AWS to Azure
Migrating from AWS to Azure involves more than just moving workloads—it's about understanding service equivalencies, planning for differences, and ensuring a smooth transition for your teams and applications. This guide provides actionable steps, real-life examples, and best practices for a successful migration.
Quick Comparison: AWS vs Azure Services
EC2
Virtual Machines (VMs)
VM sizes and images differ
S3
Blob Storage
APIs and access models vary
IAM
Azure Active Directory
RBAC models differ
RDS
Azure SQL Database
Migration tools available
Lambda
Azure Functions
Triggers and bindings differ
CloudFormation
ARM Templates/Bicep
Syntax and capabilities differ
CloudWatch
Azure Monitor
Metrics and logging integration varies
VPC
Virtual Network (VNet)
Subnet and peering models differ
EKS
AKS (Azure Kubernetes)
Cluster management differs
Route 53
Azure DNS
Record types and automation differ
Tip: Microsoft's official service mapping is a great reference.
Pre-Migration Checklist
Inventory Your AWS Resources
Use AWS Config or AWS CLI to export a list of resources:
aws resourcegroupstaggingapi get-resources > aws-inventory.json
Map Services to Azure Equivalents
Create a mapping document for each AWS service in use.
Assess Application Dependencies
Identify hardcoded endpoints, region-specific services, and OS dependencies.
Plan Identity and Access Migration
Prepare to migrate IAM users/groups to Azure AD.
Network Planning
Design Azure VNets to match (or improve) your AWS VPC topology.
Migration Checklist
Migration Steps (with Examples)
1. Infrastructure as Code (IaC) Translation
Example: Convert CloudFormation templates to Azure Bicep or ARM templates.
Use Former2 to export AWS resources to Terraform, then adapt to Azure.
Example Terraform snippet for Azure VM:
resource "azurerm_virtual_machine" "example" { name = "example-vm" resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.example.name location = azurerm_resource_group.example.location # ... }
2. Data Migration
Example: Migrate S3 buckets to Azure Blob Storage using AzCopy:
azcopy copy "s3://mybucket" "https://<account>.blob.core.windows.net/<container>" --recursive
3. Identity Migration
Example: Sync AWS IAM users to Azure AD using Azure AD Connect.
4. Application Refactoring
Update code/configs to use Azure SDKs and endpoints.
Replace AWS Lambda triggers with Azure Function bindings.
5. Testing and Validation
Use Azure Monitor and Application Insights for post-migration validation.
Post-Migration Tasks
Update DNS: Point domains to Azure endpoints (e.g., Azure DNS).
Monitor and Optimize: Use Azure Cost Management and Azure Advisor.
Decommission AWS Resources: Ensure all data is migrated and backups are complete before deleting.
Documentation: Update runbooks and architecture diagrams.
Best Practices & Common Pitfalls
Start with Non-Production Workloads: Validate migration steps before moving critical systems.
Automate Everything: Use Terraform/Ansible for repeatable deployments.
Watch for Service Limits: Azure and AWS have different quotas.
Security Review: Reassess security groups, NSGs, and IAM/RBAC policies.
Cloud Hopping Humor
Why did the DevOps engineer bring a parachute to the cloud migration?
Because you never know when you’ll need to drop out of AWS and land safely in Azure!
References
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