Replacing E or G Drive On-Premises Shared Drives with AWS FSx for Windows
Tags: awsfsx, migrateshareddrivetoaws, windowsworkloadmigrationtoaws, onpremtoaws
Published: 2024-01-03 10:16:03

## Migrate Your File Shares to the AWS Cloud with Ease

On-premises shared drives, like E: and G:, have been the norm for file storage for years. But as businesses move to the cloud, these traditional file systems can become a bottleneck. They're often cumbersome to manage, scale, and secure.

That's where AWS FSx for Windows comes in. It's a fully managed, highly available, and scalable file system service that runs on Windows Server. This is a business use case when you migrate a Windows server for your traditional Windows-based application from on-premise to AWS cloud, where you encounter the drives and shares to be migrated along with servers.

Why Migrate to AWS FSx for Windows?

Scalability and Flexibility:
AWS FSx for Windows provides scalable file storage, allowing you to easily adjust your storage capacity based on your organization's growing needs.
Flexible deployment options enable you to choose the appropriate file system size and performance characteristics for your applications.

High Performance:
FSx for Windows delivers high-performance file systems that can support a wide range of workloads, including Windows applications and enterprise applications like SQL Server and SAP.

Integration with Active Directory:
Seamlessly integrate with your existing Active Directory, ensuring a smooth transition for users and maintaining a unified access control system.

Data Durability:
Benefit from robust data durability and automatic daily backups, reducing the risk of data loss and ensuring business continuity.

Reduced Management Overhead:
AWS FSx for Windows takes care of routine maintenance tasks, reducing the burden on your IT team and allowing them to focus on more strategic initiatives.

In this blog post, we'll walk you through the steps of planning and migrating your on-premises shared drives to AWS FSx for Windows.

Planning Your Migration

Before you start migrating your files, it's important to do some planning. Here are a few things to consider:

What data will you migrate? Not all data needs to be migrated to the cloud. Consider which files are actively used and which can be archived on-premises.
How will you migrate the data? There are a few different ways to migrate your data to FSx, such as using AWS Transfer for SFTP, AWS Data Migration Service, or my favorite Robocopy.
What will you do with your old on-premises shared drives? Once you've migrated your data to FSx, you can decide whether to keep your old shared drives online or decommission them.
Steps to Migrate Your Shared Drives.

Before initiating the migration process, conduct a thorough assessment of your current on-premise shared drives. Identify the data volume, access patterns, and any specific dependencies on existing configurations to define the FSx configuration.

Once you've done your planning, you're ready to start migrating your data. Here are the steps involved:

Create an FSx file system. Choose the right file system size and performance tier for your needs. Create it in AWS console or use the Cloudformation template to provision it.
Connect your FSx file system to your on-premises network. You can use AWS Direct Connect or a VPN to connect your FSx file system to your on-premises network.
Migrate your data. Choose the migration method that's right for you and start migrating your data to FSx.
Test and verify your migration. Once your data is migrated, test it to make sure everything is working correctly.
Decommission your old on-premises shared drives (optional). Once you're sure you're happy with your FSx file system, you can decommission your old on-premises shared drives.

The file shares are usually used to share files with AD groups or individual users, you may need to consider migrating the sharings and permissions too along with data/files. Once the Fsx is provisioned in AWS and connected to the on-premise server, you can start Robocopy which copies data along with security and permissions of sharing. Mount the FSx as a new drive on your on-prem windows server and use this command to run on the command prompt:

```
robocopy e:\source f:\Share\dst /e /mir
```
/e copies empty directories
/mir mirrors a directory tree
For more parameters on robocopy, refer {% embed https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/robocopy %}

Note that AD groups for file permissions need to be accessible on FSx through the domain controllers, it depends on your AWS setup for domain join.

Ensure that all client applications and users are pointed to the new FSx for Windows file system. Update network mappings, drive letters, and any references to the old on-premise shared drives

Here are some additional tips for a successful migration:

Start with a small subset of data and test it out before migrating everything. Test out the parameters to come up with the final command and use it to migrate at once, you can run robocopy command before migration to copy any new delta files/folders.
Use a migration tool like Robocopy. This tool can automate the process and make it easier to keep track of your progress.
Communicate with your users. Let your users know what you're doing and why you're doing it. This will help to minimize disruption during the migration process.
Migrating your on-premises shared drives to AWS FSx for Windows can be a great way to improve the manageability, scalability, and security of your file storage. By following the tips in this blog post, you can make the migration process smooth and successful.

Additional Resources

AWS FSx for Windows: https://aws.amazon.com/fsx/windows/
AWS Transfer for SFTP: https://aws.amazon.com/aws-transfer-family/

I hope this blog post has been helpful. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below.