWS?
When prioritizing workloads for migration, important factors include the business value of applications, their dependencies, complexity, the cost-benefit analysis of moving to the cloud, compliance requirements, and the ease of migration. Prioritizing low-complexity, high-value applications can provide quick wins and help establish best practices for subsequent migrations.
How would you explain “wave planning” in the context of migrating workloads to AWS?
Wave planning is a strategic approach to migrating workloads to AWS where applications are grouped into ‘waves’ based on factors like their dependencies, complexity, and readiness to move. Each wave represents a batch of workloads that will go through the migration process together, allowing for organized resource allocation and risk management.
Describe a situation where you would opt for a “lift-and-shift” approach over refactoring or re-architecting a workload when migrating to AWS.
A lift-and-shift approach is suitable when the primary goal is to quickly migrate a legacy system to AWS without making significant changes to the application’s architecture. This approach is often chosen for applications that are tightly bound to their current environment or when time or budget constraints do not allow for a full refactoring.
What AWS services and tools would you use to assess and plan the migration of a large, complex application?
The AWS Migration Hub provides a central location to track the progress of migrations across multiple AWS and partner solutions. AWS Application Discovery Service helps to gather information about on-premises data centers before migration. For planning and migration tracking, one might also leverage AWS Service Catalog and AWS Well-Architected Tool to ensure best practices and compliance.
How do you manage and mitigate risks when planning the migration of critical workloads to AWS?
To manage and mitigate risks, it’s important to start with a thorough assessment of the existing workloads, identifying any critical components and their dependencies. A well-crafted migration plan should include pilot migrations, testing, and validation phases to ensure the readiness of each workload. AWS’s CloudEndure Migration can be used for continuous replication and short cutover windows to minimize downtime.
Can you discuss an approach for determining the sequence of migrating applications to AWS based on their interdependencies?
A good approach is to create a dependency map that outlines how applications interact with each other. From this, you can identify which applications should be moved first to reduce the interdependency risks. Starting with independent applications or those with minimal dependencies can simplify the process, while applications at the core of the dependency graph may require more careful planning.
When conducting wave planning for a multi-tier application migration, how would you approach prioritization of the different tiers?
Prioritization should consider both the technical and business impact of each tier. Commonly, the database tier is critical for data integrity and might be migrated first to establish a solid data foundation. The application tier follows to ensure logical processing capabilities, and the presentation tier often gets migrated last, as it usually has the least impact on core operations.
In wave planning, what are some common challenges when consolidating workloads for migration, and how would you address them?
Challenges include managing application dependencies, aligning business units’ schedules and priorities, and technical complexities. To address these, you need detailed planning, solid communication across teams, and possibly restructuring some applications to decouple dependencies. Utilizing services like AWS ECS or EKS helps in managing containerized workloads to deal with interdependencies.
How do you balance the speed of migration with the stability of systems when executing a wave planning strategy?
Balancing speed and stability requires a careful evaluation of the workloads and a phased migration approach. Implementing pilot migrations and expand slowly, while continuously monitoring system performance offers stability. Using automation tools like AWS CloudFormation or Terraform can increase the speed of migration without sacrificing system stability.
What strategies might you employ to reduce downtime during the migration of stateful workloads to AWS?
For stateful workloads, strategies such as blue/green deployments, where the new version is deployed alongside the old until it’s proven reliable, can help reduce downtime. Utilizing AWS DMS for database migration with minimal downtime, or AWS Server Migration Service for live server migrations, can also facilitate reduced downtime.
Note that during a real interview for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional certification, you can expect in-depth technical questions that will test not only knowledge but also experience with AWS services and architectures. These questions are a starting point and should be supplemented with practical experience.
This blog post is great! Wave planning in AWS migration really clarified a lot for me.
Can anyone elaborate on the different phases of wave planning for AWS workload migration?
I’m an AWS Certified Solutions Architect, and I find wave planning crucial for managing large-scale migrations efficiently.
Thanks for sharing this! Helped me understand prioritization better.
I think the post could include more real-world examples.
What are the key criteria for prioritizing workloads during AWS migration?
Appreciate the detailed explanation on migration strategies.
Great post. It really breaks down a complex topic into easy-to-understand sections.