Welcome to the blog series about SQL Server migration to Azure SQL.
During the next 3 posts, we will go through the following topics:
First Article
- Why migrate SQL Server to Azure SQL?
- Migration strategy,
- Azure SQL family,
- Migration paths.
Second Article
- Migration to Azure SQL – process
- Migration to SQL – steps (Discover, Asses, Migrate, Cutover, Optimize)
Third Article
- How to optimize the costs? (Azure Hybrid Benefit, Reserved Instance)
- Tools and services which support the migration process
Introduction
As more and more organizations move their operations to the cloud, migrating critical data and applications to cloud platforms has become a top priority. For many companies, this means considering migrating their SQL Server databases to Azure SQL, Microsoft’s cloud-based relational database management system. While SQL Server has been a mature and reliable product for many years, Azure SQL provides several benefits that make it an attractive option for businesses looking to modernize their IT infrastructure.
Why migrate to Azure SQL?
The move to Azure SQL offers several benefits for businesses, including increased scalability, flexibility, and cost savings. Azure SQL provides a fully managed cloud service, which means businesses can reduce their IT infrastructure costs by eliminating the need to purchase and maintain on-premises hardware. Azure SQL’s pay-as-you-go pricing model allows companies to pay only for the resources they use, which can result in significant cost savings over time.
In addition to the benefits mentioned in the previous section, migrating SQL Server databases to Azure SQL open built-in capabilities regarding high availability, disaster recovery features, automatic upgrades, backups, and significantly reduces overall maintenance overhead.
If you’re looking to modernize your data warehouse, the Azure ecosystem provides a wide range of options to help you make the transformation to a modern data platform. By leveraging Azure data stack businesses can create an end-to-end data solution that combines big data, data warehousing, as well as real-time analytics and machine learning. This provides businesses with a unified view of their data, allowing them to make more informed decisions and gain a competitive advantage.
Migration strategy
When it comes to SQL Server migration to Azure SQL, there are different migration strategies that can be employed based on specific business requirements. One of the most common approaches is rehosting, which involves moving an on-premises SQL Server database to an Azure SQL environment without changing its schema, application code, or architecture. This approach is suitable for businesses that want to quickly migrate their existing SQL Server workloads to the cloud while minimizing implementation costs and operational changes.
Another strategy is modernization, which includes a combination of the rehost, refactor, rearchitect, and rebuild approaches. Refactoring involves making minor changes to the existing application and database code to optimize the cloud-based environment, while rearchitecting requires more extensive changes to application architecture to take advantage of cloud-native services. Rebuilding involves rebuilding the application or database from scratch, which can be time-consuming and expensive, but it can lead to greater cost savings and performance improvements in the long term.
It is important for businesses to carefully evaluate their migration strategy and choose the approach that best aligns with their specific needs, goals, and resources. While rehosting may be the simplest and most cost-effective option for some businesses, modernization can offer greater benefits in terms of performance, scalability, and cost optimization. In any case, a well-executed migration strategy can help businesses take full advantage of Azure SQL’s capabilities, enhance their overall performance, and boost their competitiveness in the market.
Azure SQL family
When migrating to Azure SQL we have three deployment options:
Azure SQL VM: Azure SQL VM is a deployment option for those who require more control over the SQL Server instance and operating system (OS). It offers full administrative access to the VMs. It is ideal for organizations with existing SQL Server expertise who want to lift and shift their on-premises SQL Server workloads to the cloud.
Azure SQL Managed Instance: Azure SQL Managed Instance is a fully-managed platform as a service (PaaS) deployment option that provides compatibility with SQL Server. It offers near 100% compatibility with the latest SQL Server on-premises, including support for SQL Server Agent and SQL Server Integration Services. It is ideal for organizations that want to migrate their existing SQL Server databases to the cloud while focus on management at SQL Server instance level. OS and VM management or maintenance is not the case here.
Azure SQL Database: Azure SQL database is a fully-managed database service that offers built-in intelligent optimization and scalability. It is designed for developers who want to build cloud-native applications, and for organizations that want to modernize their existing applications. It offers a range of deployment options, including single databases or elastic pools, and provides features like automatic tuning, backup and restore, and security monitoring.
When you start your journey with Azure SQL you can consider the following decision tree to help you decide which one to use:
Migration to Azure SQL – possible paths
Migrating SQL Server databases to Azure SQL can provide a range of benefits. With multiple migration paths available, organizations can choose the one that best fits their specific needs and requirements.
- SQL Server to Azure SQL VM: Lift-and-shift approach to migrate an existing SQL Server instance to a virtual machine in Azure for full administrative control.
- SQL Server to Azure SQL Managed Instance: migrate an existing SQL Server instance to a fully-managed PaaS deployment option that provides near 100% compatibility with the SQL Server.
- SQL Server to Azure SQL Database: migration to a fully-managed database service.
It is worth to mention about other possible paths which could be options when we decide to unify our database ecosystem.
- Migration from other RDBMS to Azure SQL VM: Lift-and-shift approach to migrate Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL, or DB2 from on-premises to a virtual machine in Azure for a unified environment and full administrative control.
- Migration from other MySQL/PostgreSQL hosted on Azure VM to Azure SQL Database for MySQL/PostgreSQL: migrate from Azure VM to Azure SQL Database for MySQL/PostgreSQL for a fully-managed service.
- Migration from other RDBMS hosted on Azure VM to Azure SQL Managed Instance/Database: database migration and unification for Azure SQL ecosystem.
Conclusion
Migrating SQL Server to Azure SQL is a strategic decision based on strong business justification. Azure SQL provides increased scalability, flexibility, and cost savings, making it an attractive option for companies looking to modernize their IT infrastructure. While there may be some challenges involved in the migration process, the benefits of Azure SQL are clear and can help businesses stay competitive and agile in today’s fast-paced business environment.
The next post from series will cover the whole migration process step-by-step i.e.: Discover, Asses, Migrate, Cutover, Optimize.
Key takeaways
- Consider migration strategy,
- Think big and long term in the context of benefits by moving to Azure,
- Utilize Azure ecosystem capabilities – not only data stack,
- Modernize and unify your data ecosystem.
