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Create a deployment plan for Amazon EC2 using the VMware workloads migration advisor

Contributors netapp-mwallis netapp-rlithman
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Log in to the NetApp workload factory to access the VMware migration advisor. You'll follow the steps in the wizard to create a deployment plan or migration plan that is customized for your needs.

Note that you must have a user name and password to access workload factory. If you don't have access, create an account now. See the instructions here.

Create a deployment plan based on an on-premises vSphere environment

You can migrate your current virtual machine configurations in on-premises vSphere environments to virtual machines in Amazon EC2 and use customized Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP file systems as external datastores.

Requirements

  • You must have created the inventory file from your existing systems by using the migration advisor VM collector (.zip file) or by using RVTools (.xlsx file).

  • You must have access to the inventory file from the system on which you are logging in to workload factory.

Steps

  1. Log in to workload factory using one of the console experiences.

  2. From the VMware workloads tile, select Access and plan and then select Migration to AWS native compute. The VMware migration advisor splash screen is displayed.

    Review the information to learn about the benefits of the migration advisor.

  3. When ready, select Let's start.

  4. Choose the level of detail and method you prefer during the process of creating a deployment plan:

    • Quick assessment: This option uses an RVtools inventory file to retrieve information about your VMs during an accelerated process, resulting in a design blueprint for your cloud migration.

    • Detailed planning: Use the migration advisor data collector inventory file to collect detailed information, resulting in a deployment-ready design.

Quick assessment
Steps

  1. Select the Quick assessment tile and select Next.

    The Prepare for AWS Cloud onboarding page is displayed.

  2. In the VM configuration upload section, select the upload button and select the .xlsx file created by RVTools.

    The VMs summary section is populated from the inventory file to reflect the number of VMs and the total storage capacity.

  3. In the VM inventory considerations section, select the options to filter the list of VMs that you want to migrate.

    1. Region: Select the region where Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP file systems will be deployed. For optimal performance and cost efficiency, this is typically the same region as where your existing Amazon EC2 SDDC is deployed.

    2. Choose a predicted performance level for the VMs in this region. We recommend that you begin with a smaller IOPS setting. You can increase your provisioned SSD IOPS after the file system is created as workloads are migrated or deployed:

      • Standard to high performance: For VMs with average IO rates between 20 and 5000 IOPS.

      • Very high performance: For VMs with average IO rates of greater than 5000 IOPS.

      • Very low performance: For VMs with average IO rates lower than 20 IOPS.

  4. In the Target capacity and protection considerations section, select from a few storage options.

    1. VM Storage to consider: Select whether the datastores created for each onboarded VM are sized based on their currently utilized size (recommended) or their provisioned size.

      The external datastores will be implemented using Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP file system volumes.

    2. Average data reduction ratio: Choose from among the three common data reduction ratios. Select "1:1 - No reduction", "1:1.25 - 20% reduction", or "1:1.5 - 33% reduction".

      Select Help me decide if you're unsure which ratio to choose. The Data reduction ratio assistant dialog appears. Select any statements that apply to your VM inventory and storage estate. The assistant will recommend an appropriate data reduction rate. Select Apply to use the recommended ratio.

    3. Headroom percentage: Enter the percentage of capacity growth that is added to the capacity for your FSx for ONTAP file systems.

      Note that if you select an amount less than 20% you won't be able to create volume snapshots for protection and long-term backups.

    4. VM snapshot protection: Enable this option to protect the VMs with snapshots.

  5. Select Next.

  6. On the Scope page, select the VMs from the list that you want to include in the AWS cloud migration, and select Next.

  7. On the Classify page, review the VM information, volume classification rules, volume assignments, and list of volumes that will be migrated as part of deployment, and then select Next.

  8. On the Package page, review the EC2 instances and the volumes assigned to different FSx for ONTAP clusters, and then select Next.

  9. On the Review plan page, review the estimated monthly savings and cost estimates for all the VMs that you plan to migrate.

    The top of the page estimates the monthly savings for FSx for ONTAP file systems and EBS volumes. You can expand each section to view details for the suggested filesystem configuration, estimated savings breakdown, assumptions, and technical disclaimers.

Detailed planning
Steps

  1. Select the Detailed planning tile and select Next.

    The Prepare for AWS Cloud onboarding page is displayed.

  2. In the VM configuration upload section, select the upload button and select the .zip file created by the migration advisor data collector.

    The VMs summary section is populated from the inventory file to reflect the number of VMs and the total storage capacity.

  3. In the VM inventory considerations section, select the region where Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP file systems will be deployed. For optimal performance and cost efficiency, this is typically the same region as where your existing Amazon EC2 SDDC is deployed.

  4. In the Target capacity and protection considerations section, select from a few storage options.

    1. VM Storage to consider: Select whether the datastores created for each onboarded VM are sized based on their currently utilized size (recommended) or their provisioned size.

      The external datastores will be implemented using Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP file system volumes.

    2. Average data reduction ratio: Choose from among the three common data reduction ratios. Select "1:1 - No reduction", "1:1.25 - 20% reduction", or "1:1.5 - 33% reduction".

      Select Help me decide if you're unsure which ratio to choose. The Data reduction ratio assistant dialog appears. Select any statements that apply to your VM inventory and storage estate. The assistant will recommend an appropriate data reduction rate. Select Apply to use the recommended ratio.

    3. Headroom percentage: Enter the percentage of capacity growth that is added to the capacity for your FSx for ONTAP file systems.

      Note that if you select an amount less than 20% you won't be able to create volume snapshots for protection and long-term backups.

    4. VM snapshot protection: Enable this option to protect the VMs with snapshots.

  5. Select Next.

  6. On the Scope page, select the VMs from the list that you want to include in the AWS cloud migration, and select Next.

  7. On the Classify page, review the VM information, volume classification rules, volume assignments, and list of volumes that will be migrated as part of deployment, and then select Next.

  8. On the Package page, review the EC2 instances and the volumes assigned to different FSx for ONTAP clusters, and then select Next.

  9. On the Review plan page, review the estimated monthly savings and cost estimates for all the VMs that you plan to migrate.

    The top of the page estimates the monthly savings for FSx for ONTAP file systems and EBS volumes. You can expand each section to view details for the suggested filesystem configuration, estimated savings breakdown, assumptions, and technical disclaimers.

When you are satisfied with the migration plan, you have a few options:

  • Select Download plan > Instance storage deployment to download the external datastore deployment plan in a .csv format so you can use it to create your new cloud-based intelligent data infrastructure.

  • Select Download plan > Plan report to download the deployment plan in a .pdf format so you can distribute the plan for review.

  • Select Export plan to save the migration plan as a template in a .json format. You can import the plan at a later time to use as a template when deploying systems with similar requirements.

You can select Done to return to the VMware migration advisors page.

Create a deployment plan based on an existing plan

If you are planning a new deployment that is similar to an existing deployment plan that you've used in the past, you can import that plan, make changes, and then save it as a new deployment plan.

Requirements

You must have access to the .json file for the existing deployment plan from the system on which you are logging in to workload factory.

Steps

  1. Log in to workload factory using one of the console experiences.

  2. From the VMware workloads tile, select Access and plan and then select Migration to AWS native compute.

  3. Select Import plan.

  4. Select the existing .json plan file that you want to import in the migration advisor, and then select Open.

    The Review plan page is displayed.

  5. You can select Previous to access previous pages and modify the settings for the plan as described in the preceding section.

  6. After you have customized the plan to your requirements, you can save the plan or download the plan report as a PDF file.