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I have been asked by a client to come with a proposal to move 50 physical hosts (Scatted all over Canada, running server 2008 to 2012r2) to the cloud. They all run a custom application which requires windows server. Each physical host represents a unique environment (so I am unable to bring the 50 hosts down to 1 or 2)
Has anyone here done anything similar?
You might want to check out Azure, I have a client who is a software developer and they need a lot of VMs, I priced up a hosted ESXi server with Rackspace and it was a lot of money so ended up going to Azure which they are happy with. I've not used Azure myself but read good things and think it's very competitive.
AWS would be a good option. Tons of stuff you can do with it and their recent changes to security from a device perspective are very good. Just enquire on a P2V move and see what they can offer. You don't really need 50 servers if you use compartmentalisation. Look at Docker, Kubernetes, Openshift and others to see if you can do it a better way. All of those are AWS friendly.
I was going to mention AWS but I haven't looked into it so wasn't sure, from the little I did read they are great as you only pay for them whilst the VMs are span up, when powered down they are not being charged (or perhaps there is a tiny storage charge). Perhaps Bert can confirm either way. I mentioned Azure first as I guessed it would be the most compatible for Windows Server OS but that's not to say AWS will be any less compatible and going by Amazons usual model they will aggressively undercut most competition!
Done a lot of evaluation over the last few years and AWS have most things covered and their R&D is fantastic. As far as paying for up and down goes you choose a plan. They are very helpful as they want your coin.
Sounds like you need IaaS (Infrastructure as a service) which is most expensive option really but if that's what they want then that's what they can have.
I have heard www.rackspace.com (think they seem to be some sort of reseller for the big teams) were decent but depends how deep their pockets are as if you could afford it you obviously would go for either a Microsoft or Amazon solution just down to the size and trust in the brands.
Rackspace offer their own hosted solutions but I think to compete they now also offer AWS and other hosted solutions with their support layer on top. Their main USP is the support, 24x7x365 by trained techs and they are mainly US based with some UK/Irish. I have struggled on numerous occasions with Microsoft Office 365 support and Google G Suite support but have had some good experiences with each too.Quote:
Originally Posted by akimba
I use Rackspace for hosted exchange but the problem now is it is uncompetitive with Office 365 Exchange Plan 1, their support is not really worth the large premium they are charging and with GBP falling through the floor it makes it even more expensive for us. I also find the Office 365 Exchange Admin centre has more options that Rackspace do for advanced configurations, I believe you can have their support team assist using powershell but I prefer to have that control myself.
Gone a bit off track here but was just posting the info I know about Rackspace, very good company to deal with but not likely to be the cheapest.
Thank you all. I have a call scheduled with Amazon later today :)
Maybe have a look at CloudEndure as well - it will cost but will do what you want :)
There's a load of info around other options here around the AWS migration competency:
https://aws.amazon.com/migration/partner-solutions/
I'm scoping out a project when I return from leave with regards moving our large SQL farm into Azure. It will also be a clean-out exercise as we have a lot of dead DB's that are just sitting there not used any more.
I'll be looking into PaaS and IaaS. Never tackled anything like this before so any advice would be welcome. We are a Local Authority so have some old apps that may require more time than others.