** The following post provides information for enterprises migrating to Azure Premium SSD v2 disks.
Data Mobility as a service for Azure Storage
Block storage is critical for enterprises with data intensive workloads such as SQL Server, Oracle Database, SAP HANA, Cassandra, and Mongo DB. These databases and applications are mission-critical, and any downtime can be disruptive to the business. Our new Azure Premium SSD v2 disks are designed for these high-performance IO-intense enterprise workloads.
In October of 2022, we announced the general availability of Microsoft Azure Premium SSD v2 – the most advanced general purpose block storage solution. Organizations regularly struggle to migrate their block workloads given their complexity, size, and mission-critical nature.
Today, we are excited to share a new Azure block-level Data Mobility as-a-service (DMaaS) through Azure Storage Partner, Cirrus Data Solutions. The Cirrus Migrate Cloud (CMC) solution, available in the Azure Marketplace, enables customers to migrate onto Azure Premium SSD v2 disks without any business disruption and with the ability to right-size the target volumes and eliminate over-provisioning of capacity due to performance requirements. Cirrus Migrate Cloud is a fully managed, data mobility service that is 4 – 6 times faster than traditional migration tools.
The key capabilities of the Cirrus Migrate Cloud include:
Near-Zero Downtime
Cirrus Migrate Cloud (CMC) is the industry’s first and only migration tool that allows the host application to continue running throughout deployment, migration, and I/O cutover from old storage to new storage. An innovative and patented technology called “cMotion” allows live workload transition from the source disks to the destination disks without any host changes or disruption. Once cMotion has been executed, enterprise database applications that are running on clusters can finalize the cutover without a “final sync” to avoid unpredictable total cutover time and without application level downtime.
Azure Fast Migration
Cirrus Migrate Cloud (CMC) was designed from the ground up to deliver data mobility in the most efficient manner for block-level workloads in the cloud as well as on-premises. CMC uses an innovative solution that makes it possible to have thousands of host-based migration sessions running without creating bottlenecks at any physical or virtual appliances.
For remote migration, the service also performs encryption and data reduction to deliver up to 8x bandwidth savings.
Any Block Storage
Enterprises aren’t stuck with lengthy delays and complicated migrations when they switch from another storage platform to Azure. Cirrus Migrate Cloud (CMC) seamlessly integrates with all leading block storage on-premises and cloud platforms. Integrated with Microsoft Azure and available in the Microsoft Marketplace, organizations can upgrade to Azure Premium SSD v2 from Premium SSD v1 with no business disruption, no delays, and no security compromises.
Azure Storage Recommendation Wizard
Cirrus Migrate Cloud (CMC) provides businesses with an analysis of their storage and recommendations on the best Azure storage for their environment. The CMC Azure Storage Wizard monitors source disks over a period, and then provides intelligent cost analysis as well as disk right-sizing and disk performance recommendations. The ability to migrate from larger source volumes to smaller Premium SSD v2 volumes avoids the old practice of over-allocating capacity solely for the purpose of meeting minimum disk performance requirements, sharply improving the ROI calculation.
Note: In the previous screenshot, the 1TiB and 64GiB source volumes are migrated to the automatically allocated 16GiB and 4GiB destination volumes respectively. The downsizing was a result of the Recommendation Wizard based on actual performance requirements
How to migrate to Azure Premium SSD v2 with CMC?
Cirrus Migrate Cloud (CMC) in the Azure Marketplace makes it easy for enterprises to migrate their workloads to Premium SSD v2. Azure and CMC are integrated to provide a seamless experience and one-click billing.
- Register for a free trial through the Azure Marketplace Cirrus Migrate Cloud service.
- Authenticate your email and account details with Cirrus Data. They will send you an email with details to the business email address provided.
- Sign into Cirrus Data Cloud
- Deploy CMC for performance analysis
- Start your migration with right sizing!
Want to learn more? This video provides an overview of the process and service provided, including the Azure Storage Recommendation Wizard.
