Planning an AWS End-of-Support Migration Program (EMP) for Windows Server migration - AWS End-of-Support Migration Program (EMP) for Windows Server

Planning an AWS End-of-Support Migration Program (EMP) for Windows Server migration

When you plan an AWS End-of-Support Migration Program (EMP) for Windows Server migration, consider the following:

  • Application environment — legacy to target

    It is important to understand the existing architecture of the application that is being migrated so that the target environment can be correctly set up. In an n-tier application model, you should identify each server that makes up the model and understand which of the servers require migration and which of them require EMP for the migration process. Some of the servers may already be migrated to AWS and using a step-by-step migration approach ensures a smooth transition to AWS.

    For example, if you attempt to migrate a three-tier application that consists of an Internet Information Server (IIS) web server, application server, and SQL Server 2008, all running on Windows Server 2008 on premises, the migration plan might look like this: the IIS Web Server migrates to a Windows Server 2019 in AWS without the need for EMP migration. The application running on the application server is captured into an EMP package and migrated onto a Windows Server 2019 operating system running on AWS. SQL Server is migrated to Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS).

  • Packaging model

    • Standard packaging — Use when packaging an application with complete installation media, and the application spans only a single drive.

    • Guided Reverse Packaging (GRP) — Use when packaging an application with no installation media.

    Note

    We recommend that you use the standard packaging model if your application meets the requirements.

  • Packaging and testing environment

    Set up your packaging and testing environments according to the results of the application discovery exercise. For more information about each packaging scenario, see AWS End-of-Support Migration Program (EMP) for Windows Server application packaging model.