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Author: Alex MacColl

Project Manager - EMEA - DataMove
Network engineer performing checks as part of data centre migration best practices
Posted on | by Alex MacColl

Data Centre Migration Best Practices

Data centre server room illustrating best practices for migration planning

Data Centre Migration Best Practices

The decision has now been made. It’s in the best interests of your business to plan and carry out a data centre migration. A data centre relocation plan has been formulated between you and your migration service provider, and a data migration strategy and checklist have been agreed. A move of this nature is no small thing, and everyone involved needs the agreed strategy to run to plan. In order to avoid unnecessary delays, outage and downtime, best practice needs to be observed.

Ensuring Best Practice

Between the stages of planning and moving day, it’s essential to guarantee the readiness of all equipment, parts, and software. The aim is to minimise downtime and mitigate risks by conducting thorough backup testing before the migration date. This methodology includes:

 

  • Developing a list of contingency plans to address potential risks, especially concerning data restoration, in case complications arise during the move. Contingency measures must be generous and realistic – expect the unexpected.
  • If necessary, gather all media and license keys required for installing backup server client software.
  • Shutdown and test all applications and databases to ensure a smooth start-up process post-migration.

The following responsibilities need to be addressed, ideally by different individuals within the relocation team:

 

  • The Project Manager is a key position. A PM will coordinate and confirm dates with external stakeholders such as hardware and software vendors, as well as the old and new data centres. This ensures that everyone is aware of the moving date, minimising delays and complications. The project manager will need to be available to troubleshoot at every stage of the relocation. Their phone needs to be on.
  • The Operation Administrator verifies the delivery of any required spare parts to the new data centre facility. It’s crucial to ensure that all necessary parts have arrived and are readily available. Op Admin must check the availability and functionality of remote console access at the new facility, ensuring a smooth transition.
  • The Application Administrator reviews the availability of software components, including operating systems, databases, and application licenses. App Admin must also confirm their readiness for the relocation process.
  • The Network administrator will establish a new network configuration by creating a comprehensive list of network information, settings, and verify end-to-end connectivity across patch panels to ensure uninterrupted network services.. They must share this list with the PM and all other administrators to ensure seamless implementation.

Depending on the size of your enterprise and migration, having four separate individuals across these areas isn’t always feasible, but it’s essential for someone to be performing these roles. Best practice is key to a successful data centre migration.

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Network cabling infrastructure illustrating data centre migration risks
Posted on | by Alex MacColl

Data Centre Migration Risks

Server room highlighting potential risks during data centre migration

Data Centre Migration Risks

Your business has decided that it’s in its best interests to perform a data centre move. Between you and your migration service provider you’ve formulated a relocation plan, created a migration checklist, observed best practice and set a date. What can possibly go wrong?

Hopefully nothing, but a data centre migration can potentially be everything from a bumpy ride to a disaster. At this stage, it’s of paramount importance to review the risks associated with this project. Here are some of the most common pitfalls – 

  • Unrealistic timeline: It’s key to build adequate contingency into the migration timeline (and then add some!). Hopefully, you won’t need it, but always consider the worst case scenario. Conducting a Test Migration is a very good idea at this stage, as it can give you some idea of the ‘best case’ entire duration of a project. It will also allow you to avoid any unpleasant surprises, as well as highlight problems that can be fixed in advance of your move. However, keep in mind that the actual production migration often takes longer than the dummy run – at your new data centre, you won’t be in your familiar test lab. 
  • Hidden data and software complexities: This is a good point at which to create a detailed inventory with your employees and customers, documenting all relevant information in a solid migration management database. Hidden complexities can and will arise, such as the presence of back-end attachments to critical applications you plan to migrate. You may also be dealing with legacy applications in your current database that you might not be aware of. They may or may not play ball, and you need to be aware of them now.
  • Lack of post-migration testing: Prior to migration, engage your network staff in measuring and recording the performance of critical applications through specific transactions. This will prepare everyone for the post-migration testing process. Document these tests and repeat them after the relocation. Post-migration testing can be a challenge, but issues can be mitigated by involving your staff in advance.
  • Failure to estimate downtime: Some disruption to work schedules will inevitably happen. A well-executed project plan will minimise this, but inform your support teams and end-users well in advance. See ‘unrealistic timeline’ above!
  • Poor communication: A lack of transparent internal communication throughout a migration project can lead to inconsistencies and problems. This is another reason why it’s a good idea to involve an impartial third party migration service provider who will be across the entire data centre move, and can remain outside any internal company politics. Your migration service provider will also be chief communicator for all relevant stakeholders (old and new data centres, IT departments, compliance etc).
  • Failure to recognise interdependencies: Upgrading different parts of your data centre infrastructure without acknowledging their interdependencies can potentially pose a significant challenge. Whilst it’s acceptable to upgrade critical components during migration, fractional upgrades often have a trickle-down impact. Therefore, it’s crucial to highlight planned updates and their interdependencies during the project planning stage.
  • Failing to back up: This may seem obvious, but it’s fundamental to maintain secure backups of your data and applications at all times. This is crucial for disaster recovery and immediate restoration in the event of natural disaster, system failure, cyber-attack (including ransomware, malware, and data breaches etc.) or just simple old fashioned human error.

 

Third parties

If you’ve created a good, solid data centre relocation plan and checklist with your migration service provider and are aware of the points above, you should have a smooth transition. Be aware, however, that you will be interfacing with some third parties during the operation – logistics providers perhaps, or not least the new data centre. Once again, contingency is key. Give yourself plenty of it. The best laid plans……

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Data centre move checklist and planning documentation
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Data Centre Move Checklist

Engineer inspecting circuit board during data centre move planning

Data Centre Move Checklist

Now that you’ve decided that you need to perform a data centre move, you need to create a project plan. Where do you start? With a checklist.

 

This data centre migration checklist will provide you with a solid foundation to determine the most efficient course of action:

 

  • Processes: Identify and document the necessary major processes involved in the data migration, including backup, system shutdown, hardware disconnection, transportation, and setup at the new location.
  • Resources: Determine the resources required for the relocation, such as personnel, equipment, transportation vehicles, packaging materials, and any external assistance. Ensure that everything is accounted for and available when needed.
  • Goals: Define the overarching goals and objectives of the project. This may include ensuring data integrity and security, minimising downtime, optimizing system performance, and adhering to regulatory requirements.
  • Timeline: Establish a timeline for the migration process, outlining key milestones and deadlines for each phase. Consider dependencies and contingencies, and allow for sufficient time to mitigate any hidden challenges. The key word here is contingency. Always plan for worst case scenarios.

At this stage it’s essential to identify these key roles in your team. Ideally, these should be four different individuals:

 

  • Project manager – A PM needs to develop a comprehensive plan for creating an optimal environment, taking into account factors such as connectivity, physical space, power allocation, cooling, and location. They’re responsible for identifying and determining the requirements for contingency measures, including spare parts, and compiling a comprehensive list of all necessary components. They also must ensure that the team is granted complete access past the security measures of the new data centre to carry out their tasks effectively. The PM will plan how and when the physical servers will be transferred to the new location and collaborate with the new provider to review the initial plan and make necessary adjustments.
  • Storage administrator – The storage admin needs to verify the storage requirements and confirm that there is sufficient space available in the new data centre to accommodate the storage arrays.
  • Operating administrator – The Op admin should conduct a thorough examination of accessibility factors and verify the availability of remote console access at the new facility.
  • Backup administrator – They are responsible for confirming the availability of backups and ensuring that full backups for any critical data can be successfully completed before the scheduled move date.

What’s the plan?

A data centre migration can seem like a daunting exercise at the outset, but needn’t be. Many enterprises employ third party migration service providers to help formulate and execute a bespoke data relocation strategy. Employing a specialist service provider can help you ensure a smooth transition.

 
 

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