The Data Center Migration Methodology Phase 2: Discovery

Transcription

1 White Paper The Data Center Migration Methodology Phase 2: Discovery The Manual for Successful Migrations by David-Kenneth Group. All rights reserved

2 Discovery is a challenging process in every data center migration. Experience allows a company to walk the perfect balance that avoids both risk and inflated cost. Your goal in discovery is to create a relevant, organized, living document called the Master Inventory List. It is the authoritative source for your data center migration. Use it to capture every piece of data detail that follows. Collect Existing Documentation Collect and consolidate all existing documentation via your databases (CMDB/CMS), diagrams, facility documentation, contracts, etc. This information launches the discovery process and is your baseline of inventory data. It is often incomplete, inaccurate, and/or old. Run Auto Discovery The next step is to begin filling in the gaps. First in the arsenal are automated discovery tools. Put your machines to work for you. A broad range of powerful tools can provide in-depth information on your environment ranging from basic bandwidth analysis to complex dependency mapping. This effort quickly verifies existing data and reveals where none existed previously. Do not forget to run these tools for an extended time. Beyond the initial reports, you want to continue data capture across as large a period as possible. This allows you to observe cyclical processing such as seasonal loads and end of month/quarter processing. Also, run your discovery tools through the weekends to assure the capture of high resource utilization processes. Typical data collection should be between 2 and 3 weeks. Distribute Questionnaires Once auto discovery is complete, data gaps will still exist. It is important to reach out to the server and application owners. They know their systems both physically and logically. Send them questionnaires to solicit common information and identify situations that might require further details. Ask leading questions to cull out any information that could pose a problem later in the migration. The Data Center Migration Methodology Phase II: Discovery Page 2

3 Conduct Interviews Follow up with face-to-face conversations to resolve gaps and validate your understanding of how the servers function and interact with each other. This is the time to address any special situations that may have come to your attention from the completed questionnaires. At this point, the migration team must go after remaining details with more effort-intensive means. Direct Manual Inventory Go touch every asset that has been discovered. It is the opportunity to gather information firsthand and get answers on the spot. Personal appearances at server sites also help to overcome resistance to any outstanding issues. It is important to note that each layer of information in the preceding steps should become less quantitative and more qualitative as you progress through the steps, each providing a more in-depth understanding of your data center. Real-Life Risks But, what happens when the correct data is not collected, or the data you do collect is not managed correctly? Here are some scenarios that we have encountered in the field: Scenario A: A server that contained HIPAA and patient claims data needed to be moved behind a firewall. The migration team documented the need for a firewall but did not document the ports that needed to remain open. The network engineer built the firewall so strong that the server administrator could not get into the server for two days. Scenario B: A client planned to move a member enrollment database server before it moved the member enrollment application server. Had this move occurred, the lag time between the servers would have been so great, the application would not have worked. Scenario C: A member database server was already migrated, but the migration team did not document who the server administrator was, despite the fact that other technical team members mentioned the name of the database administrator. When the database encountered a problem, a full day was spent researching who the The Data Center Migration Methodology Phase II: Discovery Page 3

4 database administrator was an answer already provided but not documented and long forgotten. The type of documentation needed for these scenarios seems obvious in hindsight, but it does inevitably come up, if you do not document correctly. Consolidate Existing Assets Consolidation of inventory leads to the discovery of hidden costs. Servers not being used or fully utilized can be retired or consolidated and their costs eliminated. The same applies to maintenance and licenses. By consolidating or retiring assets, organizations realize immediate and recurring monthly savings. For larger organizations, up to 33% of servers can be retired. In our experience, monthly savings on service contracts, licenses, energy, and labor costs are between 5-15%. Consolidation reduces the scope of your migration saving time and money fewer servers to move, diagram, and inventory. It all equates to easy savings. Ensure Compliance Can you confirm you are the rightful user of the software you are running? Are you prepared to provide certification and accreditation for the systems you move? Have you reviewed your contracts for any possible restrictions? Are you familiar with the details in your service level agreements (SLAs)? Make certain you meet the standards applicable for your servers and applications before you execute the migration. Oversights will cost you time, money, and resources. Consider these: Proof of Entitlement (PoE) can be a major roadblock. Unless you have your PoE expect your vendor to bill you for the software. Certification and Accreditation (CnA) is a systematic procedure for evaluating, describing, testing, and authorizing systems prior to or after a system is in operation. Improper CnA can grind your migration to a halt. Make certain to review your SLAs and manage deliverables for the customer. And most importantly, communicate the details of the migration with your customers. The Data Center Migration Methodology Phase II: Discovery Page 4

5 Your data center migration should improve your business capacity, save money, and provide better service offerings for your customers not the other way around. Confirm Continuity A disaster is not just caused by nature, and business continuity does not just happen. Now is the time to either dust off your business impact analysis and disaster recovery plans, or if obsolete or lacking, begin crafting new ones. A business impact analysis (BIA) must be performed to identify the critical processes an organization performs and the inter-dependencies between them. The findings become the business continuity plan, providing a prioritized and systematic order for your data center to recover and continue to provide services. While a business continuity plan focuses on business operations, a disaster recovery plan is focused on IT systems, storage, and hardware. A disaster recovery plan returns systems and hardware to the performance levels prior to the disaster. The business impact analysis and the disaster recovery plan work in tandem to keep your data center functioning after a disruptive event and until normal facilities are restored. Managing risk is a key element of any migration. It begins in discovery and ends with a full-cycle of testing before execution. Summary Data center discovery can seem like an overwhelming process. But by diligently capturing your findings in the Master Inventory List, you can stay on track with your data collecting. It replaces the need for separate lists managed by different people. It is a living document that can be updated. It is scalable, filterable and easily shared. It can serve as an inventory list when you forklift servers to a new location and can be a starting point for creating the migration run book. There are clearly multiple benefits of managing your data in a Master Inventory List. Perhaps, the chief among them is this: It can save you from getting stuck in discovery. The Data Center Migration Methodology Phase II: Discovery Page 5

6 Note Think of this data center migration planning methodology white paper as a how-to instruction manual for data center migrations. Discovery is the second phase of David-Kenneth s five-phased data center migration methodology. We advise using this manual in tandem with the Migration Strategy Board. The Migration Strategy Board visually represents our methodology. All 5 phases are blocked out on the Migration Strategy Board. The discovery phase has 8 blocks and includes objectives, deliverables, tools, and action items for each. Consider it a quick reference guide to data center discovery. To see the Migration Strategy Board visit /Board. The Migration Strategy Board is also accessible from our home page. For access to the tools mentioned in this manual and on the migration strategy board, please visit our tools page. Discovery Phase 1. Consolidate Existing Documentation 2. Run Auto Discovery 3. Distribute Questionnaires 4. Conduct Interviews 5. Direct Manual Inventory 6. Consolidate Existing Assets 7. Ensure Compliance 8. Assure Continuity The Data Center Migration Methodology Phase II: Discovery Page 6

7 About David-Kenneth Group David-Kenneth Group s singular focus is data center migrations. It is what we do all day, every day. All of our people, processes, and methodology are purposed to help organizations achieve the attractive business benefits of a data center migration. Our migration services include site selection, build-out, and business continuity management services. We are experienced in servicing Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies that provide critical services in high stake industries where downtime could equate to loss of life, national headlines, or critical loss in revenue. The Data Center Migration Methodology Phase II: Discovery Page 7