2016. 6. 3.

A data center migration checklist to mitigate risk

SearchDataCenter.com
Adatacentermigrationchecklisttomitigaterisk

ByPaulKorzeniowski

MajorITchangesareinevitable,butbusinessescanmitigatetheirinherentriskbyfollowinga
properdatacentermigrationchecklist.

Datacentersconsistofcomplicated,denselypopulatedracksofhardwarerunningallkindsof
software,connectedbyoodlesofcabling.So,whenthefirmplanstomigrateanapplication,a
businessgrouporperhapstheentireITinfrastructuretoanewplatform,itcancauseapanic.A
migrationmeanssiftingthroughthecomplexwebofconnecteddevices,applications,cooling
systemsandcablestomapoutallinterdependencies,thenplanningandexecutingonadata
centermigrationprojectplanwithminimaldisruptions.

Hereisadatacentermigrationchecklistin10easysteps.

1.Understandwhyyou'remigrating

Businesseshavedifferentreasonsformigratingtoanewsystem,andthosemotivesalterthe
potentialchallengesITwillfaceduringmigration.Perhapsmarketsuccesscausedexplosive
growththatrenderedthecurrentdatacenterfacilityobsolete:Moreprocessingpowerisneeded.
Perhapsthecompanywantstosavecosts:Datacenterconsolidationandright-sizingby
combiningsystemswilllowerlicensingandoperationalexpenses.

Mergersandacquisitionsoftendriveadatacentermigrationproject:Thetwogroupsmust
becomeonecohesiveorganization.Regulatoryrequirementsalsosparkchange:Acorporationwill
revampitsdatacentertoshoreupbackup,archiving,datamanagementandsecurity.

2.Mapoutaclearplan

ThesuccessorfailureofamigrationprojectdependsonhowwelltheITdepartmentcompletes
itsduediligence.Asktherightquestionslongbeforeyoutouchanydatacentersystem.
"Generally,companiesstart18monthsahead,"saidTimSchutt,vicepresidentatTransitionalData
Services(TDS),atechnologyconsultingcompanybasedinWestborough,Mass.

Createadatacentermigrationprojectplanthatidentifiesthestepsintheprocess,aswellasthe
keyresourcesneeded.Definethescopeandsizeoftheproject,andthenexaminekeylimiting
factors,suchassystemavailabilityandsecurity.Setamigrationbudgetandgettheorganization's
approval.Finally,accountforfuturesystemrequirements,andleaveenoughcapacityinthenew
systemstosupportfuturegrowth.

3.Geteveryoneonboard

Howwillthechangeaffectotherdepartmentswithintheorganization?Individualstakeholders
viewthedatacentermigrationuniquelybecausetheyconcentrateonlyonhowamoveaffects
theirdailyoperations.

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2016. 6. 3.

A data center migration checklist to mitigate risk

TheCFOviewstheprojectasacostcutter.Thedatacentermanagerperceivesitasalogistical
nightmare--onegiant,multiyearchecklistofactionswithhazardslurkingeverywhere.The
systemsadministratorsviewitasatechnicalchallenge.Thebusinessunitsmightenvision
outagesthatwillthreatentheirperformance.

First,itisincumbentonthedatacentermanagertounderstandthosedifferentviewpointswithin
andoutsidetheITteam.Spendtimeinthevariousdepartments.Earlyintheprocess,makethese
employeesawareofthechangesthatarecoming.Asthemigrationunfolds,pullindifferent
departments'executivesforplanning;makesuretheirvoiceisheard.Thiswillencouragenon-IT
personneltosupporttheprojectandworkwithyourteamtosolveanyproblems.

4.Completeaninventory

ITdepartmentsoftensupportsystemsthataren'tofficiallyonthebooks;datacenterresources
entertheorganizationthroughthefrontandbackdoors.Beforebeginningamigrationproject,
theITshopmustidentifyallofitscomponents.Thatmeans--especiallyinlargercompanies-findingservershiddenunderemployees'desksandapplicationsthathavebeenrunningin
departmentalstealthmodeforyears.

OnceallthesecretandknownITassetsareaccountedfor,theITteammustmaptheircomplex
setofinterdependencies."Thebiggestchallengeisfiguringoutthedependenciesamongallof
thedifferentelements,"saidAaronCox,practicemanageratForsytheTechnologyInc.,a
managementconsultingandtechnologyservicesproviderinSkokie,Ill."Youdon'twanttochange
onesystemandknockanotheroneoffline."

Identifyallthehardware,software,networkequipment,storagedevices,airandcoolingsystems,
powerequipment,anddatainvolvedinthemove.Thenpinpointthelocationofeachofthese
datacenterelements,determinewhereeachwillmoveandestimatehowlongthatprocesswill
take.

5.Setadowntimelimit

Businessestodayareintolerantoflongservicedisruptions,akadowntime.Everyoneexpectstheir
systemstobeavailable24/7.Butsayingyoucan'tafforddowntimeisn'tthesameassayingyou

canafforduptime.Keepingsystemsupduringamigrationaddstotheproject'scost.Totruly
eliminateanydowntime,youwouldneedaduplicatedatacenter,whichisnotpractical.

ITneedstoworkwithbusinessunitstoidentifytimestotakedepartmentandcompany
applicationsoffline.Iftheylookcloselyenough,departmentscanfindwindowswhenthe
migrationwouldleasthindertheiroperation."[Forexample,]adepartmentmayhaveabackup
windowwhentheirsystemsaredown,"TDS'Schuttexplained.

6.Developastrongcontingencyplan

Problemswillariseduringthemigration,andtheywillinfluencesystemavailability.Thechallenge
istofigureoutthedatacentermigrationrisksaheadoftime,anddeterminehowtheywillaffect
thecompany'splansandwhichstepscanlessentheirimpact.Thesuccessorfailureof
contingencyplansstemfromthestrengthorweaknessoftheinitialaudit.Forexample,ifafirm
hasacompletepictureofitslocalandwirelessareanetworks,theITteamknowswheretoplace
backupcommunicationlinestokeepinformationflowingdespitedowntimeonamajorcircuit.

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2016. 6. 3.

A data center migration checklist to mitigate risk

Includeinterimequipmentandbackupsystemsinthecontingencyplanwherevernecessary.
Determineaheadoftimehowmuchthebusinessiswillingtospendonsuchdevicesandwhat
willhappenwiththemafterthedatacentermigration.Ideally,theextraswillbecomepartofthe
ITdevicepoolandgetusedasvariouscomponentsageoutorbreakdown.

7.Sweatthesmallstuff

ITdepartmentsoftenhaveabroadunderstandingaboutwhatneedstohappeninadatacenter
migrationproject.Unfortunately,theyslipuponthelittlethings.Employeesgetsick--somewill
beoutduringthemove.Doyouhavethestaffinglevelstocontinuetheproject?Equipmentwill
bedamagedduringthemove.Doyouhavespares?Doyouhavetherightpackingsuppliesfor
delicateitems?

WhendatastoragesupplierCarboniteInc.moveditsdatacenter,itevenmadeallowancesforthe
trafficinBoston."Trafficcangetquiteheavyduringcertaintimes,"saidBrionL'Heureux,director
ofdatacenteroperations.Thecompanyworkedwithlawenforcementtoavoidtrafficjamsand
accidentsasequipmentmovedfromonelocationtotheother.

Eventhemostfastidiousplannerscannotaccountforeverypossibleobstacle.Duringitsmove,
Carbonite'sfirealarmsounded,whichleftthestaffoutonthesidewalk.Factoringinsome
unexpectedsnagsliketheseallowedthecompanytocompletethemigrationonschedule.

8.Takebabysteps,notgiantleaps

Datacentermigrationstypicallyoccurinstages.First,thenewsystemisdeployedandtested.
Thedatacenterstaffverifiesthattheservers,racks,powercircuitsandstoragealloperate.Then,
networkconnectionsareinstalledandtested.Andfinally,theITteamtestsitsbackupsystems
andthechangeismade.

Oncethenewsystemsaredeployed,thefocusshiftstotheexistingsystem.Manycompanies
makeadryrun,testingafewelementstobesuretheirplanisachievable.Typically,acompany
willgetthenewsystemsupandrunningandoperatetheoldandnewequipmentintandemfor
sometime,allowingITtorollbackachangeifasignificantproblemarises.

9.Don'tforgetabouttheoldequipment

Companiesundertakingdatacentermigrationprojectsendupwithalotofoldequipmentthat
cannotsimplybethrownaway.Firmsmustcreateadetaileddecommissioningandrebuilding
planthataccountsforlocalhealthandsafetyproceduresaroundelectronicwaste.Inmanycases,
thesystemswillberepurposedinsomeway.

Sinceconfidentialcorporatedatasatonthedrivesandinmemory,ITorganizationsmustensure
thatinformationiswipedclean,sonooneelsecanaccessit.

10.Updatebusinessprocesses

Itisimperativethatthedatacentermanagerupdatesprocesses,proceduresanddocumentation
oncethemigrationiscomplete.Thenewsystemwillnotfunctionastheoldonedid,sostaff
needtimetofamiliarizethemselves.Holdatrainingsessionorsessionsshortlyafterthemigration
toensurethestaffdoesn'treverttoold,familiarprocessesthatdon'tsuitthenewdatacenter
setup.

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2016. 6. 3.

A data center migration checklist to mitigate risk

Givenbusinesses'relianceonITsystemsandthenumberofpossibleproblemsthatcouldarise,
migrationscauseITmanagersagreatdealofconsternation.Withadatacentermigration
checklistandgameplan,managerscanlessenthelikelihoodofproblemsarisingand,whenthey
do,candealwithproblemswithoutgettingofftrack.

Abouttheauthor:
PaulKorzeniowskiisafreelancewriterwhospecializesindatacenterissues.Hehasbeenwriting
abouttechnologyfortwodecades,isbasedinSudbury,Mass.,andcanbereachedat

paulkorzen@aol.com.

02Apr2014

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