The performance and scalability of IBM’s POWER9 servers is exciting, but the prospect of migrating to new systems isn’t. View this webinar on-demand as we explore the essential steps you need to take when planning and executing a POWER9 migration project to eliminate risk and downtime. We also share how real-time replication can be leveraged to support a painless cutover to your new machine.
During this webinar, we discuss:
• Assessing migration scope and planning your project
• Selecting a migration method
• Creating and executing a migration plan
• How Syncsort can help
Four Essential Steps for Removing Risk and Downtime from POWER9 Migration
1. Four Essential Steps for Removing Risk
and Downtime from POWER9 Migration
Barry Kirksey
Senior Solutions Architect, Syncsort
2. Housekeeping
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3. Today’s Agenda
• Assessing migration scope
• Planning your project
• Selecting a migration method
• Creating and executing a migration plan
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5. Problems after Cutover
Lack of infrastructure and
application testing before cutover
leads to late discovery of issues
Tape Reliability
Tape is too slow and unreliable
for migration. Read errors can
abort the migration.
Downtime
Operations cannot tolerate the
downtime required by traditional
migration methods
Fallback Planning
Lack of viable and robust fallback
planning lead to extended
downtime and unresolved issues
Typical migration
challenges can
incur penalties for
missed deadlines
and SLAs
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6. The majority of IBM Power users (66%) had not experienced a migration
failure, but 31% had a migration fail. IBM i is a workhorse for high transaction
processing applications in banking, finance, manufacturing, and retail.
The consequence of failure in these industries is serious.
Organizations must plan migration carefully to avoid performance
problems and higher costs.
IBM Power Insight
Source: Syncsort State of Resilience 2018
7. • The majority (68%) of IT organizations migrate to upgrade outdated
technology.
• Business disruption is a major issue: 57% cited downtime as the
primary reason their company delayed migration. [42% reported
lack of resources; 24% lack of expertise]
• The majority of companies use staff and third party consultants after
hours.
The State of Migration
Source: Syncsort State of Resilience 2018
IT must balance the risk of migration downtime against the
business impact of continuing to use outdated or unsupported
hardware or software.
Business continuity during migration calls for better tools,
technologies, and practices to minimize risk.
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9. Storage, Memory, and
Processor
How will resources be allocated
on the new machine?
Backup Media
Will your backup media work on
the new machine or do you need
to make arrangements to transfer
the data to different media?
External Hardware
Have you verified compatibility of
l hardware that will be connected
to the new machine (external
drives, communication devices,
networking devices, etc.)?Hardware
Considerations
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10. System Interfaces and
Dependencies
Do you understand how other
systems will be affected by the
new machine and have a plan to
activate them upon “go-live?”
External Connectivity
Have you assessed how VPNs,
FTP, and other types of
connectivity will be affected?
Bandwidth
Will the new system require
additional bandwidth? This is
particularly important if the new
machine is in a different location
from the old machine.
Connectivity
and Interface
Considerations
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11. High Availability (HA)
Do you have the necessary
licenses and settings to start
replication from the new machine
to your backup machine once you
cut over?
3rd Party Software
Is your 3rd party software
compatible with POWER9? Do
you need new license keys for
those third-party applications to
run on the new machine?
OS / Patch Version
Are your OS patches current on
both the old and the new
machine?
Security Settings
Have you ensured that the new
machine will have all necessary
security functions in place to
eliminate vulnerabilities at
“go-live?”
Software
Considerations
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12. Critical Objects
Do you know how to identify the
critical data and system objects
that need to be migrated?
Data Preparation
Will you want to find and delete
obsolete files and/or do a file
reorganization prior to migrating?
Data
Considerations
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13. Infrastructure Lock
Will you be able tightly control
any configuration changes
through a change-management
process to help minimize post-
migration surprises?
Other Considerations
Are there application versions to
consider? Are any new applications
being added to the new machine?
Is anything being retired
before moving to the
new machine?
Other Process
Considerations
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15. Step 02: Select your Migration Method
TAPE METHOD
• Requires doing a full-system
save to tape of your current
machine and restoring it on
the new machine.
• Extensive downtime is required, which begins
at the start of the system-save process and
extends through the restore process on the
new machine, only ending once everything has
been configured and tested and users have
been allowed on the new system.
REPLICATION METHOD
• Synchronizes your environment
with the new machine without
interfering with normal business
activity.
• All transactions and other activity is continuously
replicated in real time to your new machine until
you have completed all testing and are ready to
make the final switch, which typically requires only
minutes of downtime.
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16. Compare Migration Methods
Tape Migration Method
Downtime Measured in Hours
Install OS and
Patches on
New Server
Install
Applications
on New Server
Shut Down
Applications
Copy Data
Merge Data
to Applications
Test/Verify
Reroute
Users and
Applications
Online
Hours of Downtime
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17. Compare Migration Methods
Tape Migration Method
Downtime Measured in Hours
Migration with Replication
Downtime Measured in Minutes
Install Software
on Old Server
Install OS and
Software on
New Server
Start Replication
Initial
Synch
Continuous
Replication
Test/Verify Online
Install OS and
Patches on
New Server
Install
Applications
on New Server
Shut Down
Applications
Copy Data
Merge Data
to Applications
Test/Verify
Reroute
Users and
Applications
Online
Hours of Downtime
Minutes of
Downtime
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18. Full Scope Migration Planning Is Key
Project
START
Discovery and
Analysis
Proof of
Concept and
Documentation
Logical Server
Grouping
(Consistency
Groups)
Project
Plan
Migration
Software
Installation
Migration
Testing
Final Migration
Cutover Review
Software
Configuration
Migration Job
Cutover
User
Acceptance
Testing
Post-Migration
Tasks
Project
COMPLETION
Downtime
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20. Have you created a detailed migration plan
that can be easily followed by your team?
Creating a Migration Plan
Your plan should be in written
form and contain as much
detail as possible so there is
little room for guesswork. Write
your plan in a way that it can be
followed even if you or another
key member of the migration
team is absent.
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21. Have you coordinated the migration
schedule with other areas of IT as well as
line-of-business and other managers?
Creating a Migration Plan
You want to avoid having the
migration take place during any
times in which there are
conflicting priorities.
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22. Do you have an internal communications
plan?
Creating a Migration Plan
Tape-method migrations that
cause extended downtime
require advance notice and
clear channels of
communication with all affected
parties, especially if
contingency plans are required
to handle prolonged downtime
or unforeseen complications.
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23. Does each person involved with the
migration understand and own their part
in the migration project?
Creating a Migration Plan
This includes having a clear
understanding of the goals,
requirements, and potential
points of impact of the
migration.
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24. Is extra time built into your migration
schedule to deal with the unexpected?
Creating a Migration Plan
When scheduling too tightly,
small delays can easily escalate
into big problems, especially
when doing tape-method
migrations.
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25. Do you have adequate rest periods for the
migration team built into your schedule?
Creating a Migration Plan
If the migration requires team
members to put in long days,
rest periods reduce the chance
of staff getting overly tired and
making mistakes. With
replication-method migrations,
testing can be conducted
during normal working hours
and the minutes for cutover can
be scheduled at your
convenience.
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26. Have advance arrangements been made
with key hardware and software vendors
for off-hours support?
Creating a Migration Plan
In case issues arise while these
products run on the new
machine having access to
support could be critical.
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27. Have arrangements been made for any
scheduled jobs that would normally run
during the migration?
Creating a Migration Plan
For instance, you want to avoid
having an essential, long-
running maintenance job
holding things up at a critical
point of the migration cutover
process.
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28. Do you have a plan to ensure any
unprinted, business-critical spool files
(e.g., checks, invoices, pick lists, reports,
etc.) are printed before the cutover to the
new machine?
Creating a Migration Plan
Avoid having an essential, long-
running maintenance job holding
things up at a critical point in the
migration cutover. If something
delays the new machine getting
online, you can’t roll back to the
old machine. This consideration
applies only to tape-method
migrations.
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29. Have you run your new POWER9 machine
for several days prior to the migration?
Creating a Migration Plan
You’ll want to discover
defective components well
before you start relying on the
new machine for production
workloads. With replication-
method migrations, your new
machine can be allowed to run
throughout the test period while
it is kept synchronized with the
old machine.
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30. Do you have a roll-back plan in case an
issue arises during the migration that
requires temporarily aborting the
migration process and restarting workloads
on the old machine?
Creating a Migration Plan
Roll-back plans are mostly
needed when doing tape-
method migrations. With
replication-method migrations,
you can do as many tests of the
cutover process as you need
before the final cutover, and if
an issue should arise after final
cutover, just switch back to the
old machine.
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31. Have you validated the plan by distributing
it to your team for input?
Creating a Migration Plan
The things that team members
point out that weren’t
considered in the initial draft of
the plan may surprise you. Even
better is to have your team be
involved in the migration-plan
creation process. Also consider
bringing in a trusted IT
business partner with
experience in migrations to
review your plan.
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33. • Connectivity and communications testing — Verify all
connected devices and networks are functioning properly.
• Security testing — Ensure all security functions are properly
configured.
• Data integrity testing — Confirm the data is in the same state
after the migration as it was before.
• Application verification testing (AVT) — Test applications to
ensure each functions properly in the new environment and, if
required, communicates as expected with other systems.
• User acceptance testing (UAT) — This test should be
completed after AVT by a select number of users to confirm that
access to the system and functionality of the applications perform
as expected.
Common Migration Tests
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34. • All testing should be carefully documented
• When issues are fixed, testing should be repeated
• If any of the testing fails, be prepared to execute your roll-
back plan (particularly with a tape migration)
Testing the Migration Plan
When doing a tape-method migration, make sure you
have a roll-back plan in case a major issue arises that
requires restarting workloads on the old hardware.
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36. Software and services from Syncsort
• Software for near-zero downtime migration
• Expert services to manage the migration process and mitigate risks
Covers all your migration needs
• Data
• Applications
• Critical objects
Hardware and OS independent
• Any version of IBM i to any version of IBM i (V5R4 or later)
• Any server to any server
• Any storage to any storage
• Physical, virtual or cloud
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What Is a Migrate While Active Service?
Let Syncsort’s migration experts
meet all your migration needs with
minimal downtime!
New
Server
Current
Server
From
Anywhere
To
Anywhere
Any
Hardware
Any
Storage
Physical,
Virtual, Cloud
Any
IBM i OS
Version
37. Assure Availability products provide the engine
• All changes are replicated to the new system in real time using an Assure
Availability product (Assure MIMIX, Assure QuickEDD, or Assure iTERA)
• Test your new system on current data before making the switch
• Users work without interruption
• Straightforward cutover procedures
• A typical cutover requires only minutes of downtime
Syncsort migration experts provide the expertise
• Software installation and configuration
• Synchronization monitoring
• Verification testing on new system
• Final switch to your new system
• All scheduled with your staff to ensure a successful migration
and cutover window
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Real-Time Replication with Expert Services
Current Server
and Storage
New Server
(Local, Remote or Cloud)
Real-Time
Replication
38. Minimizes Downtime
• All changes are replicated while users are online and productive
• Cutover windows take minutes as opposed to hours of downtime
• Flexibility for scheduling cutover window
Eliminates Risk
• Syncsort migration experts work with you from start to finish
• Test the new server and perform test cutovers before the final cutover
• In case of unforeseen problems on new server, failback is quick and easy
Supports Infrastructure Choice
• Hardware, storage and OS independent
• Supports physical, virtual, cloud configurations
• Custom services available for cross-OS or cross-database migrations
Learn about our Migrate While Active Service!
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