Amazon Web Services: Guide to Migrating Your Servers to the Cloud

In the current era where technology plays an increasingly important role in the business world, the cloud has become an essential tool for improving system efficiency and scalability. AWS (Amazon Web Services) is the most popular and powerful cloud platform in the market, and migrating your servers to it can offer a range of benefits, such as increased scalability, higher availability, and improved security.

In this article, we will describe the necessary steps to efficiently migrate your servers to AWS, including analyzing your current architecture, selecting the appropriate AWS services, configuring your new architecture, performing migration testing, monitoring, and maintaining your system after the migration is complete.

How to Migrate an On-Premises System to AWS?

Migrating an on-premises system to AWS can be a challenging process, but by following the steps below, it can be achieved efficiently:

1. Analysis of the current architecture

Before starting the migration, it is important to understand the current architecture of your system, including the applications, databases, storage, and networks used.

The example we will use for this blog consists of a server responsible for running a document management software. This system requires two additional machines, one of which has a MYSQL database for storing all access and relationships, and a file server for storing digitized invoice documents.

The completion of this outline is part of the first phase, which consists of the following steps:

1. 1. Identify and document all applications and services in use, including versions and configurations.

   2. Identify and document all databases, including types, versions, and configurations.

   3. Identify and document the storage in use, including capacities and current utilization.

   4. Identify and document the networks used, including firewall configurations and network settings.

2. Selection of AWS Services

Once you have a clear understanding of your current architecture, you can select the appropriate AWS services to replace the existing services.

• Use Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) to replace the web server.

• Use Amazon RDS to replace the MySQL database server.

• Use Amazon S3 to replace the file server.

• Evaluate other relevant AWS services for your system, such as Amazon Elastic Load Balancing (ELB) if you have a load balancer, or Amazon CloudFront if a Content Delivery Network (CDN) is one of the requirements.

EXAMPLE:

In the case of our study, our infrastructure would consist of an EC2 instance where the document management software will run, an RDS instance for the MySQL database, and finally, an S3 bucket where all the files are stored.

3. Configuration of the New Architecture

Once the AWS services have been selected, they need to be configured and customized to fit the needs of your system.

Once we have a clear understanding of that, we need to configure security rules. Some important security rules that could be implemented include:

1. Network Security Configuration: Use Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) to create a private network and control network traffic. Configure security rules in the Amazon VPC firewall to restrict access to resources only to necessary IP addresses and ports. For example, no one from the outside should be able to access either S3 or RDS (Database). Only the web server should be accessible on port 443 (HTTPS).

2. Backup and Disaster Recovery: Use Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) or Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS) snapshots to create regular backups of data and configure a disaster recovery strategy to ensure system availability in case of an incident.

3. Data Encryption: Use Amazon Key Management Service (KMS) to encrypt data stored in Amazon S3 and Amazon EBS.

4. Migration Testing

Before migrating the entire system, it is recommended to perform migration testing in a test environment to ensure that everything functions correctly.

• Create a test environment to simulate the migration.

• Migrate a copy of your current system to the test environment.

• Conduct comprehensive testing to ensure that everything functions correctly.

5. Migration

Once the testing is completed, the system migration can begin. It is important to have a contingency plan in case something goes wrong.

6. Monitoring and Follow-up

After the migration is completed, it is important to monitor and closely track the performance of your new system on AWS to identify and resolve any issues.

• Monitor the system's performance on AWS using tools like Amazon CloudWatch.

• Monitor resource utilization to identify and resolve bottlenecks.

• Closely track the system to identify and resolve any issues.

Advantages of Migrating an On-Premises System to AWS

Performing a migration from an on-premises system to AWS can offer several advantages, some of which include:

• Scalability: AWS provides a wide range of services that allow for easy resource scaling based on system needs. This enables quick adaptation to changes in traffic and business demands.

• Availability: AWS services are designed to offer high availability and fault tolerance, reducing the risk of service interruptions.

• Flexibility: AWS allows for various deployment options, such as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), or Software as a Service (SaaS), providing greater flexibility in choosing the right solution for your business.

• Cost savings: By utilizing only the necessary resources, you can reduce the total cost of ownership for the system. Additionally, paying only for what is used can save money compared to acquiring and maintaining an on-premises infrastructure.

• Security: AWS offers a range of security options to protect data and resources, including encryption, authentication and authorization, security monitoring, and backup and disaster recovery.

• Accessibility: Having access to online resources allows for system accessibility from anywhere with an internet connection.

It is important to note that each business is unique, and the advantages of migrating to AWS may vary depending on the specific needs of your system and business. It is recommended to carefully evaluate the benefits and challenges before making a decision.