Given the opportunity, most will opt for a non-stop flight when traveling from point A to point B. Why would you connect via Denver or Las Vegas when you can fly directly to point B? Similarly, when it comes to file migration, you want to move file data from your old NAS platform A to the new NAS platform B in the fastest and simplest way possible. You are looking for a non-stop NAS migration flight.
You have decided to migrate data to a new NAS platform for a reason. Platform end of life? Lower cost? Better performance? Greater reliability or scalability? Or maybe it’s just easier to manage than your older NAS platform? Unfortunately, the new benefits cannot be gained until the migration is complete. For many, this means time and multiple actions. A vacation in Hawaii is great, but multiple connecting flights to get there is not the most desired way to start your trip.
What are the flight options for NAS migration?
Traditional Multi-Stop NAS Migration
The migration challenge usually begins after a customer acquires a new NAS platform. Traditionally, an undesirable multi-stop migration process is required prior to deployment:.
DEPARTURE – Pre-Flight Planning: This can involve a multitude of things. Designing and configuring a migration architecture. Writing scripts to automate the process. Mapping of source and destination – as well as mapping of apps to a new data location. Creating and testing the migration procedure. Creating a “back-out” process.
STOP #1 – Migration: Pre-check migration setup before beginning – then monitoring the migration which can be hours, days, or weeks depending on the volume of data and bandwidth capacity. Migration must sometimes be scheduled so that it does not interfere with critical production processes.
DESTINATION – Post-Migration: If data migration was performed via backup, then backup data must be restored to the appropriate storage and network locations. If production data has changed during the migration process, an incremental backup is needed, and the production system quiesced until the incremental backup has been restored to the new platform. Migrated data must be validated. File and/or share permissions must be recreated. Applications must then be tested against the newly migrated data.
The Direct Flight Migration Experience
Leading companies give customers a positive end-to-end experience. It’s not the destination – it’s the journey.” It’s true in life, business travel, and in data migration. Airlines, for example, cannot control your entire travel experience (taxis, rideshare, traffic, etc.), but many still reach out to improve your journey within their own sphere of influence. This can be as simple as providing convenient curbside baggage check for passengers. For hotels, the journey is enhanced with a concierge service or a free welcoming snack or beverage.
In the case of a new NAS deployment, sole focus on the destination ignores the challenges of the journey – including migration. Anything done to enhance the migration experience, such as the curbside baggage check, implies a company that understands your journey and your ultimate destination.
What if migration was as simple as performing a backup? What if NAS migration was a simple non-stop journey? What if the process was:
PLANNING: Select data to be migrated from the source NAS platform.
DEPARTURE: Run a full backup of the selected data to the destination NAS platform (assuming a final incremental backup after briefly quiescing production apps).
DESTINATION: Present backed up data as storage volumes to applications. Re-establish network share permissions.
Is this even possible from a NAS vendor?
Actually, no. But it is possible if a vendor provides a complete data management platform that unifies backup, file and object services, and migration tools as needed.
Selecting Your Flight
Consider vendors that understand your migration journey and deliver the best options. Does the vendor demonstrate leadership by saving time, eliminating complexity, and removing the stress of your migration project?
Cohesity provides a complete data management platform designed to enhance your migration journey. As a single platform, the Cohesity DataPlatform eliminates data migration hassles through integrated backup and Cohesity SmartFiles for enterprise file and object services.
Before traveling to a new vacation spot, it’s nice to see photos beforehand. In the same way, you can take a quick test drive of SmartFiles and see how easy it is to migrate selected files from any vendor and present the migrated files to users and applications.
So, check out this demo to see how easy file migration with Cohesity can be.
For a more in-depth test drive, contact us. And happy travels!
