Practical Issues to Consider When Migrating to the Cloud
Sorting cloud computing myths from facts is critical, especially when the future of your business depends on it. There are several practical issues to be considered while migrating to the cloud.
Every software person worth his salt knows the headaches surrounding versions and the problems that arise from it. On one occasion, I and my staff struggled to figure out why our code was working in all our servers but one. After grappling with the issue for nearly a week, we realized that the server in question had the wrong version of OS (Operating System) loaded. Believe me when I say that this is not a trivial issue. This problem can get further aggravated if some portion of your software works on a different version while some code doesn’t.
When migrating to the cloud you must ensure that you have the right OS version – I mean the same version as you have on your server. Not only the OS but all other applications, scripts, databases and utilities must have the same version. This will save you much headache in future.
Database connectivity
The cloud works a bit differently from traditional environments. Database connectivity can become a huge issue if not executed properly while migrating. This is a practical problem which can befuddle the best of system administrators. Those who take my advice would thank me later for cautioning them in advance. I would suggest that you test your database connectivity first with sample data, before migrating entirely.
Databases have become extremely complex. Extracting business intelligence and connecting with ERP systems, by itself, is a complicated job. Working in a new cloud environment can add to the complexity, if you are not careful.
Data, Data Everywhere
We are living in a world full of data. Video, audio and images take up a huge volume of space. Most of the data which we store is unused or used rarely. I would recommend that you carry out thorough inventory of your data, although storing it in the cloud can be costly affair. In fact, if you are not careful, you might end up paying a huge amount of money just for storing useless data.
You need to archive data for many reasons. Compliance with government statutes may demand that you store data which you may otherwise never use. I suggest that you get all this data compressed and then stored in a cloud. Video and audio do not yield to high compression ratios unless you convert them into other formats.
Conclusion
You must carefully plan your migration strategy. Sort out the version issues or at least know that you are dealing with different version. Know your operating environment well. Test your software with related databases before going all in.
As you may have been told when you were young, take one ‘byte’ at a time and chew properly!
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About the Guest Author:
Sankarambadi Srinivasan, ‘Srini’, is a maverick writer, technopreneur, geek and online marketing enthusiast rolled into one. He began his career as a Naval weapon specialist. Later, he sold his maiden venture and became head of an offshore Database administration company in Mumbai. He moved on as Chief Technology Officer of one of the largest online entities, where he led consolidation of 300 online servers and introduced several Web 2.0 initiatives. He holds a Master’s degree in Electronics and Telecommunication.
