In this article, I will try to explain several methods that we commonly use to perform customer migrations (Private Cloud/Hybrid Cloud) to Indonesian Cloud Computing (Public Cloud). There is one clear rule here: IndonesianCloud Public Cloud only provides virtualization infrastructure—it is not a VPS (Virtual Private Server) service, nor is it a Colocation Server.
1. Application/OS-Level Migration
This scenario usually applies to prospective customers who are still using physical servers. The amount of data to be migrated is relatively small (typically less than 30 GB). For data of this size, transferring via an internet connection is still sufficient. We will provide access to our Public Cloud, and the customer (or with our assistance) can copy or transfer data from their Private Cloud to our Public Cloud. During this process, the existing application services on the customer’s private cloud will not experience downtime (the application services remain running), as the migration is performed at the application level. Once completed, the application can be tested first before being declared as “Production”.
For relatively larger data volumes (greater than 30 GB), we apply a backup and restore technique. This approach is typically offered for applications that contain a large amount of multimedia content, such as images, videos, and music.
For customers with very large datasets whose locations are geographically unreachable (for example, outside the jurisdiction of Indonesia), we are required to use internet-based synchronization as the medium for data transfer.
The advantage of this technique is that customer applications remain continuously available, with no downtime required. The drawback is that the application must be rebuilt within our Cloud environment.
Applications suitable for this technique include web-based applications, generally Linux-based systems, web applications, e-commerce platforms (with multimedia content), and small-sized databases (assisted by backup and restore, e.g., MS SQL Express, MySQL).
2. Infrastructure-Level Migration in Cloud Computing
For customers who are still using physical servers, we will convert the server format from physical to virtual by using virtualization tools from various vendors (for example, VMware Standalone Converter). These tools perform physical-to-virtual (P2V) conversions, transforming physical servers into a set of virtual files. Such tools are widely used by System Integrators (SI) globally for migrating physical servers to virtual environments. A detailed explanation of this tool can be found at:
http://www.vmware.com/products/converter
The advantage of this technique is that there is no need to reconfigure applications, which is often considered complex and time-consuming. The migrated application will remain exactly the same when running in the Cloud environment. However, the disadvantage is that during the conversion process, application services are most likely unavailable due to the data synchronization required by the tool. Additionally, the overall condition of the operating system—such as unnecessary files, incorrect OS configurations, or even dormant viruses—will also be carried over into the Cloud.
For customers who already use virtualization in their data centers (whether commercial or free solutions such as http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere-hypervisor/, or workstation-based solutions like http://www.vmware.com/products/workstation/ and http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/), the servers already exist in software form. This provides significant convenience, as virtual servers can be migrated simply by copying and pasting files. In this case, we only need to provide storage media—usually a flash drive or portable disk, depending on requirements—to migrate the customer’s applications to the Cloud.
The advantage of this method is the ease of migration, even when using different hardware vendors. The drawback is that customers must already have virtualization technology in place beforehand.
Written by: Garibaldi – Cloud Consultant
This concludes our explanation. If you would like to read more articles about technology or obtain further information about Indonesian Cloud products, please visit our website at Indonesiancloud.com and our VPS website at cloudhostingaja.com. See you in our next article.