Save up to 3 times *more* money when migrating from a Cloud to AWS...
Tags: aws, migration, multicloud, costeffective
Published: 2023-10-19 10:20:43


![Old man yells at a cloud](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/1is8e2z2jrsi4xdd6g4o.jpg)

_Have you ever **used a Cloud Service Provider** (CSP), convinced that it was a good idea, and **you regretted it**?_ _Are you considering **moving your application's data** **to another CSP like AWS**?_

Uploading everything to the Cloud is easy because the data that goes in (ingress) is free of charge... 

But my friend, from the moment you have a certain amount of data in the Cloud and have to download it, it is when the stuff gets challenging...

![Money counting](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/7tm0c3xpgv0hmsl99u8g.gif)

All the **egress traffic** (downloaded data) **is getting billed in most of the CSPs**.

There is no doubt that moving 20 GB is an easy task, but when you have logs or information that is considerably big (for example, +100 TB), you should know what options you have.

![Snowball](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/s5shktl1f88zrmevecum.jpeg)

AWS released the [Snowball service](https://aws.amazon.com/snowball/) some years ago for migrating vast amounts of data from on-prem to the AWS Cloud. Microsoft has its service (Azure Data Box), and Google too (Transfer Appliance)...

These devices have some in common, and **you can not ship them to a CSP for migrating from Cloud A to Cloud B**. This doesn´t work. 

What options are left if we migrate from one CSP to another?

![VPN Logo](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/jp223xg6p07k1h1v6xsl.png)

**To use IPsec VPN through the internet:** It will be recommended by 95% of the population; it is the way to go for these cases where we have to move data from one CSP to another. 

**Challenges with VPN**
- Huge Egress traffic costs at a certain amount of data
- Limited throughput
- The traffic gets exposed to the internet

What if I tell you that there is **another way to perform this task, saving up to three times the money in terms of data transfer?**

![Multi Cloud](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/rx63mcv81wsbk9dk74u9.png)

**To use a Cloud ROUTER:**

Many connectivity partners have developed this [solution](https://www.de-cix.net/en/services/cloudrouter) to have a **centralized routing hub for** serving **multi-cloud** and **hybrid-multi-cloud** operations. 

With this technology, you can save much money for migrating because the **data transfer price** is **much lower** for a **private connection** **than** via **VPN**. The best part is that you don´t need any equipment in the Data Center for a multi-cloud setup; everything has been set.

The Cloud ROUTER unifies the different Cloud private connectivity services (AWS Direct Connect, Azure ExpressRoute, Google Interconnect...), and it interconnects them in a fast & easy way. 

Depending on the setup, you can create high throughput connections from the CSPs and migrate the data in hours or minutes. 

Let´s **compare the standard egress traffic prices** for AWS, Google, and Azure.

________________________________

![AWS Logo](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/4f2atm8pdku98bra74m0.png)

- Data Transfer Out using [VPN](https://aws.amazon.com/vpn/pricing/)

![Data Transfer VPN2](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/8vwy0ccp1hsk31ho12kb.png)

- Data Transfer Out using [Direct Connect](https://aws.amazon.com/directconnect/pricing/): Data located in Europe, leaving to a DX location in Europe -> **$0.0200 per GB**

________________________________

![Google logo](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/dghinqay5ifyxx3kcgob.png)

- Data Transfer Out using [VPN](https://cloud.google.com/vpc/network-pricing#internet_egress)

![Data Transfer Google](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/jeu1j01uh1bci4nh9leu.png)

- Data Transfer Out using [Google Interconnect](https://cloud.google.com/vpc/network-pricing#interconnect-pricing/): Data leaving over an Interconnect connection in Europe -> **$0.0200 per GiB**

________________________________

![Azure Logo](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/3s7eypheqe23rcbltlca.png)

- Data Transfer Out using [VPN](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/bandwidth/)

![DTO Azure](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/regnwowyugf1y2wdkmql.png)

- Data Transfer Out using [Express Route](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/expressroute/): Data from EU leaving over an Express Route connection in Europe -> **$0.025 per GB**

________________________________

As you can see, going via VPN is much more expensive than going privately; let´s do a small exercise.

________________________________

![migration](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/aqt507bqfvk4jwivppiy.jpg)

**Exercise**

We are a networking architect, and our CTO brings us the task of **migrating** from Azure towards AWS. We have **180 TB** of data **from** our **Azure Blob Storage**, and we have to migrate them **to AWS S3**. 
Our data is located in Europe.

Let´s do the calculation; we will use the [Azure Pricing Calculator](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/calculator/):

<div align="center">
| Data Transfer - 180TB        | Price           
| :-------------: |:-------------:| 
| via Internet      | **$10,768.80*** | 
| via Express Route | **$4,608.00**      |

</div>

######The first 100GB of traffic through the public internet are for free*######

If we compare the amount, going with an Express Route connection, is **2.33 times cheaper** than using the internet for the data transfer. 

________________________________

Let´s do the same exercise with [Google](https://cloud.google.com/products/calculator):

<div align="center">
| Data Transfer - 180TB        | Price           
| :-------------: |:-------------:| 
| via Internet      | **$11,571.20*** | 
| via Google Interconnect | **$3,686.40**      |
</div>

######The first 200GB of traffic through the public internet are for free*######

**It is 3.14 times cheaper** to do the migration **via a Google Interconnect** than **using the internet** in terms of data transfer

________________________________

And what about if we do the same exercise using  [AWS](https://calculator.aws/#/)?:

<div align="center">
| Data Transfer - 180TB        | Price           
| :-------------: |:-------------:| 
| via Internet      | **$13.107,20*** | 
| via Direct Connect | **$3686,40**      |
</div>

######The first 100GB of traffic through the public internet are for free*######

**It is 3.55 times cheaper** to do the migration **with Direct Connect** than **moving the data through the internet** in terms of data transfer
________________________________

**Note:**
_These calculations do not include the related costs of the Express Route/Google Interconnect/Direct Connect and its related services like PrivateLink or the Cloud ROUTER..._

_The **full solution**, with the side costs **is cheaper than using the public internet**._

For more information on the prices, ask your connectivity partner for a quote.
________________________________

**Conclusion**

With the usage of this type of new technology, doing a cloud migration gets simplified, in terms of efficiency, performance, and costs. 

It is essential to know which options we have; being flexible is the key, especially in something so critical as a Cloud 2 Cloud Migration.

I hope you have enjoyed this article; I read you in the comments 😁