Overview of Classic to VPC Migration

This documentation outlines the process of migrating virtual server instances from a Classic infrastructure to the IBM Cloud® Virtual Private Cloud (VPC). It covers essential steps, including preparing the source and target environments, creating a migration plan, and running the migration by using the IBM Cloud CLI or API. The guide also addresses potential issues and best practices for a seamless transition.

Approaches to migration

At a high level, you can approach migration in several different ways. The most common approaches include:

  • Lift-and-Shift: This approach involves moving the application or workload to the cloud with minimal changes, essentially lifting it from its current environment and shifting it to the new one.

  • Rebuild-System: In this method, the application or workload is rebuilt in the target cloud environment, allowing for necessary updates, optimizations, and customizations during the rebuild process.

  • Replatform: This approach involves modifying the application or workload to take advantage of cloud environment services, while still maintaining the original architecture.

  • Rearchitect: In this strategy, the application or workload is redesigned for the cloud, often by using microservices, containers, and serverless architectures to maximize scalability, agility, and efficiency.

The choice of approach hinges on various factors, including migration objectives, available time, required effort, and associated costs.