Speaking recently with a Director of IT Operations in the medical device industry, they conveyed this problem:
“The software systems we are using on AIX are ancient. In some cases, software packages run only on older, outdated versions of AIX 6.1. These older AIX OS versions won’t run on the current Power 10 hardware. We need a path forward that will allow us to do app modernization, but we must do it in a safe, incremental fashion. Our existing Power resources are maxed out, and there is no appetite to buy additional hardware. All of our new IT projects are happening in Azure.”
They heard about Skytap on Azure as a solution to modernize their AIX workloads, and after some discussion, we created this three-point outline for them to consider. The points below are typical recommendations we would provide to customers when advising them on creating a path to the cloud for their traditional legacy workloads such as AIX, IBM i or x86.
1) Create a data center exit strategy based on a “lift and shift” approach. If other corporate apps are moving to Azure, your Power workloads need to be there.
2) Stabilize your IT operations once the lift and shift migration is complete.
3) Once stabilized, inventory your applications and services and begin an incremental conversion to cloud-native services.
#1 Data Center Exit Strategy
If you are short on legacy resources and have a limited budget, moving to the cloud is your primary option to get out of the data center. The first step is to perform a straight lift and shift migration to Skytap on Azure. This is a low-risk strategy versus recreating, rewriting, and re-engineering everything from scratch. No changes to the application code. No changes to host names. In some cases, it is even possible to do this: No changes in IP addresses.
Skytap on Azure service is based on real IBM Power hardware, not emulators. It is a real IBM “LPAR” in every sense. There will be some changes, such as underlying storage, but that won’t impact the application level. Skytap on Azure is installed “inside” Microsoft Azure data centers, not in a nearby colocation. You can create extremely low-latency network connectivity between our IBM Power hardware and native services running in Azure.
However, a lift and shift migration does have one drawback. It also carries forward any technical debt. It will still be your old apps and possibly operating system versions. You still have the same original problem, but one essential thing has changed in your favor.
You now have “flexibility” that you didn’t have before. If your existing apps were running slow because they were starved for resources on-prem, then the cloud becomes the “easy” button. With your workloads in the cloud, it is easy to add memory, CPU, and storage incrementally. Just add exactly what you need, nothing more. In the cloud, you never “over-provision”; you only add the resources you need now and only pay for exactly what you need. That will be a lot cheaper than buying new hardware frames. That “cloud flexibility” becomes the enabler for any modernization effort. More on that later.
#2 Learn how to do every day IT tasks in AIX in the cloud
You now have AIX on cloud. You completed a low-risk lift and shift migration. Before you move toward any additional transformation or modernization effort, you first must become experts at what it means to run AIX in the cloud. All the applications will work the same, but some daily IT administration tasks will change. For example, adding storage, provisioning a network interface, or performing a flash copy of a disk set. The steps to perform typical tasks will be slightly different when running Power in the cloud. You must embrace these new methods to create a stable production environment.
#3 Once stabilized, look to the future
“We are running IBM Power AIX in the cloud! Great, now what?” Your AIX is in the cloud and stable. All the business users are getting what they had before, but now in the cloud you have additional flexibility you didn’t have on-prem with your AIX. How do you use that flexibility?
(a) Buy some time.
With AIX in the cloud, it is easy to “clone” complete working environments. You can make a copy of production, all the LPARs, networks, storage, installed applications, everything. It only takes a few button clicks in Skytap on Azure to do this. Now, you can try some experiments on upgrading outdated components. You can create a “modernization sandbox” to see what is possible. You can also isolate that modernization sandbox so that when it is running, it doesn’t impact the original production systems.
It could be that you can now update enough of your Power-based operating systems and services to be on the latest supported versions. If that is the case, then your modernization journey might be done at that point. The old IT saying: “If it works and is supported, then don’t change it.” You are in the cloud, running AIX on Power, and everything works and is supported.
Stay that way forever, almost. Eventually, whatever IBM Power hardware version you are running on in the cloud will also go out of support, including the OS. However, Skytap will always have the next generation of cloud-based IBM Power available. Once in the cloud, staying current and floating to the next version is easier.
If you can’t do that, then continue below.
(b) “Something old, something new.”
Start by taking inventory all the applications and services running on the existing IBM Power AIX system. Look for the “equivalent” service in Azure, which is where Skytap is running your workloads. You’ll find services such as:
- Azure Files for storing images and documents in the cloud
- Oracle on Azure, instead of Oracle running on Power
- Azure Analytics, instead of Power based reporting
- These are just a few…
Choose the equivalent native Azure service that gives you what you need, migrate to that service, and slowly reduce the dependence on what is running on Power. Do that in an incremental, low-risk fashion at a pace you can support. Remember that Skytap gives you very low latency between Power LPARs and other Azure native services.
The point is to take that service inventory running on IBM Power AIX today and “chip away” at it over the long term. It may take a while, even a few years, but now you have a path to modernization in the cloud that you didn’t have before.
Move AIX to the cloud today with Skytap
Start your AIX cloud modernization journey today. Skytap on Azure is a favored choice for migrating legacy workloads, such as AIX, to the cloud without extensive modifications, rewriting, or refactoring. This extends the lifespan of investments while leveraging Azure’s scalability and flexibility. Contact one of our cloud migration experts here.
Meet the author:
Tony Perez – Cloud Solutions Architect at Skytap
