POC Delivery Guide

Prepared for

Partner Enterprise Services

10/14/2016

Prepared by

Greg Husemeier

Seba Clementoni

Contributors

Situmalli Chandra Mohan

Krishna Golla

Table of Contents

Contents

1Introduction

2Deliver Azure Fast Start POC

3Engagement Phases

3.1Pre-engagement Information-Gathering Phase

3.1.1Kickoff Meeting

3.2Delivering the Engagement

3.2.1Engagement Schedule

3.2.2Define Migration POC Options

3.3Closeout Meeting

4References

4.1Windows Azure Virtual Machine Readiness Assessment

4.2General Azure Virtual Machines (IaaS)

4.3Network and Connectivity

4.4SQL Server on Azure IaaS

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Fast Start for Microsoft Azure - SQL Server on IaaS, POC Delivery Guide, Version .1Draft

1 Introduction

The Azure Fast Start SQL on IaaS POC is intended to help the customer deploy SQL Server IaaS instances to support a specific business solution that the customer wants to test on Azure. This document covers the steps required to deliver the Azure Fast Start – SQL on IaaSPOC.

2 Deliver Azure Fast Start POC

  • Fast Start for Microsoft Azure - SQL Server IaaS Workshop presentation slides
  • Hands on demo documents
  • Education Guide for migration of SQL to Microsoft Azure IaaS
  • Make it real POC
  • The ultimate deliverable of this Offering, will have a customer SQL server database running on Azure IaaS as a POC.
  • Scoping Document – Provides some helpful questions to be used during the Scoping\Kickoff call with the customers. These questions are very critical for a successful Fast start engagement
  • Microsoft Azure Fast Start Delivery Guide – Guide written by Microsoft explaining all the processes to be followed by the as part of the Fast start engagement

3 Engagement Phases

3.1Pre-engagement Information-Gathering Phase

For this engagement to be successful, it is vitally important that it is delivered within the context of a specific customer situation and environment and it is essential to find out as much as you can before the onsite visit. Please get in touch with the Account Manager to know more about the customer’s involvement with Azure

After the ROSS is dispatched, you need to understand the purpose of the fast start delivery. Different customers have different level of maturity and scale of Azure deployments in their environment. Fast Start delivery can be done to enable the customer to increase cloud consumption, onboard a customer who is new to Azure technology, position Azure in a compete situation etc.

Customer would require an Azure subscription for performing the POC. They can either use their existing enterprise Azure subscription or trial Azure subscription. Sometimes, business group such as product groups might provide a limited Azure subscription for the Faststart engagement. Prior to the Scoping or Kick Off meeting, check with the Account Manager whether any limited Azure subscription will be used for this Faststart engagement.

3.1.1 Kickoff Meeting

The kickoff meeting is an important part of the engagement because it helps both partner and the customer understand what the goals and the scope of the engagement are and what is required to successfully deliver the engagement within the given constraints. You will also discuss logistics for the time you will be delivering the engagement, specifically regarding what activities will be taking place and what is required to perform these activities. Work with the Account Manager to schedule this meeting in advance of this Fast Start. This meeting is very critical for this engagement compared to any other IP offerings

The agenda for this kickoff meeting is:

  • Introductions
  • Current Environment
  • Fast Start Overview and Objectives
  • Activities and Timeline
  • Schedule and Milestones
  • Next Steps and Action Items
  • Questions and Answers

Please refer to the “Scoping document” on some of the sample questions we have prepared for both the operational and technical aspects.

Verifying Customer Benefits from Engagement

Engage project stakeholders to confirm that expectations have been correctly set.

This discussion should include tangible customer benefits that will be identified by the engagement. Focus on technical, business, and operations aspects as appropriate. Consider using a small, less complex environment as part of the POC. Sample items include:

  • Help me understand using Microsoft Azure to migrate on-premises SQLServer databases to Azure IaaS.

You should be asking yourself these questions when preparing for the engagement.

  • Does the customer currently use Microsoft Azure and what are they using it for?
  • Will the attendees have Azure accounts configured for their usage?
  • Has a virtual network been configured between the customer and Azure datacenters?
  • Will the attendees be able to access this network from the training facility?
  • How can we bring the customer to a solution faster?

Once again, please refer to the scoping document for more detailed questions for both technical and operational topics.

Sample Scenarios to Propose for POC

We would highly recommend to implement the (“Migrate existing database to cloud”) as the best option for the POC as we can showcase several aspects of the migration process and also the customer can see the immediate value add of migrating a SQL server database in cloud infrastructure

  • Migrate existing database to cloud (Preferred option)
  • Migrate a database to SQL Server on an Azure VM

In case the customer is not interested in migrating any of their on-premises databases(Prod\Test) to Azure OR if you have more time left in the POC engagement, try the below options as necessary.

  • Use Cloud for setup of Dev/Test environment (Optional)
  • Microsoft Azure dev/test scenario considerations
  • Use cloud as a High Availability and/or Disaster Recovery solution (Optional)
  • High Availability and Disaster Recovery for SQL Server in Azure Virtual Machines
  • Use cloud only for backups (Optional)
  • SQL Server Managed Backup to Windows Azure
  • How to Use Azure Storage for SQL Server Backup and Restore

3.2Delivering the Engagement

The engagement is created to be delivered by a single person with collective knowledge in Microsoft Azure, IaaS, virtual networks, Blob storage and SQL server.

Roles and Responsibilities

During the kickoff meeting, it is critical that the roles and responsibilities be clearly defined and agreed to. This is especially important because of the tight timelines and rigid engagement model. At a minimum, the should know who the primary point of contact will be during the engagement to verify the customer is constantly engaged and providing the required information. You must make it clear that the customer’s staff will be asked for their active participation and assistance during the Fast Start and that a person who is familiar with customer’s usage of Microsoft Azure portal is available (at least at the beginning of the Faststart) to ensure that attendees can access their company’s Azure portal.

3.2.1 Engagement Schedule

Ensure that the facility is available for the duration of the Faststart and that high speed internet access is available from the training room.

3.2.2 Define Migration POC Options

For a 3-day delivery, prior to the start of day 3, you should:

  • Identify the business need that the POC will address.
  • Identify smaller applications or websites that would be candidates for Azure migration. This information has to be passed to the customer during the Kickoff\scoping call itself so that they will have enough time to finalize the App\Database to migrate.
  • What database will be migrated, and verify if a database upgrade is required.Verify that if you are doing an upgrade from an older database, target SQL 2005 or newer.
  • Determine Identity Migration Requirements (Windows Authentication, etc.)

Active Directory on Microsoft Azure IaaS will likely be out of scope for the POC, but with a properly configured VPN connection, they can still domain join machines to an existing on-premises AD. You should already have this information collected during the Kickoff\Scoping call and set the expectations accordingly.

  • Determine data migration requirements and strategy

Looking at these dimensions in detail you should accomplish the following activities:

Migration Activities

  • Ensure that the appropriate test infrastructure is built using the customer’s Azure subscription
  • Ensure the network and Identity/Access infrastructure is in place
  • Ensure that the proposed website or application has been migrated to the cloud. Please note that the customer normally owns the responsibility of migrating their application to cloud.
  • Migrate current version of SQL Server to Microsoft Azure Virtual Machines
  • Test the Azure website or application to ensure that it meets the customer’s requirements.

Consider the following table when choosing your database migration options:

Database Migration Options

  • Plan your Virtual Machine Size:
  • Decide how to move your workload to Azure Virtual Machines:

Method / Source Database Version / Destination Database Version / Source Database Backup Size Constraint / Notes
Use the Deploy a SQL Server Database to a Microsoft Azure VM wizard / SQL Server 2005 or greater / SQL Server 2014 or greater / > 1 TB / Fastest and simplest method, use whenever possible to migrate to a new or existing SQL Server instance in an Azure virtual machine
Perform on-premises backup using compression and manually copy the backup file into the Azure virtual machine / SQL Server 2005 or greater / SQL Server 2005 or greater / Azure VM storage limit / Use only when you cannot use the wizard, such as when the destination database version is less than SQL Server 2012 SP1 CU2 or the database backup size is larger than 1 TB (12.8 TB with SQL Server 2016)
Perform a backup to URL and restore into the Azure virtual machine from the URL / SQL Server 2012 SP1 CU2 or greater / SQL Server 2012 SP1 CU2 or greater / > 1 TB (For SQL Server 2016, < 12.8 TB) / Generally usingbackup to URLis equivalent in performance to using the wizard and not quite as easy
Detach and then copy the data and log files to Azure blob storage and then attach to SQL Server in Azure virtual machine from URL / SQL Server 2005 or greater / SQL Server 2014 or greater / Azure VM storage limit / Use this method when you plan tostore these files using the Azure Blob storage serviceand attach them to SQL Server running in an Azure VM, particularly with very large databases
Convert on-premises machine to Hyper-V VHDs, upload to Azure Blob storage, and then deploy a new virtual machine using uploaded VHD / SQL Server 2005 or greater / SQL Server 2005 or greater / Azure VM storage limit / Use whenbringing your own SQL Server license, when migrating a database that you will run on an older version of SQL Server, or when migrating system and user databases together as part of the migration of database dependent on other user databases and/or system databases.
Ship hard drive using Windows Import/Export Service / SQL Server 2005 or greater / SQL Server 2005 or greater / Azure VM storage limit / Use theWindows Import/Export Servicewhen manual copy method is too slow, such as with very large databases

3.3Closeout Meeting

At the end of the assignment, there is a closeout meeting to finish the engagement. The closeout meeting is the final activity performed as part of the engagement. The findings for the engagement are presented to the customer, and the recommendations are delivered. It is also an opportunity to propose any following engagements that have been identified during this Offering. Topics related to the closeout meeting are:

  • Meet and discuss:
  • Results
  • Closeout, finding, and recommendations presentation
  • Findings related to original objectives and requirements
  • Discussion of way to proceed (road map)
  • Determine customer satisfaction
  • Close engagement

Important Make sure you identify any possible follow on engagements and work with your Account Manager to transfer this information

4 References

4.1Windows Azure Virtual Machine Readiness Assessment

This assessment will help you with your move to Windows Azure Virtual Machines by inspecting your on-premises environment, and providing you with a check list and detailed report on steps you need to take to move your environment to the cloud. The tool works with both physical and virtualized environments:

4.2General Azure Virtual Machines (IaaS)

  • Best Practices from Real Customers: Deploying to Windows Azure Infrastructure Services (IaaS)
  • Building Your Lab, Dev, and Test Scenarios in Windows Azure Infrastructure Services (IaaS)
  • Infrastructure Services on Windows Azure: Virtual Machines and Virtual Networks with MarkRussinovich
  • Windows Azure Internals
  • Network and Connectivity
  • Virtual Network Overview
  • Connect an On-premises Network to Azure via Site to Site VPN and Extend Active Directory onto an IaaS VM DC in Azure
  • Hybrid Networking Offerings in Windows Azure
  • Point-to-Site VPN in Azure Virtual Networks
  • SQL Server on Azure IaaS
  • Getting Ready to Migrate to SQL Server in Windows Azure Virtual Machines
  • Plan your Virtual Machine Size:
  • Decide how to move your workload to Azure Virtual Machines:
  • Migrating Database Workloads to the Cloud
  • SQLServer Platform for Hybrid Cloud TDMWhite Paper
  • Performance Guidance for SQL Server in Windows Azure Virtual Machines
  • Getting Started with SQL Server in Windows Azure Virtual Machines
  • Application Patterns and Development Strategies for SQL Server in Windows Azure Virtual Machines
  • SQL Server in Windows Azure Virtual Machines (IAAS)

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Fast Start for Microsoft Azure - SQL Server on IaaS, POC Delivery Guide, Version .1Draft