2 - Planning for an On-Premise SQL Server to Migrate to Azure

Summary

In this informative video, Mike Ellis dives into the strategic planning required for migrating an on-premise SQL Server to Azure. He outlines the importance of assessing current implementations, choosing between re-hosting, refactoring, re-architecting, rebuilding, or replacing, and understanding the impact of each on the migration process. Ellis also discusses cost-saving strategies, the significance of project management, and the use of Microsoft Project for organizing the migration tasks and dependencies. Additionally, he touches on licensing considerations and the benefits of Azure for SQL Server 2008 end-of-life scenarios.

Takeaways

• 📝 Planning for an SQL Server migration to Azure involves understanding different migration strategies and their impacts on the overall process.
• 🛠 The Cloud Adoption Framework suggests five approaches to moving a monolith into the cloud: re-host, re-factor, re-architect, rebuild, or replace.
• 🔄 Re-hosting is a 'lift and shift' strategy that moves on-premise infrastructure to Azure VMs, offering immediate benefits but potentially high costs.
• 🛑 Refactoring involves optimizing and rebuilding certain components before migration, which can provide better long-term value.
• 🏗️ Re-architecting can be risky as it involves breaking down and reassembling the application in Azure services, which may not always succeed.
• 💡 The importance of assessing the current implementation and planning for optimal use of Azure resources is emphasized for a successful migration.
• 💼 The role of a project manager is crucial for effective communication and coordination throughout the migration process.
• 💰 Licensing costs can be managed through strategies like BYOL (Bring Your Own License), Hybrid Use Benefit, Reserved Capacity, and considering dev/test pricing.
• 🔗 Understanding the dependencies and duration of tasks is essential for creating an accurate project plan, which can be facilitated by tools like Microsoft Project.
• 🔒 Security and compliance considerations may affect the choice of Azure cloud type, such as Azure Government Cloud for certain organizations.
• 📈 The potential for cost savings through strategic licensing and reservation of resources in Azure can significantly reduce the total cost of ownership.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the video script?

The main topic of the video script is planning for an on-premise SQL Server migration to Azure, including considerations, steps, and strategies involved in the process.

What are the different products and options mentioned for migrating to Azure?

The script discusses various options such as Azure VM, Azure SQL Database, and different migration paths like re-hosting, refactoring, re-architecting, rebuilding, or replacing the existing system.

What is the Cloud Adoption Framework for migrating to Azure?

The Cloud Adoption Framework is a set of guidelines that help in choosing how to move a monolith into the cloud, considering options like re-hosting, refactoring, re-architecting, rebuilding, or replacing.

Why is it recommended to move to an Azure VM first instead of directly to a PaaS offering?

Moving to an Azure VM first allows for the resolution of network, security, and data migration issues without the added complexity of upgrading the SQL Server version simultaneously, which can introduce more variables and potential points of failure.

What is the importance of having a well-documented system before migrating to Azure?

A well-documented system is essential for understanding the current architecture and dependencies, which aids in planning the migration and ensuring that all components are correctly moved to Azure.

How can licensing costs be managed or reduced during the migration to Azure?

Licensing costs can be managed through options like BYOL (Bring Your Own License), using Hybrid Use Benefit, Reserved Capacity, and taking advantage of dev and test pricing discounts.

What is the significance of having a project manager in a migration project like this?

A project manager is crucial for coordinating all aspects of the migration, ensuring clear communication, managing dependencies, and resolving blockers to keep the project on track.

How can Microsoft Project be utilized in planning a migration project?

Microsoft Project can be used to outline tasks, estimate durations, set dependencies, and create a timeline for the migration project, providing a visual representation of the project's progress and helping to manage timelines effectively.

What is the benefit of using Azure Government Cloud for certain organizations?

The Azure Government Cloud is SIGIS compliant, making it suitable for law enforcement and other U.S. organizations that require a high level of security and compliance for their data.

What does the script suggest regarding the upgrade of SQL Server versions during the migration process?

The script suggests that upgrading SQL Server versions should not be done concurrently with the migration to avoid introducing too many variables. Instead, upgrades should be completed first on-premise or after migrating to an Azure VM.

What is the role of the Azure Hybrid Benefit in the context of SQL Server licensing?

Azure Hybrid Benefit allows customers with existing SQL Server licenses to use them in Azure VMs without additional licensing costs, which can lead to significant cost savings.

What is the significance of the end-of-life status of SQL Server 2008, and how does Azure address this?

SQL Server 2008 is at end-of-life, meaning it no longer receives updates or support. However, Microsoft offers extended support for SQL Server 2008 if migrated to an Azure VM, providing a temporary solution while organizations plan their next steps.

Outlines

00:00

📝 Planning an SQL Server Migration to Azure

Mike Ellis discusses the planning phase for migrating an on-premise SQL Server to Azure. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the steps involved and their interdependencies before beginning the migration. Ellis outlines the topics to be covered in the series, including pre-migration tasks, different migration paths such as Azure VM and Azure SQL Database, post-migration steps, and modernizing applications. He also mentions the significance of the Cloud Adoption Framework in choosing between re-hosting, refactoring, re-architecting, rebuilding, or replacing the existing system. Ellis stresses the need for a project manager and provides a brief introduction to using Microsoft Project for successful migration planning.

05:01

🌐 Considerations for Azure Migration Strategy

The paragraph delves into the specifics of planning a migration to Azure, including managing resources, permissions, and infrastructure considerations. It highlights the importance of understanding the type of cloud that suits the organization's needs, such as public, government, or hybrid cloud options, and the implications of data sovereignty. Ellis discusses the benefits of moving an on-premise SQL Server to an Azure VM first, such as avoiding hardware purchases and gaining flexibility in scaling resources. He also warns against combining migration with an upgrade to a newer SQL Server version simultaneously, as it can introduce too many variables and complicate the process.

10:02

💼 Licensing and Cost Optimization for Azure Migration

This section focuses on the financial aspects of migrating to Azure, including the different billing models like pay-as-you-go and the potential costs associated with SQL Server licensing. Ellis introduces strategies to mitigate expenses, such as Bring Your Own License (BYOL), Hybrid Use Benefit, Reserved Capacity, and dev/test pricing. He advises on the importance of thorough planning and research to identify cost-saving opportunities and make informed decisions about licensing and service acquisition.

15:03

🛠️ Utilizing Microsoft Project for Migration Planning

Ellis demonstrates the use of Microsoft Project as a tool for mapping out the migration process, including task duration and dependencies. He provides a step-by-step guide on how to input tasks, estimate durations, and set dependencies to create a comprehensive project plan. The demonstration shows how to adjust start dates and see the impact on the project timeline, emphasizing the value of this tool in visualizing and managing the complexity of a migration project.

20:04

🗣️ The Role of a Project Manager in Azure Migration

The paragraph underscores the critical role of a project manager, exemplified by Tim Henning, in coordinating and communicating the progress of the migration project. It highlights Tim's ability to unblock the team when obstacles arise, thanks to his dual expertise as a developer and data professional. Ellis also mentions the importance of having a project manager who can liaise effectively with various stakeholders, including Excel modelers, finance teams, report authors, app developers, and vendors.

25:06

⏰ SQL Server 2008 End of Life and Azure Migration Incentive

In the final paragraph, Ellis addresses the situation for organizations using SQL Server 2008, which is at the end of its life cycle. He informs viewers that Microsoft will extend support for SQL Server 2008 if migrated to an Azure VM, providing a URL for further information. Ellis suggests considering this offer as part of the migration planning process, as it can provide additional support while preparing for a complete transition to a newer platform or service.

Keywords

💡On-premise SQL Server

An on-premise SQL Server refers to a database server installed and operated within a company's own infrastructure, rather than being hosted on a cloud provider's servers. The video discusses the process of migrating such a server to Azure, a cloud platform, to leverage cloud benefits like scalability and reduced maintenance.

💡Azure

Azure is a cloud computing service provided by Microsoft, offering a range of cloud services including virtual machines, databases, and networking. The video script focuses on migrating an on-premise SQL Server to Azure to take advantage of its cloud services and features.

💡Migration

In the context of the video, migration refers to the process of moving an existing SQL Server database from on-premise to the Azure cloud. This involves planning, assessing the current implementation, and executing the move in a way that optimizes the use of Azure's services.

💡Cloud Adoption Framework

The Cloud Adoption Framework is a set of guidelines and best practices provided by Microsoft to assist organizations in their transition to the cloud. The video mentions this framework as a method to decide how to move a monolith into the cloud, whether by re-hosting, refactoring, re-architecting, rebuilding, or replacing.

💡Lift and Shift

Lift and shift is a migration strategy where an entire application or service is moved from one environment to another, such as from on-premise to the cloud, with minimal changes. The video describes this as a re-hosting option where the SQL Server and its VMs are moved to Azure without significant modifications.

💡Refactoring

Refactoring, in the context of the video, refers to the process of restructuring existing computer code without changing its external behavior to improve nonfunctional attributes such as maintainability, readability, and performance. It is suggested as a step in the migration process to optimize the application before moving to Azure.

💡Re-architecting

Re-architecting involves breaking down a monolithic application into microservices or other modular components and then reassembling them in a new architecture, such as cloud-native services on Azure. The video warns that this can be risky and may not always succeed.

💡Hybrid Cloud

A hybrid cloud is a computing environment that combines on-premise, private cloud services with third-party, public cloud services. The video mentions considering a hybrid cloud approach where some resources remain on-premise while others are moved to Azure.

💡Azure VM

Azure VM stands for Azure Virtual Machine, which is a virtualized server in the cloud that can run a wide range of applications and services. The video suggests moving the SQL Server to an Azure VM as an initial step in the migration process to leverage the benefits of cloud infrastructure.

💡Azure SQL Database

Azure SQL Database is a fully managed database service with built-in intelligence and scalability. It is one of the potential migration targets for an on-premise SQL Server discussed in the video, offering a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) solution for database management.

💡Project Manager

A project manager in the context of the video is a professional responsible for coordinating and overseeing the migration project. The script highlights the importance of having a project manager to ensure smooth communication, planning, and execution of the migration process.

💡Microsoft Project

Microsoft Project is a project management software that helps in planning and organizing tasks, setting timelines, and managing resources. The video provides a brief demonstration of how to use Microsoft Project to plan a migration project, including setting task durations and dependencies.

💡BYOL (Bring Your Own License)

BYOL is a licensing model where customers can use their existing software licenses in the cloud. The video mentions BYOL as a way to save costs by applying existing SQL Server licenses to Azure VMs, avoiding the need to purchase new licenses for the cloud environment.

💡Azure Hybrid Benefit

Azure Hybrid Benefit allows customers with existing SQL Server licenses to save on costs when moving to Azure SQL Database or Azure SQL Managed Instance. The video explains that this benefit can lead to significant cost savings by mapping on-premise licenses to Azure services.

💡Reserved Capacity

Reserved Capacity in Azure is a purchasing option that allows customers to reserve resources for a term of one or three years in exchange for a significant cost saving. The video suggests considering Reserved Capacity for predictable workloads to reduce costs over time.

💡Dev and Test Pricing

Dev and Test Pricing is a discount offered by Azure for development and testing environments. The video mentions that this pricing can save customers up to 55% on SQL Server licenses in non-production environments, encouraging the use of Azure resources for development and testing purposes.

💡SQL Server 2008 End of Life

SQL Server 2008 End of Life refers to the date when Microsoft no longer supports the SQL Server 2008 version with updates or patches. The video notes that migrating to an Azure VM can extend support for SQL Server 2008, providing additional time for organizations to plan their migration or upgrade.

Highlights

Introduction to planning for an on-premise SQL Server migration to Azure, discussing different products and options.

Emphasizing the importance of planning steps and understanding their interdependencies before beginning migration work.

Discussing pre-migration steps necessary before readiness to migrate.

Exploring migration paths to IaaS solutions like Azure VM and PaaS solutions like Azure SQL Database.

Highlighting post-migration steps and the process of modernizing applications.

Introducing the Cloud Adoption Framework for deciding between re-host, refactor, re-architect, rebuild, or replace.

Assessing current implementations for optimal use of Azure during the migration.

The benefits of re-hosting with lift and shift migration strategy to an IaaS solution.

Recommendations for refactoring to optimize before beginning the migration.

Risks associated with re-architecting and the need for careful consideration.

The option to rebuild the entire system from the ground up for a PaaS solution.

Importance of documenting and designing an Azure management strategy.

Considering the type of cloud that suits organizational needs, such as Azure Government Cloud for compliance.

The significance of thorough documentation of on-premise architecture for a successful migration.

Advantages of moving on-premise SQL Server to an Azure VM first before considering PaaS offerings.

Avoiding the simultaneous migration and upgrade to prevent introducing too many variables that could lead to failure.

Strategies for saving on licensing costs, such as BYOL and Azure Hybrid Benefit.

Using Microsoft Project for effective migration project planning, including task duration and dependencies.

The role of a project manager in facilitating communication and unblocking team progress during the migration.

Microsoft's offer to extend support for SQL Server 2008 if migrated to an Azure VM.

Transcripts

hi i'm mike ellis and now we're going to

talk about planning for an on-premise

sql server to migrate to azure

in the last video we talked about an

introduction to how you would migrate

and the different products that you

could choose and different options and

things to think about

now we're going to talk about

specifically about planning

meaning how do we get all the steps down

that we're going to be doing

and know how they're going to affect one

another and some things that we should

do

before we even begin even work doing one

thing of work

right in the next video we'll look at

pre-migration steps

what work we have to do before we're

ready to migrate

and then we'll look at migrating to an

is solution like

azure vm migrating to paths like azure

sql database

some post migration steps and then we'll

look at

modernizing an application and a call to

action but for now

we're talking solely about how to plan a

migration project

so we're going to look at our different

migration options we'll look at things

that we should consider and think about

before we begin any work we'll talk

about the path to the ultimate goal

which likely is migrating to is first to

the vm first and past

second we'll look at how we can save

some money in licensing

and how we can make this process a

little more affordable we'll talk about

the importance of a project manager

and finally we'll get a quick demo about

how we use microsoft project to do a

migration

successfully so first off we should

think about the cloud adoption framework

a lot of my slides by the way i'm

putting in urls because i think the

material there is important and i know

you've got you've got access to the

slides and i want you to have access to

all these urls so that you can

learn and and read at your own time um

but basically the cloud adoption

framework says that what we need to do

is choose how we're going to

move a monolith into the cloud are we

going to re-host

refactor re-architect rebuild or replace

um and these have their different

benefits i'll explain them in a slide in

just a second

but effectively what we need to do when

we think about our azure database

migration journey is

we need to spend an a lot of time

assessing

we need to be thinking about our current

implementation think about all the

moving pieces in our current

implementation

and then think about how we can get the

optimal use of azure as we migrate each

one of those things

into the cloud so um

the choices that we make when we migrate

we can

re-host rehost means a lift and shift

meaning

we have a whole bunch of stuff on

premise and we move it

all into azure that's obviously an ias

solution right so we're gonna

take all of our vms here and put all

those vms into azure

right and that is a perfectly acceptable

migration strategy

although it's very expensive and you

probably won't get the lift

that you were expecting to get although

um

you are in a good position to continue

the work and get more value out of azure

in the future

um refactor means that you might have to

rebuild some things first which is what

i think you should do

i think you should always be looking at

what you can

optimize before you begin the migration

and i'll give you recommendations on how

to do that

in the next video um re-architect means

that

you are going to actually

strip the monolith apart and start

putting it

into the appropriate places like cosmos

db or azure sql database

and you're going to rip the application

apart at the same time

um that re-architect can

be a little dangerous some of those

projects don't succeed

and obviously if you're going to

re-architect you're not going to go to

is you're going to go to a pass solution

rebuild means that you are literally

going to rebuild the whole thing from

the ground up

and that is an expensive solution

and it takes many years so that implies

that you have a lot of time

that you can keep everything you have in

place

and don't touch it and then rebuild

everything almost like you're rewriting

the whole thing and then

move that over into uh

some type of pass solution so azure sql

database managed instance is actually a

good solution

for a product no matter what you choose

to do if you choose to re-host

you probably want to go to a vm but for

the other three things refactor

re-architecture rebuild

you might choose vantage instance for

that

so this slide is not meant for me to

teach off of

this is meant to be a reference slide

for you but

you need to document and design your

azure management strategy

you need to think about these topics

that are on the screen

and you need to write down what your

intentions are

related to how you're going to manage

these resources

and how you're going to do things like

name them how you're going to do

permissions

how you're going to think about disks

and things like that now

the reason why we're not going to talk

about it in this slide is because this

is what the class is about so

we're going to talk about these things

individually going forward maybe not in

the detail that you'll see

in some of the documentation so the

documentation is tagged here for your

benefit

another thing to think about is your

cloud type

now i recognize that we've got dozens of

students in this class and then

maybe many more that watch the videos

online later

i don't know a lot about your businesses

and your organizations

for instance you might work for the fbi

in the united states or you might work

for mi6

in the uk if that's the case

you might not be able to use the azure

public cloud

but you can still use azure

there is an azure government cloud and

for instance i've done

work for the fbi and we hosted

a lot of that data that for the

application that we worked on in the

azure government cloud

the azure government cloud is sigis

compliant which is the united states

criminal justice information systems

compliant

which means that law enforcement is

allowed to put data

into the azure government cloud they're

allowed like police

and the fbi and the dea and other u.s

organizations now

i'm not familiar with the european

government cloud

because i've never worked in it but you

might

look and see what your options are on

where you can host things

i also know that some of you work in

countries

that won't allow you to put data

into azure in the united states you have

to choose

a region in europe or in asia or where

you're operating

so you might want to pay attention to

that too which data center are you

allowed to put

data in and what will you be

implementing you also might choose a

hybrid cloud meaning some of your

resources might stay

on premise while other of your resources

move over to azure

and it's important to note what's going

to stain what's going to go

right so if you're going to make

notation

like that you're going to want a

thorough documentation of your

on-premise architecture

i am always surprised by how many

customers i walk into

do not have their current products and

services

well documented some don't even have any

documentation

which look i understand that creating

documentation is boring

but it is essential to have a

well-documented system

before we move anything up to azure so

we have to bite the bullet and do this

documentation

if we don't have good documentation we

need to add this to our project plan

now once we have good documentation

we should strongly consider

moving our on-premise sql server to an

azure vm

first now i know a lot of you are

thinking well why would we move to an

azure vm first like

um we want the we want a pass offering

because it's hot and sexy and we

we can get all this management and

everything awesome for us right it's

gonna be great

um so why would you go to a vm first

well let's not just dismiss

a vm i mean we get an awful lot from a

vm

right one we don't have to buy any new

hardware

that's a great benefit in fact if we

open up a vm

in fact let me let me since i'm gonna

just do a

quick thing on the fly real quick i'm

gonna show you um azure real quick

here i have a vm open for you and if i

go to the overview you can see like the

you know the resource group it's in and

the name and ip address that it's in

right

and if i click on the size of the vm

here

i can choose to have a bigger vm

without actually telling anybody so if i

am in charge of this azure sql database

or pardon me

this vm with sql server on it i keep

mistaking that

um right now i'm using two cpus and

eight gigs of ram but i can easily just

move it to eight cpus and 32 gigs of ram

or

it can go much much higher than this

right i just click that i click resize

a few minutes later boom i'm on a new vm

i've got all this new power to use

so getting to a vm and getting out of

the hardware business is a super

great thing to do and we shouldn't take

it lightly um it

gives us a lot of power in versatility

and

manipulating our vms and our sql servers

we don't manage any of the supporting

infrastructure we don't have to worry

about

a network card going bad or anything

like that we we're out of that business

we don't have to worry about some

configuration setting being messed up in

a vm someplace

we don't have to worry about sands or

the sand running out of space

or acquiring more disk space for the

sand you know one of my customers just

recently had to expand their sand it was

four million dollars

we don't have to ever have that

conversation again that's fantastic

um we can tell microsoft to

automatically upgrade and patch

our vm if we want um we can also have

them do automatic backups of the vm

um we can do all sorts of great things

now once you get

into an azure vm

you will have to change some things so

there are some things

there is work to do here right you need

to configure a new network

so azure needs to know what private

subnet it's going to be using

right what network arranged range space

it's going to be using

you need to install agents you've got

different vcpu types

you need to be concerned with security

on authentication

and when you get to the vm and you're

fully migrated

you've resolved all of that you've

resolved a great

big chunk of work successfully

and let's not take that lightly so if we

go to is first

even though it's not as glamorous we

have figured out

network bandwidth we know how much

bandwidth we need in order to be

successful

that is a big deal and it is time

consuming

and you will feel accomplished once it's

done and then once

everything is up in the high-powered

networks of azure

then we can think about splitting things

off but man we've resolved an awful lot

of work here

right now i have a quick note to make

some of my customers have come to me and

said hey ike we're going to move to

azure

and while we do it we're also going to

upgrade to sql server 2019

this is a bad idea we should not do that

what we should do

is either upgrade to 2019 first

on premise and then migrate

or what we should do is if we're using

sql server 2012

build sql server 2012 in azure on a vm

and then migrate and then upgrade to

2018 there

but what we should avoid doing is

migrating and upgrading all the same

time now

i'm not telling you not to do it you can

do it i'm sure you're going to do it

anyway if you want to

but when you introduce too many

variables and something fails

you you just lose it all right so if you

get the upgrade done

first and now you're stable look you got

the upgrade done

and there's so many benefits which i'll

get into in the next video on why you

want to get an upgrade done first

because

some of those features will really aid

us in our migration efforts

and then once the upgrade is done then

migrate

and you look you've removed some

variables you've got a good rollback

path

you're in a good spot okay

um like i said once we've what do we

learn when we migrate to is first

we've learned networking security data

migration we've learned

now look there's one thing i didn't

mention before in the previous slide

when you migrate you're gonna have to

change a whole bunch of things remember

that big grid of things

right that we where we looked at excel

and ssis and ssrs and all these

different apps right

when you migrate you're going to have to

change the connection strings to a whole

lot of things

now when you do that you're going to

learn

you're going to create a list right

here's the full list of

everything that changed when we did the

migration

that list is can be so valuable when you

go to modernize your application and

start splitting things out

and putting them in the past services

that you want to eventually get to

so when we migrate we're going to

catalog and document everything we had

to touch during that

process that will aid us in our future

planning

before you migrate you should consider

licensing

now sql server licensing can be

expensive

and in azure it's no different so you're

going to want to keep licensing down

the typical way that azure bills you is

pay as you go

that means if you build something and

it's running

azure bills you for it it bills you

usually in increments of about an hour

some things can be paused like an azure

virtual machine

you can build it you pay for it if you

don't want to pay anymore

you just click pause it's still there

available to use

it's just not running it will bill you

storage

which most of the time is not that

expensive

so if you want to run it again you click

run it runs and it bills you for it

again

now the money can add up quick so you'll

want to look for ways to save

one way you can save is byol bring your

own license

let's say that you already own a license

of azure sql data

let's say you own a license of sql

server 2019

well you could bring up a vm and

click click a box that says hey i

already have a license of sql server

2018 don't bill me again for it

right now you can apply that license

into your azure vm and it will work

another way that you can keep costs down

is by using your hybrid use benefit

this is meant for companies like you

that are considering migrating to the

cloud

let's say that you have that big

monolith sql server and it's all

licensed up with sql server

enterprise you can start spinning up as

your sql databases

in azure and it doesn't have to be one

to one so let's say you have

let's say you have a 32 core on-premise

monolith

you could spin up one or two or four

core

as your sql databases several of them

and each core

maps to a core up in azure

you don't have to double buy it even if

you're using both of them

in production what this says is that

you're committed

to get rid of the on-premise server and

replace it with the azure server

once you've migrated over you still

don't pay in azure

now that license is now applied to azure

it can be a significant cost savings by

doing this

and i mean significant so significant

that i've seen customers actually

acquire

on-premise licenses because of the

savings they get

in azure now keep in mind that

in azure sql database there are

different products like you can do

general purpose or business critical

and so the cores um map differently

depending on what level

you that you're using and as you're

secretly be but um other than that it

works great

so again you might if you know that

you're going to be

bringing up a whole bunch of azure sql

databases or an azure sql database

manage instance

and you're looking at keeping costs down

you might consider

acquiring licenses brand new and see

what that does to your bottom line

do your research here i think you'll be

surprised how much money you can save

another way that you can save money is

through something called reserved

capacity

so if you know that you're not very

elastic in your workload let's say that

you know that you're going to need

you know 32 cores and a whole bunch of

memory and

you know you're going to use it for like

three years right

you can pay a three-year contract and

save significant amount of money

so if you look at this diagram right

here microsoft is telling you that

with azure hybrid benefit you can save

55

potentially with reserved instances

and azure hybrid benefit you could serve

80 it's a substantial cost reduction

so microsoft says that they don't lock

you into the reserve reservation so when

you make the three-year reservation

you can exchange or cancel reservations

as your needs evolved and just pay the

difference

so with no fees and no penalties or

anything like that

so this means that you get to kind of

move these licenses

and these reservations around as you

need it and you just

pay for what you commit that you're

going to do i think that's a pretty

significant

cost savings and you should definitely

look into it but before you do it

remember to do your planning right you

need to plan how many cores you're going

to use

you need to plan how long you're going

to use it for you know do your due

diligence do your work

and then plan for licensing and see see

what it's all going to cost you

we also have dev and test pricing which

can be a 55

savings so you know you're going to have

different environments you're going to

have your

dev and test and stage and eventually

production

as long as there are no production users

on it you don't have to pay for the

licenses of sql server which can save

you 55

on both your vms and other services all

you have to do is say yes this is a dev

and test environment

um it's also important to remember that

your visual studio subscription might

come with 150

a month of free azure that means that if

you have a team of like 100 people

and they all have visual studio

subscriptions each individual developer

gets their own 150

a month that's an awful lot of money in

azure believe it or not you can play

with an

awful lot of azure sql databases app

services

iot hubs all kinds of different things

service bus

all kinds of different things that you

can use and not have to pay for

it's pretty neat okay

so i want to show you something that you

can use for planning

uh and you guys probably know this

already but let me just bring this up

for you this

is microsoft project and

microsoft project i know a lot of people

are like a little bit scared of it

because it seems like something that

project managers use like some big

highly trained

project manager uh person goes in there

and she just knows everything and

makes it work magic but we don't have to

be an

expert in order to use this to our

benefit

so i can't really make a project for you

what i can do is remind you of the

elements

of your project and what they

potentially might be

and i can give you guidance on how long

things might take

right now what you do

actually you know what it might benefit

for you to just see this from the

brand new from the beginning so i'm

going to open up a break blank project

altogether

let's bring up a new a new one blank

project okay

all right notice this is a brand new

project of microsoft project

what i did in notepad is i listed

some steps that might have to happen for

a successful migration

now this is by no means complete because

that's not the purpose of this demo

it's just to show you some of these

steps if i copy them

right down here in the tasks i get

separate tasks

down here in project now i can start

specifying what i think the duration

will be

like i can say this is four weeks right

i can say

security's three days right i could say

configuring this is like four days

i can say migrate this is like three

days right you get the idea now there's

a whole bunch of tasks that might be

only one day

so what i can do is just say okay that's

a day

that's a day that's a day that's a day

that's no now we're going back into like

three days

right three days and so on okay

this is one day this is like five days

and then um let's move some azure sql

databases to azure let's do that that's

uh going to be

um 10 days and then this is gonna

take like four weeks again okay you guys

get the idea now

don't worry about the start and finish

but what you can do is start specifying

some of the dependencies here so for

instance

express route which i'll talk about in

the next video how important it is

we're going to need that before we can

do this

we're going to need that before we can

migrate we're going to need that ah we

don't need it there but we are going to

need it there

we don't need it there now for this

we need to configure our vm so we're

going to say this is

um three right and then here

uh we're gonna say that's eight and

eight

and eight and eight and eight and then

from here eight

and then filtered indexing eight okay

you get the idea what i'm doing is i'm

creating dependencies here

um that show me what changes in my

project plan

for instance this one is going to be 8

for sure and this one's going to be

17 all right now what that did

was it gave me a very clear idea about

how long this project is going to take

by specifying the task list

specifying the duration specifying what

my dependencies are

right i can't configure the vm until

express run is configured

i can tell you that if i start this

project on september 27th

i'm not going to finish it until it

looks like

the end of december maybe middle of

december december 13th right

so you saw me do this pretty quickly

you should use project to build your

project plan

even if you don't have a project manager

you should still

use project get your tasks in here now

look

another thing that can happen is oh i'm

not going to be able to start till

middle of october so i'm going to say 10

15.

it updates all of my dates for me

automatically so that i can see okay

that's going to start 10 15 that will

start 10 15. that will start 10 15

right now i can see what that does to my

end date and you can see oh it pushed my

end date to

oh well unfortunately it didn't change

the dates the way i thought they should

i don't know

maybe these i need to update but anyway

you get the idea

so that's project that gives you a brief

introduction of project and uh it's

worth learning and it's worth using in a

project as complicated

with as many dependencies as this

project's going to have for you

all right my last suggestion

is to get your own tim so this guy's

picture this is a guy

that uh works for sallian's his name is

tim henning

and he is an amazing project manager he

does a great job of communicating

and in this project you're going to need

to either hire a tim

or harness tim because here's what tim

does very well

tim communicates to everybody

about where the project's going what's

blocking it

what needs to go next and what is

dependent on it

and when i mean everybody i mean

everybody everyone knows the status of

the project thanks to tim

and when you're talking about

coordinating with excel models and

finance and

the report authors with power bi and

with all the app developers and with all

the

vendors who are running etl and all the

things that are going to need to change

when you move to azure potentially

you're going to need somebody doing a

lot of communication for you

and tim does that for our projects and

he does a damn good job of it

so you might need a tem

another thing i like about tim that

makes him unique is tim

is a great developer and a great data

professional so he can get in there and

do work for you

so what on our projects when we have a

lot of moving pieces and there's a

blocker

tim doesn't just complain about the

blocker tim rolls up his sleeves and

dives in there and unblocks the team

and that is super beneficial and it

makes me very very grateful that he's

around

there's one final thing to note in your

preparation that is some of you

might be on sql server 2008 and you know

it's at end of life

but microsoft has said that if you

migrate your sql server 2008 into an

azure vm they will extend your support

and here's the url for that so migrating

to azure is an

excellent way to get a little bit more

support while you prepare to migrate off

of it or

upgrade it or move it over to a pass

offering

right so you should know that that's

there and you should take that into

account in your planning

all right that's it for this video

thanks a lot and we'll take a look at

the next video in just a minute