ConcertAI, one of the leading providers of medical research software, faced a common scenario for a mature healthcare data center. Over the years, its infrastructure had become highly sophisticated but inconsistent. Some of the servers were running outdated, end-of-life operating systems and urgently needed upgrading. The client decided to implement a cloud-based solution for infrastructure migration and partnered with ABCloudz to make the system more manageable and prepare it for upcoming refinements. Our specialists suggested moving to AWS due to its infrastructure control functionalities, high productivity, and the ability to delegate some maintenance tasks to the provider. Another important factor was that some parts of the client’s infrastructure were already running on AWS.
We conducted a thorough technical analysis of ConcertAI’s infrastructure to develop a comprehensive migration approach. As a result, we successfully migrated 144 servers and 75 workstations to Amazon EC2. This significantly improved the infrastructure’s manageability and prepared it for further modernization.
Building IT inventory
The client runs a large data center with approximately 200 servers and 100 workstations. Some servers were already running on AWS. The infrastructure included SQL Servers (2000, 2005, 2008, 2012, 2014), web servers, email servers, and physical on-premises servers. Inconsistencies between legacy and newer servers made the system difficult to manage.
To complicate matters further, there was a severe lack of consistency in operating systems across these servers. Some were running on Windows Server 2003, various versions of Windows Server 2008, different versions of Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2016, and Windows Server 2019. With such a varied infrastructure, the client faced critical challenges regarding system manageability and productivity.
Check out the diagram below for information on the proportion of operating systems of the client’s servers.
One of the immediate needs was to address the servers running older, “end-of-life” operating systems. These servers needed upgrading urgently because Microsoft no longer offered maintenance support for them. The client did not want to retire the outdated servers because there was uncertainty about how this would impact existing server connections.
With these restrictions in mind, it was critical to analyze the infrastructure thoroughly and migrate it to AWS without data loss or system impacts. The client agreed that an efficient lift-and-shift migration of their 144 inconsistent servers and 75 workstations was a crucial step before further system modernization.
Reverse engineering of data flows
The client chose ABCloudz as a reliable partner with extensive cloud migration experience, deeply rooted in the legacy of DB Best, our original company with over 20 years of experience migrating databases, applications, and infrastructure. Our strong background in technology and experience in database migration were key factors in the client’s decision.
Due to insufficient documentation on the client’s infrastructure and limited insight from the client’s DB management specialist, we began with a thorough analysis of ConcertAI’s system. Our team used custom tools to evaluate the infrastructure’s overall state and configurations, determining the most efficient migration plan.
We identified a new challenge: the client had a very complex server connection scheme. Specifically, a single server could potentially handle functions from three different processes, such as data reception, processing, and analysis. In addition, many servers were linked through ETL jobs. Therefore, we had to be extremely cautious to avoid disruptions in server connections.
Six waves of lift-and-shift migration
After analyzing and identifying all server connections, we decided to divide the servers into separate groups based on their functionality and connectivity.
We assigned servers to five Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs). To ensure top-notch security for HIPAA-covered servers dealing with Private Health Information (PHI), we placed these servers in isolated networks with restricted communication with other servers. The diagram below illustrates the implemented VPC architecture.
To structure the migration and prevent potential disruptions in connectivity, we divided the migration of 144 servers and 75 workstations into six waves. You can see them in the image below.
The entire migration process took less than three months. During the transition, we created a hybrid infrastructure and network configuration to ensure the data center continued operating smoothly.
We migrated about 95% of ConcertAI’s servers using CloudEndure, as the client was familiar and comfortable with this technology. CloudEndure replicated partitions from the source to the destination and then switched between them.
However, CloudEndure was not suitable for larger systems. Therefore, we used AWS DataSync for the remaining 5% of servers that were too large for CloudEndure. DataSync was installed as a VM appliance in the on-premises data center and replicated data over a secondary link to AWS.
An infrastructure that runs smoothly without data loss
We efficiently migrated ConcertAI’s infrastructure to Amazon EC2 without any disruptions or data loss. The most notable benefits of the migration were:
The infrastructure gained a sufficient level of consistency. The client no longer needed time-consuming physical scaling. Additionally, AWS’s advanced control functionalities enabled efficient infrastructure management within a single cloud system, improving manageability by at least 25%.
The client was able to delegate some infrastructure management tasks to AWS, reducing the staff required for system maintenance. Along with financial benefits from AWS cloud, such as the absence of downtime fees, this led to significant cost savings.
ConcertAI received a uniform and consistent infrastructure, with all server connections identified and preserved, preparing the system for further modernization.
How can you benefit from our expertise?
Insightful? The most important thing is that we can tailor the analysis and migration techniques mentioned in this article to any client’s needs. Whether you want to modernize your infrastructure, database, or application, we’re ready to help. As proven experts in database migration, we apply our custom tools and approaches to solve even the most challenging problems. Contact us to discuss your database migration plans and fully benefit from system modernization!
