Cloud Skills Resource Kit: Migrating 1

Windows Server and SQL Server

Cloud Skills Resource Kit:

Migrating Windows Server and SQL Server
Cloud Skills Resource Kit: Migrating 2
Windows Server and SQL Server

This is for you if…

You are an applications engineer, database administrator,
data architect or other IT professional currently working
with Windows Server or SQL server on-premises, and
want to learn more about how your skills can translate
to a cloud environment.

Estimated reading time:

about 10 minutes
Cloud Skills Resource Kit: Migrating 3
Windows Server and SQL Server

Contents
Transferring your skills and
knowledge to the cloud 4

Skilling up to the cloud: Six use cases for

Windows Server & SQL Server users 7

1. File server management 7

2. Site backup and recovery 9

3. Security 10

4. SQL Server in the cloud 13

5. Database automation 15

6. Modern, intelligent apps 15

Resource guide 16

Looking ahead 17
Transferring your skills and
knowledge to the cloud

More and more organisations are making the

move to cloud-based workloads, applications
and databases – a trend that accelerated in 2020
due in part to new business priorities and an
increasingly remote workforce.

With cloud-based solutions, organisations can not only deliver new

features faster and at scale, IT managers also have more flexibility
to focus on strategic priorities.

But while the cloud offers clear benefits, transitioning to the cloud
must be done in a way that doesn’t disrupt legacy infrastructure
and applications, and is easy and translatable for IT professionals.

Where does this leave teams who have worked with on-premises
systems successfully for years using Windows Server and SQL Server?
How can these teams learn the skills necessary to migrate essential
systems without sacrificing operational efficiency?
Cloud Skills Resource Kit: Migrating 5
Windows Server and SQL Server

On-premises and cloud working together

Despite all the momentum toward cloud migration and increased
spending on cloud technologies, the reality for many organisations
is that the shift won’t necessarily happen overnight (nor should it).
Many organisations are taking a balanced, hybrid approach – adopting
and integrating cloud services to solve specific problems or address
needs, while learning the skills necessary for migration. This is especially
true for organisations still making good use of their on-premises IT
investments, or that must take regulatory considerations or other
needs into account. These realities are why the hybrid cloud market
is expected to grow from USD 45.7 billion in 2019 to USD 128 billion
by 2025.¹

Start small, start focused

Moving to the cloud is a big undertaking, so the best way to reduce

uncertainty is to start small. If you begin with a specific problem or pain
point, essentially as a proof-of-concept, then you will gain experience
and confidence that can be applied to more and bigger projects.

Of course, it’s natural to proceed cautiously. After all, the problems

with on-premises solutions are at least familiar ones, often with
known solutions. And the cloud doesn’t mean perfection, either – it still
requires IT professionals for management and support, and sometimes
they need new skills.

¹ ‘Hybrid Cloud Market – Growth, Trends, and Forecast (2020-2025)’,

Mordor Intelligence, 2020.
Cloud Skills Resource Kit: Migrating 6
Windows Server and SQL Server

The key is finding the right entry point or problem that the cloud can
solve, at a pace that makes sense for your business and teams, and then
building on that. This approach not only gives you more control, but lets
you see for yourself how the cloud is a truly useful platform instead of
an abstract concept.

This white paper will review some of the inefficiencies

and challenges IT teams face in their on-premises
environments, and show how these become ideal
opportunities to try cloud solutions with Azure. In
other words, you will learn how to adopt the right
cloud services that make sense for your organisation.
Skilling up to the cloud:
Six use cases for Windows
Server & SQL Server users

1. File server management

One of the more burdensome yet essential tasks that IT teams spend
time on is managing file servers. Storage becomes a major issue as
these servers get full, while file retrieval and backup can also cause
management headaches.

The cloud can simplify these tasks, but the potential work and risk
involved to move huge file servers with sensitive data over to the
cloud can seem like a non-starter – in addition to many users being
familiar with mapped drives and not wanting to learn a new cloud-
based storage tool.

A perfect starting point in this situation for Windows Server users

is a hybrid approach that seamlessly blends on-premises and cloud
storage. Using a service like Azure File Sync and this simple learning
module, you can transform your on-premises Windows Server file
share into a quick cache of a serverless Azure file share – enabling
you to centralize your organisation’s file shares in the cloud with
no disruptions.
Cloud Skills Resource Kit: Migrating 8
Windows Server and SQL Server

Through this approach, you’ll be able to maintain the

performance, efficiency, security and compatibility
of an on-premises file server while capitalising on
the benefits of Azure Files.

Synchronise data between multiple on-premises data

stores for cross-location file sharing.

Quickly overcome on-premises storage limitations by

holding unused data in the cloud with tiered storage.

Replace or provision new on-premises file servers

with seamless replication from Azure Files to
Windows Servers.
Cloud Skills Resource Kit: Migrating 9
Windows Server and SQL Server

2. Site backup and recovery

Beyond day-to-day file server management, IT teams must plan for the
unexpected – unplanned outages, natural disasters or other incidents
that can put data at risk.

While most organisations have some type of business continuity

and disaster recovery strategy, the on-premises backup and
recovery process falls far short of what’s possible in the cloud. For
example, recent IDC research showed that compared to on-premises
environments, backup in the cloud can be 76% faster and data recovery
can be 66% faster.2

Once you’ve taken the simple step of using Azure File Sync to create
a hybrid file sharing environment from your Windows Server on-
premises instances, you can take advantage of Azure’s integrated
site backup and recovery features right away. This includes native
integration with existing tools and providers, a centralised interface
for defining and managing policies across all your environments and
workloads and even new capabilities like built-in security controls and
cloud-based failover for your on-premises virtual machines (VMs).

In short, you’ll completely change your day-to-day

workload. You can remove the headache and downtime
of dealing with local power outages or network issues,
avoid drudgery like patching a server OS or replacing
faulty hard disks, backup everything you need without
concern for capacity and storage limitations and deploy
or recover file servers without having to rebuild from
outdated backups.

2
‘Business Continuity in the Cloud: Simple, Secure, and Cost-effective’, IDC, 2020.
Cloud Skills Resource Kit: Migrating 10
Windows Server and SQL Server

3. Security
A common roadblock to the cloud can be security, especially if you
are used to dealing with complex on-premises environments.

Traditionally, IT teams approached security in terms of firewalls and

blocking network traffic – a perimeter approach where usernames
and passwords were generally enough to keep systems safe and secure
and most access attempts were considered benign by default. IT teams
today know that an identity-based approach paired with a unified
network segmentation strategy (spanning IT, security, applications
and more) is now paramount. Instead of basing security around a single
perimeter, leaders are using multifactor authentication, identity signals,
behavioural analytics and layered privileges built around network
segmentation to manage the security of applications, data and users.

The challenge for on-premises IT teams is that it’s not always clear
exactly how identity-based security should be implemented in the
cloud. How should fundamentals like authentication and access control
be managed across cloud and on-premises environments? What new
risks and threats need to be accounted for when applications and data
are lifted and shifted into the cloud?

One solution for IT teams moving to Azure is to use a universal

identity platform like Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) paired
with Azure Security Centre. Azure AD provides a single sign-on
and multifactor authentication solution that is replicated across your
on-premises and cloud environments. It provides on-site and remote
employees with seamless, secure access to their files from any location
and incorporates required compliance standards such as HIPAA.
Cloud Skills Resource Kit: Migrating 11
Windows Server and SQL Server

Azure Security Centre acts as your foundation for security management

and advanced threat protection. It makes it simple to assess the security
posture of your environments, uses AI and automation to cut down
on alerts while quickly identifying threats and has integrated tools like
Azure Defender to protect all of your hybrid cloud workloads (including
application containers and IoT devices).

With Azure AD and Azure Security Centre, you’ll

streamline day-to-day security management and
access governance with powerful tools for securing
your new hybrid environments and workloads.

Azure Security Centre

● Assess and visualise your security state across all environments

with Azure Secure Score.
● Simplify and manage your compliance against a wide variety
of regulatory and company requirements with centralised policies.
● Protect hybrid workloads including servers, data, storage,
containers and IoT devices with Azure Defender.
● Cut down false alarms, rapidly detect threats and streamline
investigations with the power of AI and automation.
Cloud Skills Resource Kit: Migrating 12
Windows Server and SQL Server

Azure AD

● Automate the detection and remediation of identity-based

risks with identity protection.
● Manage, control and monitor sensitive resources with just-in-
time, privileged access.
● Adopt a Zero Trust posture with conditional access, using
multiple identity signals (e.g., device, location, app) for
enforcement decisions.
● Quickly integrate new identities or extend access to
applications and data without compromising security.

Two environments, one admin tool

Regardless of the cloud skills you choose to adopt for

Windows Server, keep in mind that you can seamlessly
manage it all with Windows Admin Centre – a browser-
based tool for remotely managing Windows Server across
any environment, including on-premises or hosted in Azure.

Windows Admin Centre can save you significant time

by streamlining day-to-day management tasks, such
as applying updates, resolving server issues or visualising
performance or capacity needs. You can also use it to
easily set up and manage all of the new Azure integrations
previously mentioned, from Azure Files to backup and
recovery to Azure Security Centre.
Cloud Skills Resource Kit: Migrating 13
Windows Server and SQL Server

4. SQL Server in the cloud

Running SQL Server in the cloud or using a cloud-native Azure
SQL managed instance provides practically the same on-premises
experience, but brings significant benefits.

For example, SQL Server on Azure VMs is popular because it’s essentially
a lift-and-shift of your on-premises VMs into the cloud. You don’t
need to learn any new skills and it removes the headache of managing
hardware. In addition, you get free benefits such as extended security
updates for Windows and SQL 2008/r2, along with access to tools like
SQL Server IaaS Agent. Using SQL Server IaaS Agent, you’ll be able to
automate management of SQL Server, including portal and licence
management, backup and patching and compliance fulfilment.

You also have other cloud-heavy options if you’re planning to make

a bigger jump to Azure SQL. For example, with Azure SQL Managed
Instance you don’t need to manage VMs or the SQL Server engine –
everything is kept up-to-date with the latest features and functionality.
As another option, with Azure SQL Database you’re abstracting away
everything, but the database service itself, for a fully managed database
solution with the highest availability and performance.
Cloud Skills Resource Kit: Migrating 14
Windows Server and SQL Server

Regardless of whether you use Azure SQL VMs, Azure

SQL Managed Instance or Azure SQL Database, you’ll
have access to Azure’s performance, scalability and high
availability – along with extras like automated indexing,
security services and a variety of powerful tools.

While extending a Windows Server file share to the cloud is a

relatively simple process, migrating a SQL Server to the cloud
can be slightly more complicated based on existing application
dependencies. Nevertheless, you have several tools and options
at your disposal, which don’t require an all-or-nothing migration.
Start by exploring Azure Database Migration Service to see how you
can easily lift and shift your SQL Server instances and applications into
the cloud. You can do a full migration with little downtime or start by
migrating select applications over to new SQL Server VMs on Azure,
managed instances or SQL Databases.
Cloud Skills Resource Kit: Migrating 15
Windows Server and SQL Server

5. Database automation
One of the benefits of moving SQL Server to the cloud is the ability
to automate tasks, from regular maintenance and multi-instance
administration, to performance, resource and failure alerts. Database
administrators find they’re able to deliver entirely new value to the
business after abstracting away much of the hardware provisioning,
OS maintenance and database administration-related drudgery.

For example, on top of provisioning and maintenance benefits, both

Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL Managed Instance use automatic,
continuous performance tuning based on AI and machine learning
to ensure peak performance and stable workloads. These databases
dynamically adapt to changing workloads, with the automatic tuning
learning horizontally across all databases on Azure. Your fully managed
SQL service can also simplify and perform time-consuming and complex
tasks on your behalf, including automated backups and disaster recovery.

6. Modern, intelligent apps

The cloud also offers your teams access to powerful, intelligent
Azure services that can help them build modern apps faster.
For example, teams can implement agile CI/CD pipelines using
Azure DevOps to accelerate app development. Using App Service,
they can quickly build applications on top of Azure’s cognitive services,
like AI-powered search; or teams can use a tool like Azure Data Factory
to create workflows for ingesting, preparing and transforming app data
at scale. You can even use Azure SQL Database to quickly spin up new
sandboxed database environments for development teams to test new
applications and services.
Resource guide

Microsoft Learn for Azure

● Free learning resources, including (with your Azure subscription)
a free sandbox to try out Azure SQL database.

Azure and cloud fundamentals

● Azure Fundamentals part 1: Describe core Azure concepts
● Azure demo and live Q&A

Windows Server migration

● Windows Server webinar miniseries: Month of Cloud Essentials
● Create a Windows virtual machine in Azure
● Migrate on-premises Windows Server instances to Azure IaaS
virtual machines
● Monitor Windows Server IaaS Virtual Machines and hybrid
instances
● Implement a Windows Server hybrid cloud infrastructure
● Implement Windows Server hybrid cloud management,
monitoring and security

SQL Server migration

● Azure SQL Fundamentals
● Azure SQL for beginners videos
● Compatibility Certification
● The Azure SQL workshop
● Deploy SQL Server in a virtual machine
● Deploy Azure SQL Database

Certifications
● Administrator certification path
● Data Engineer certification path
Looking ahead

Learning cloud solutions does not have to be about learning a new

platform end-to-end. As outlined here, it can be about solving specific
problems and focusing on where the cloud can help most, while
maintaining necessary on-premises operations.

After all, IT transformation is not always a straightforward proposition.

Difficult-to-move applications could prolong the time spent operating
in a hybrid model. For some hybrid may be an end state, whereas for
others it might merely be a stopping point on the journey to a fully
public cloud. Wherever you are on your journey, the key is to make
cloud migration seamless, and executable across multiple environments.

The Azure Migration and Modernisation Programme can help

accelerate your progress with proactive guidance and the right mix of
expert help at every stage of your migration journey. Get help migrating
infrastructure, databases and apps – and move forward with confidence.

The Azure Hybrid Benefit allows you to bring your existing on-
premises Windows Server and SQL Server licenses (with active Software
Assurance or subscriptions) to Azure, at a significant cost savings. This
also allows teams to move at their own pace, with dual-use rights so you
can maintain your on-premises operations as needed.

If you don’t already have one, you should create an Azure free account.
The Azure free account provides 12 months of popular free services,
USD 200 credit to explore Azure services for 30 days, and more than
25 always-free services. You can also reach out to your local Microsoft
representative to speak to an Azure sales specialist.
Cloud Skills Resource Kit: Migrating 18
Windows Server and SQL Server

Next steps

Get expert help with the

Azure Migration and Modernisation
Programme >

Use your licences with the

Azure Hybrid Benefit >

© 2021 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. This document

is provided ‘as is’. Information and views expressed in this document,
including URLs and other internet website references, may change
without notice. You bear the risk of using it. This document does not
provide you with any legal rights to any intellectual property in any
Microsoft product. You may copy and use this document for your
internal, reference purposes.