AWS MigrationMichael BrosnahanSolution Architect, NZ Post Group@mikebros

Introduction

Me:

❏ Solution Architect

Online, Mobility, Cloud Computing, Integration.

This Presentation:

❏ Not about AWS technology

❏ Focus on business benefit and impact of moving to AWS

❏ Assume basic knowledge of AWS

Considerations before migration

There are many

benefits...

...But, also a number of issues that need to be

addressed

Issues that need to be addressed

Most are not technical - Many are emotive

Moving an organisation to AWS will depend on the balance between:

Benefits of Migrating to AWS

❏ Cost out

❏ Support simplification - flexibility & reduced cost

❏ Scalability

❏ Robustness

❏ Security

Cost Out

❏ Cost Out is the headline when business casing an AWS migration➢ >50% saving in operational cost

❏ Savings come from:➢ Lower resource costs➢ Pay for what you use➢ Simpler support process

❏ There is an API for everything

❏ Scripted Deployments

➢ Using tools, such as AWS CloudFormation or Puppet

❏ Deployment process should be repeatable

❏ Design for robust, self-healing architecture

➢ Reduce manual intervention and call outs

❏ Patching process

➢ Consider rebuilding servers with the patched OS rather than applying patch to existing servers

Support simplification

Treat the servers as cattle, not as pets

Support simplification

“...It takes a family of three to care for a single puppy, but a few cowboys can drive tens of thousands of cows over great distances, all while drinking whiskey.�"

http://goo.gl/uTXWBX

Scalability

❏ “Unlimited” resource availability

❏ Scale as required - no upfront purchase or provisioning

❏ Vertically➢ When demand is linear and predictable➢ Increase instance size➢ Less re-architecting required

❏ Horizontally➢ When load is unpredictable ➢ When load is global

❏ Elastic Load Balancing➢ Distributes incoming traffic over instances

❏ Auto-Scaling➢ Enabled by monitoring➢ Rules base automatic scaling of capability - up and down

❏ Relational Database Service➢ Scale size and provisioned IOPS➢ Add read replicas

❏ PaaS - Elastic Beanstalk➢ Provide the application code, AWS will manage the platform and

container➢ Node.js, PHP and Python, Ruby, .NET, and Tomcat for Java

Scalability

❏ Inherent robustness

➢ S3 claims 11 9s durability over a given year

➢ 1,000,000 objects in S3, expect to lose an object every 10,000 years

❏ Multiple Availability Zones

➢ Load balance your service over 2 AZ for HA

❏ Self Healing

➢ ELB will detect a sick server and avoid it

➢ Script to create a replacement instance

Robustness

❏ High security data centres

❏ Fine grained IAM

➢ Control level of access users have to AWS services

➢ Multifactor Authentication

❏ Private subnets - Virtual Private Cloud

❏ Direct Connect options

❏ Cloud watch - audit trail

❏ Many security standards and certifications

❏ Encrypted Data Storage

❏ Dedicated hardware

Security

Challenges and Risk of Migration

❏ Architectural

❏ Network connectivity

❏ User concerns

❏ Legal

❏ Privacy

❏ Security

❏ Commercial Risks

❏ Sustainability

Architectural Challenges

Network Connectivity

❏ Dependence on the Southern Cross cable

User Concerns

❏ Public Concerns

➢ No concern about the cloud

➢ Showed a understanding of the global nature of the internet

➢ Put faith in the brand fronting the service

➢ Challenge is to maintain this respect for the brand

❏ Concerns of Companies

➢ High level of concern where their data and documents are stored

➢ Not comfortable with “the cloud"

Legal

❏ IRD tax documents must be stored in NZ

➢ SPS13/01 - you can get an exemption

➢ A number of organisations already have

✓ MYOB

✓ Xero

✓ Brookers Limited

✓ CargoWise NZ Limited

❏ Regulations around other information categories

➢ e.g. Health

Privacy

❏ Privacy Act

➢ If you hold personal information, you have a legal obligation to protect it whether it is…

✓ on premise

✓ in a shared New Zealand datacentre

✓ or offshore

❏ Loss of trust is loss of business.

❏ Difficulty enforcing NZ Privacy law against a cloud provider

❏ Patriot Act - Information disclosure to US Government - they have other ways to get the data!

❏ “Didn’t you say Security was a benefit?”

❏ Yes, but…➢ If your data is in a Public Cloud, it is on the internet

➢ The perception is that this is less secure than on premise

➢ And this is the reality, unless you implement appropriate security controls

❏ The Cloud security approach is a bit different

➢ May not be behind your enterprise firewalls (could be)

➢ Trust is extended into another organisation

Security

❏ Based on the standard T&Cs

➢ Suspension of service - 90 notice of termination

➢ Governed by U.S. law

➢ No indemnity offered by IP breach from technology provided by AWS

❏ You may get some of these changed, but likely to have to accept these risks

❏ Vendor lock-in

Commercial Risks

Sustainability

❏ Resource virtualisation

➢ Energy and resource efficiencies

➢ Single physical server to run multiple virtual servers

➢ Reduces data centre space - reduces e-waste footprint

❏ Elasticity

➢ Rapid provisioning, scaling workloads

➢ Minimise server use based on load

➢ Pay as you go encourages efficiency

❏ Multitenancy

➢ Balance work loads between consumers

Sustainability

Cloud Provider

Renewable Energy Claims

Clean Energy Index

AWS None 14%

Google Carbon Neutral, $1B investment 44%

Rackspace Sourcing consideration 32%

Microsoft Carbon Neutral 22%

Source: http://goo.gl/6SDUxY

Sustainability

Australian Power Station New Zealand Power Station

9.6% Renewable 72.5% Renewable

Summary

❏ Many benefits to moving to AWS

➢ But, also many issues that need consideration

❏ Moving an organisation to AWS will depend on the balance between:

➢ The Enterprise’s Drivers for the benefits

➢ The Enterprise’s tolerance for risk and ability to manage the risks

Questions?