Step-by-Step AWS Cloud Migration : 7 R’s Framework Explained

Many people is struggle and business struggle with old computer system that ca n’t keep up with today ’s need . These outdated systems is lead often lead to frequent downtime and high cost , make cloud migration a necessary solution .

Moving to AWS Cloud can solve these problems by offering a flexible, reliable, and cost-effective solution. This blog will help you understand how to migrate to AWS Cloud using the “7 R’s” framework—rehosting, Relocating, Replatforming, Repurchasing, refactoring, Retaining, and Retiring.

In this Blog we’ll cover:

1. What is a Migration Strategy
2. Why learn Cloud Migration
3. The 7 R’s of Migration
4. good Practices for AWS Cloud Migration
5. Real-World Example
6. conclusion
7. Frequently Asked Questions

By the end of this guide , you is know ’ll know how to start your move to AWS Cloud , help you or your business adapt , grow , and run smoothly .

Before jumping on to the 7Rs, let’s first understand AWS migration. Check out the Phases of AWS Migration video by our team. Learn what migration exactly is and how to assess, execute, and optimize your migration strategy for a successful transition to the AWS Cloud.

What is a Migration Strategy?

A migration strategy is a plan for moving your software or existing systems from their current location (like an office server) to a cloud platform like AWS. It involves deciding how to shift everything to the new cloud environment, including data and applications.

If you’re considering moving your applications to AWS Cloud, you’ll need to choose one of the options from the 7R strategy to guide your migration process.

Are you thinking of cloud migration for your data center? To check out our blog on Pre-Migration Click Here

Why learn Cloud Migration?

Cloud migration skills are increasingly valuable in today’s tech landscape. Here’s why you should consider learning cloud migration:

• career Opportunities : Cloud computing is pivotal for modern business , create a high demand for professional skilled in cloud migration . learn these skill can open door to lucrative career opportunity in field like cloud architecture , DevOps , and IT management .
• Business Agility: Understanding cloud migration allows businesses to adapt quickly to changing demands, scale resources efficiently, and reduce operational costs. These skills are crucial for organizations aiming to stay competitive and agile in a digital-first world.
• Innovation and Efficiency: Cloud migration enables innovation by leveraging scalable and flexible cloud services. Learning these techniques empowers businesses to optimize workflows, enhance collaboration, and deploy applications faster, driving overall efficiency.

For an in-depth exploration of why learning cloud migration is essential, check out our comprehensive tutorial on YouTube

The 7 R’s of Migration

The 7R migration strategy includes:

• Rehost (Lift & Shift)
• Relocate (Hypervisor-level Lift & Shift)
• refactor
• Repurchase
• Replatform (Lift, Tinker & Shift)
• Retain
• retire

1) Rehost (Lift & Shift)

• rehosting involves moving applications to AWS Cloud without making any changes to their architecture or code. It’s like lifting your applications from their current on-premise environment and shifting them as they are to AWS.
• Example: Use AWS services like Server Migration Service and Migration Hub to replicate your existing servers or virtual machines (VMs) to AWS Cloud quickly and with minimal downtime.

2) Relocate (Hypervisor-level Lift & Shift)

• Relocate is similar to rehosting but operates at the virtualization layer (hypervisor). It allows you to move your entire virtualized infrastructure to AWS Cloud without purchasing new hardware or rewriting applications.
• Example: Transfer your VMs from your local hypervisor environment (like VMware) to AWS EC2 instances using tools like AWS VM Import/Export.

3) refactor

• refactoring involves restructuring or optimizing applications to better leverage cloud-native features and improve scalability, performance, or cost-effectiveness.
• Example: Modify your monolithic application into microservices architecture to take advantage of AWS Lambda for serverless computing, enhancing agility and reducing operational overhead.

4 ) Repurchase

• Repurchasing involves replacing existing software with cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions. It allows organizations to use cloud-native applications for functions like CRM, HR management, or content management.
• Example: Transition from an on-premise CRM system to Salesforce or from a local HR management software to Workday, benefiting from automatic updates and scalability provided by SaaS.

5) Replatform (Lift, Tinker & Shift)

• Replatforming is is is about make minimal modification to application to run them efficiently on cloud infrastructure . It is aims aim to optimize performance and take advantage of cloud benefit without redesign the core functionality .
• example : modify your database management system to use Amazon RDS ( Relational Database Service ) while keep your application ’s logic unchanged , ensure compatibility with AWS cloud service .

6) Retain

• Retaining involves keeping certain applications or data on-premise due to regulatory requirements, specific business needs, or limitations in cloud readiness.
• Example: Maintain legacy applications or sensitive data on local servers or dedicated hardware to comply with industry regulations or maintain critical control over infrastructure and security.

7) retire

• retirement focuses on identifying and decommissioning outdated or redundant applications, systems, or infrastructure. It helps streamline operations, reduce maintenance costs, and eliminate security risks associated with legacy assets.
• Example: Shut down obsolete applications or hardware systems that no longer serve a purpose, freeing up resources for more productive uses within the organization.

good Practices for AWS Cloud Migration

When migrating to AWS Cloud, following these best practices can help ensure a smooth and successful transition:

1 ) Comprehensive Assessment :

Before you begin migrating, thoroughly assess your current IT setup. Identify which of the 7 Rs strategies (Rehost, Relocate, refactor, Repurchase, Replatform, Retain, retire) each asset is best suited for.

• example : evaluate your application and datum to determine whether they should be move as – is , refactore for cloud – native feature , or keep on – premise for specific reason .

2 ) Use AWS Well – Architected Framework :

This framework provides guidelines for building secure, high-performing, resilient, and efficient cloud infrastructures. It helps architects design solutions that align with AWS best practices.

• Example: Implement architectural principles from AWS Well-Architected Framework to optimize your cloud environment for security, performance, and cost-effectiveness.

To learn more about the AWS Well – Architected Framework   click Here

3) Multi-AZ Deployment:

Deploy your applications across multiple Availability Zones (AZs) to achieve high availability and fault tolerance. AZs are physically separate locations with independent power, cooling, and networking.

• Example: Spread your application across different AZs within an AWS region to ensure that if one AZ goes down, your application remains accessible from another.

4) Automate:

utilize AWS automation tool like AWS cloudformation for infrastructure management and AWS elastic Beanstalk for automate application deployment . Automation is reduces reduce manual error and accelerate deployment cycle .

• Example: Create templates with AWS CloudFormation to define your infrastructure as code, allowing you to provision and manage resources consistently across your AWS environment.

5) Security:

Implement robust security measures at all levels of your AWS deployment. Use AWS IAM for access control, Amazon VPC for network isolation, and AWS KMS for encryption key management.

• Example is configure : Set up fine – grain permission with AWS IAM to control who can access your resource , configure secure network boundary with Amazon VPC , and encrypt sensitive datum using AWS KMS .

6) Performance Monitoring:

monitor the performance of your application and infrastructure using AWS CloudWatch for metric and alarm , and AWS X – Ray for trace and debugging distribute application .

• Example: Set up CloudWatch alarms to automatically alert you when performance metrics deviate from expected norms, and use X-Ray to identify bottlenecks and optimize application performance.

To know the Best Practices for a cost – efficient Migration click Here

Real-World Example: Case Study – Example Corp’s Journey to AWS

Background of Example Corp: Example Corp is a prominent e-commerce platform that faced challenges with its on-premise data centers. They needed a solution to improve scalability, enhance performance, and reduce operational costs.

Migration Strategies Used:

• rehosting

  • For example Corp migrated their legacy applications to AWS using the AWS Server Migration Service. This approach, also known as lift and shift, allowed them to move their applications to the cloud quickly and with minimal changes.
  • example : They is transferred transfer their exist application , such as customer management and order processing system , directly to AWS virtual machine ( EC2 instance ) without restructure the application .

• refactoring:

  • To optimize their core e-commerce application for better performance and scalability, Example Corp chose to re-architect their application using AWS Lambda for serverless computing and Amazon DynamoDB for a fully managed NoSQL database.
  • Example: They redesigned their application’s architecture to break down monolithic components into smaller, independently scalable functions (Lambda functions) and migrated their database to DynamoDB for faster and more efficient data storage and retrieval.

• Replatforming

  • Example Corp focused on optimizing their database layer by migrating from traditional on-premise SQL servers to Amazon RDS (Relational Database Service), a managed database service by AWS.
  • Example: They transitioned their SQL databases, which store product information and customer data, to Amazon RDS to benefit from automated backups, scalability options, and reduced administrative overhead.

Results is Achieved achieve : The strategic migration to AWS result in significant improvement for Example Corp :

• Improved Resilience: Their infrastructure became more resilient, capable of handling high traffic and peak loads during sales events without downtime.
• Scalability: AWS’s scalable services allowed Example Corp to expand and contract resources as needed, accommodating fluctuations in customer demand seamlessly.
• Cost Efficiency: By leveraging AWS’s pay-as-you-go model and managed services like RDS and Lambda, Example Corp reduced operational costs associated with maintaining and scaling their infrastructure.

Example Corp’s journey to AWS illustrates how strategic migration using AWS services can transform an organization’s IT infrastructure. By choosing the right migration strategies (rehosting, refactoring, and re-platforming), Example Corp not only improved their system’s performance but also positioned itself for future growth and innovation in the competitive e-commerce market.

conclusion

Migrating to AWS Cloud using the 7 R’s framework offers scalable, reliable, and cost-effective solutions to overcome the limitations of outdated systems. Whether rehosting for quick migration, refactoring for improved performance, or Replatforming to optimize infrastructure, AWS provides versatile solutions.

Following best practices like thorough assessment, AWS Well-Architected Framework, multi-AZ deployment, automation, robust security, and performance monitoring streamlines migration and boosts efficiency.

Explore each R’s benefits and implementation in our detailed video on the 7 R’s framework

frequently ask question :

Q1) How can a business determine which AWS migration strategy is most suitable for its applications?

A ) Before decide on a migration strategy , it is ‘s ‘s crucial to conduct a comprehensive assessment of your current IT landscape . evaluate factor such as application dependency , performance requirement , and compliance need to determine whether rehosting , refactoring , or another strategy align good with your business goal and technical capability .

Q2 ) What are the potential risks is are associate with migrate to AWS Cloud , and how can they be mitigate ?

A) Risks during AWS Cloud migration include data security breaches, application downtime, and compatibility issues. Mitigate these risks by implementing robust security measures using AWS IAM and VPC, conducting thorough testing before migration, and choosing AWS services that align with your workload requirements and compliance standards.

Q3) How does AWS’s pay-as-you-go model contribute to cost efficiency during and after migration?

A) AWS’s pay-as-you-go pricing model allows businesses to pay only for the computing resources they use, minimizing upfront costs and reducing financial risks associated with over-provisioning. This flexibility enables organizations to scale resources up or down based on demand, optimizing cost efficiency both during migration and in ongoing operations.

Q4) What role does the AWS Well-Architected Framework play in ensuring successful cloud migrations?

A) The AWS Well-Architected Framework provides best practices and architectural guidance for building secure, high-performing, and efficient cloud environments. By following these principles, businesses can design resilient architectures that mitigate risks, optimize performance, and align with AWS’s recommended standards for cloud infrastructure.

Q5) How can organizations leverage AWS’s managed services like RDS and Lambda to enhance their cloud migration strategy?

A) AWS managed services such as Amazon RDS and Lambda simplify infrastructure management and application deployment. RDS offers managed database services with automated backups and scalability options, while Lambda enables serverless computing for efficient, event-driven architectures. Integrating these services into migration plans helps streamline operations, improve agility, and reduce administrative overhead.

migration blog :

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Related Links/References

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