.png)
Case Study 2 ~ Legacy Microsoft Server Migrations
Problem:
A local government agency faced the challenge of migrating their extensive legacy server estate, comprising 485 servers. Among these, 285 servers ran on Server 2012 R2 and non-R2 editions, 96 servers operated on Server 2008 64-bit, and 6 servers were running 32-bit systems, including an old 'anchor' Server 2000 webserver running IIS version 5. The overarching goal was to shift applications from these legacy on-premise servers to EC2 cloud instances. However, the existing production environment consisted primarily of a mix of physical and virtual on-premise servers, with only a small fraction of legacy servers already inthe cloud, necessitating migration to an alternate cloud platform.
The primary hurdle was the lack of comprehensive information about the applications, including their owners and technical experts. There was no reliable application installation data, and historical information was absent within the existing IT team.
Solution:
To address these challenges, the agency employed Ezysnap technology to conduct a comprehensive Blueprinting of all servers, identifying migration requirements and uncovering hardcoded integrations with other systems and dependencies. Ezysnap was extended to leverage business intelligence rules to determine application ownership and 'experts', facilitating the scheduling of User Acceptance Testing (UAT).
Upon completion of the Ezysnap Blueprinting and compatibility analysis, servers were prioritized and categorized into migration sprints for production deployment post-UAT. Additionally, servers were evaluated to assess suitability for decommissioning, in-place upgrades, or full Ezysnap migration.
Outcome:
The EzyReport Blueprinting project yielded signifificant value by identifying 68 legacy servers earmarked for decommissioning, immediately reducing business risk and cybersecurity threats. Another 31 non application servers were flagged for in-place upgrades, as they provided critical operating system features and roles, which were subsequently performed by the client. The remaining servers, including the aging Server 2000 box, were seamlessly transformed and migrated by Ezysnap to Server 2022 EC2 instance, ensuring a smooth transition to a modernized cloud infrastructure.
This was achieved without any input from the client, their sole participation being limited to conducting User Acceptance Testing (UAT) on the new cloud destination servers and collaborating on cutover planning with no outages.
