Choosing to shift to the cloud is a complex undertaking, and you want to make sure the company you pick is the best for you, from the multitude of DevOps consulting services available. Many migrations encounter problems due to assumptions that were made, or questions that were never asked, about the database upfront, so asking the right questions is crucial.
Consider asking your cloud DevOps consulting company these five questions before migration to avoid anguish later:
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What will the database transfer look like?
Firstly, your DevOps consultancy will need figure out the size and functionality of your existing database, and how it interacts with applications. Ideally, the cloud DevOps consulting services you employ should identify the number of CPU cores on the existing server and its memory size, along with the number of instances in scope and the estimated number of databases per instance. They should also find out the average number of connections to the database as well as the average and maximum transaction logs generated per hour. It is crucial that your experts make sure to factor in any compliance, regulatory or auditing requirements. Thinking about how these will be upheld during and after the move is essential.
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What database skills do you have?
Talk to your cloud DevOps consulting team and find out what each member’s daily tasks involve. Otherwise, it’s all too easy for vital tasks to get missed when the migration occurs. To avoid this, it is critical to preemptively identify any knowledge gaps and think about how to fill them.
To operate effectively in the cloud, database managers are likely to need a new set of skills. Your DevOps consulting services of choice should be able to retrain and upskill concerned employees to avoid issues further down the line.
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How do you maintain your database?
If your cloud DevOps consulting experts ensured that your database is in good shape with indexes rebuilt regularly and statistics kept up to date, it bodes well for a smooth migration.
The consultants should inform and educate you about the retention period for transaction logs and back-ups as well as the schedule and storage of back-ups, and should put a failsafe disaster recovery plan in place. Ideally, they should also run disaster recovery testing and ensure any back-up files are not corrupt.
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What visibility will I have of the database?
Databases are bound to run into issues sooner or later, but it is prudent in such a situation to act before it escalates into a major issue. This is where monitoring and alerts come into play, and any existing solutions must be assessed to ensure they will offer adequate protection in the cloud, which your chosen cloud DevOps consulting service should carry out.
To begin, analyze the benefits associated with your current database monitoring solution and identify any additional functionality, features, perks, or improvements that you’d like to add. Consider what currently triggers alerts and any server specific alerts that have been set up.
It can also be helpful to identify how often you actually face issues with your current system, and whether you’d describe the database as ‘problematic’. Moving to the cloud can make existing problems worse if they are left unchecked, but it also presents an opportunity to resolve them. Improving database visibility as part of the migration process helps get things off to a good start in the new environment.
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Who can access the database, and how?
Another essential piece of information to gain before choosing the DevOps consulting services and going through with migration is the number of users who access the database, as well as their permissions and frequency of use. If users have direct access, what options do they have available for use, and what method was configured during the installation? If a sysadmin system is used, you need to know who has access to this. Cloud migration is a good time to tidy up database user management and establish new protocols, so use this time to make sure your chosen cloud DevOps consulting provider like ISETech is doing their best to meet your needs as you wish for them to be met.
There are many ways to migrate a database, depending on the cloud provider and database management system. Asking the above questions helps determine which approach is best for your circumstances. Putting in the work and making sure your DevOps consulting services do a thorough job is essential in avoiding a whole host of problems down the line. Although you can conduct the migration yourself, if your database team hasn’t conducted a migration before, it’s best to get expert guidance.
