Many enterprises are swiftly moving to the cloud, but there are still many unknowns. Read on to learn about the most important cloud migration factors you should consider.
10 Critical Cloud Migration Factors
Make Sure Your Data Will Be Encrypted
By default, many clouds do not encrypt data. And many of them don’t offer an option to encrypt data later. Make sure you can get Advanced Encryption Standard-256 for everything in your cloud.
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Ensure Your Cloud Can Be Restored
Some clouds offer free snapshots beyond the reach of the user control panel so that they can’t be deleted. Instead they roll over every 10 days, so that your service can be restored. Most clouds don’t offer snapshots or include them in the control panel, so they can get deleted, along with everything else, in the event of a cyber-attack.
Be Wary of Data Transfer Fees
Most but not all clouds charge for every byte of data you touch in the cloud. Some offer unlimited access (translation: no data transfer fees), while some lure you in with free inbound, but charge for outbound. Be informed.
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The Need for Maximum Network Speed
Enquire about maximum speed. Many clouds are 1 Gbps or less and some are 10 Gbps, minimum. Others can reach speeds of 40/100 Gbps, if necessary. If you don’t ask, you won’t know.
To CPU or Not to CPU?
Many people think a CPU is just a CPU. It’s not. If you want to drive 512 GB of DDR3 memory at full speed, you can only do that on AMD chips. AMD offers more cores per CPU than Intel, so you might want to take this into consideration.
Hosting Virtual Desktops
Many clouds don’t offer virtual desktops. This is critical, because as you expand your footprint in the cloud with servers, storage and more, you will want the fastest way to interact. Although virtual desktops are much needed, they are not created equal. Compare them with simple tests like surfing YouTube and other sites to see what each can handle.
Migrating Data
Many cloud providers have a “take it or leave it” attitude. They don’t care how or if you get your data there. Getting in is hard, getting out is nearly impossible. Some clouds offer migration services in, and export the data in many different hypervisor formats. Find these clouds and use them.
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Colocation Matters
Not everything can be virtualized, like an AS/400, for example. So, if you’re going to move everything to the cloud, ask if colocation services are offered so that physical components can still interact with your virtual cloud environment and be hosted in the same data center.
Transport Services Are a Must
If you’re doing disaster recovery to the cloud, cloud storage, virtual desktops, VOIP/SIP, or other processes that require either QoS or a big pipe, pick a cloud provider that can hook you up with faster Internet service, a private link to the cloud, MPLS, and more.
All Clouds Aren’t Equally Secure
Don’t let your security be a multi-tenant in the cloud. Many clouds include their own firewall, load balancer and other key network components in their orchestration platform. Some clouds dedicate a virtual appliance for them. Ask about IPS/IPR services to block malicious hackers using both signature and IP reputation techniques. This stops them and doesn’t consume your cloud resources.
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