Migrating Servers to FlexusX Instances (Original HECS X Instances)

Overview

Compared with ECSs, FlexusX instances provide more refined specifications to accurately match the actual resource requirements of user services. This can help reduce cloud migration costs and avoid resource wastes. To free you from selecting or customizing FlexusX instance specifications, you can use MgC to collect the CPU and memory usage of source servers and then use the collected performance data to get target server recommendations. This can help you improve performance and control costs.

Application Scope

This practice applies to servers from Alibaba Cloud, Huawei Cloud, AWS, Tencent Cloud, and Azure and on-premises servers that you add to MgC manually.

What you need to do differs with the actual scenario. For details, see the following table.

Making Preparations

• Preparing a Huawei Account

  Before using MgC, prepare a HUAWEI ID or an IAM user that can access MgC and obtain an AK/SK pair for the account or IAM user. For details about how to obtain an access key, see Preparations.

• Creating a Migration Project

  Create a migration project on the MgC console. For details, see Managing Migration Projects.

Procedure

1. Download and install Edge.

   Prepare a Windows server in the source intranet environment for installing Edge. If you do not have an idle cloud server, you are advised to purchase a pay-per-use cloud server with 4 vCPUs and 8 GB of memory. For details about the server requirements and Edge installation method, see Installing Edge for Windows.

2. Connect Edge to MgC.

   Register an account for logging in to Edge and connect Edge to MgC. For details, see Connecting the Edge Device to MgC.

3. Add resource credentials.

   After the connection is successful, add the credentials of the source servers to be migrated to Edge. For details, see Adding Resource Credentials. Correctly configure Resource Type based on the source servers when you add their credentials.

4. Discover servers.
   MgC provides three collection methods to meet your requirements in different scenarios. You can choose a method based on your source environment.

   Figure 1 Collection methods
   

   • If your source servers are on a cloud platform, such as Alibaba Cloud, Huawei Cloud, AWS, Tencent Cloud, Google Cloud, or Azure, you can collect the data about your servers over the Internet. You can also manually add the server data to MgC.
   • If your source servers are in an on-premises IDC, you can collect the server data over the intranet. MgC enables you to scan server by network or VMware vCenter Server. You can also manually add the server data to MgC.

5. Collect server performance data.

   With collected performance data of servers, you can get recommendations for target servers with the right amount of CPU and memory resources to match the needs of your applications. For more information, see Collecting Server Performance Data.

   

   • If the source servers run daily fixed services, it is recommended that the performance collection duration should be no less than one day.
   • If the source servers run services that fluctuate periodically, it is recommended that the performance collection duration should cover the entire fluctuation period to accurately evaluate the performance of source servers.

6. Group servers as an application.

   Group the discovered servers as an application to get sizing recommendations and execute the migration. For more information, see Grouping Resources as Applications.

7. Create an application assessment. Assess the application to get FlexusX instance recommendations.
   1. On the MgC console, in the navigation pane on the left, choose Design > Migration Solutions. On the Migration Solutions page, you can view the list of applications created in the current project.
   2. In the application list, locate the application you want to assess and click Assess in the Operation column.

      

   3. In the Select Resources area, select the application resources to be assessed.
   4. Configure the assessment policy based on Table 1 to get FlexusX instance recommendations.

      

      Table 1 Parameters for configuring an assessment policy

      Parameter	Option	Description
      Target Region	-	Select the region where you want to purchase resources on Huawei Cloud. You are advised to select a region close to your target users for lower network latency and quick access.
      Assessment Policy	Match source configuration	MgC will recommend Huawei Cloud resources in the same or similar size as source resources.
      Priority	Low cost	MgC recommends the most cost-effective target servers that meet your demands.
      (Mandatory) Preferences You are advised to select Performance-based for Sizing Criteria.	ECS Types	Select General Computing. For details about how MgC recommends appropriate target resources for you, see How Does MgC Generate Target Recommendations?
      	System Disk	Select the system disk type you prefer.
      	Data Disk	Select the data disk type you prefer.
      	Sizing Criteria	If you select Performance-based, you need to perform a performance collection for the source servers, and then set assessment parameters. The system will then recommend target servers with your desired CPU and memory specifications. The more performance data is collected, the more accurate the target recommendations are. For details about how MgC recommends appropriate target resources for you, see How Does MgC Generate Target Recommendations?

   5. Click Create Assessment. After the assessment is complete, you can view the assessment results and view server performance data. The recommended target server sizes are included in the assessment results.
   6. (Optional) Perform the following operations:
      • Modify the recommended target configurations as needed. You can change the server and disk specifications. Disk downsizing is supported.
      • Associate source servers with target servers: If you already have servers that match your requirements on Huawei Cloud, you can associate them with source servers.

8. Create a server migration workflow.

   Go to the Workflows page and create a server migration workflow.