Data centre migration and server relocation
Emptying a server room takes an afternoon. Getting it working again somewhere else is the job. We record what is there, take it out of the rack under control, rebuild it in the new location and bring it up in the order it is meant to come up in, with a rollback plan for when that does not work.
From inventory to power-on
Four steps, and the first one decides whether the last one works.
- Inventory and labellingEvery device, every cable and every port recorded before anything comes loose. A photograph of the back of a rack is not documentation; a diagram saying which cable comes from where is. This is the step most often skipped and the step a migration runs aground on.
- Controlled de-installationShutting down in the right order, powering off cleanly what needs powering off cleanly, and only then disconnecting. Equipment goes into packaging meant for it, carrying the labels the rebuild will need.
- Rebuild and cablingFitting out racks, hanging the equipment, cabling and patching to the same diagram. Anyone who takes the opportunity to do the cabling properly does it now; there is no second moment later.
- Power-on and testingBringing things up in the order the dependencies run, and establishing per service that it works before the next one starts. What has not been tested has not been moved.
We are not a removals firm and not a freight forwarder. The transport itself, the lifting, the insurance of the load and the permits are the work of a mover set up for it. We do the IT: working out what is there, recording it, disconnecting, rebuilding and powering on. A move across a border adds the customs declaration, and that is not ours either, see international rollout projects.
Four things that make a migration overrun
None of the four is technically difficult. All four cost a night.
- There is no current inventoryThe list is two years old and there are three things in the rack that are not on it. You find out at the moment you have already pulled them loose.
- Licences are tied to hardwareSome licences are bound to a MAC address, a host id or a dongle. Move the server onto different hardware and the software no longer starts, and you need the vendor; on a Sunday night.
- The window is too tightA migration that has to fit into eight hours has no room for the first setback. We count back from the moment everything has to be running and say so when that does not fit.
- There is no rollback planThe question is not whether something goes wrong but what you do then. For each service it is recorded up to which moment you can still go back to the old set-up, and who takes that decision.
We record those four before the move and walk through them with you. That conversation takes an hour and it is the cheapest hour of the whole project.
Further reading
What this connects to.
Questions we get about this
The ones that come up most, answered briefly.
Do you move the equipment yourselves?
No. We are not a removals firm and not a freight forwarder: the transport, the lifting, the insurance of the load and the permits belong to a mover set up for that. We do the IT around it (inventory, documentation, disconnecting, rebuilding, cabling and powering on) and we work with the mover you choose or the one we propose.
How long does moving a server room take?
That depends not on the number of devices but on the number of dependencies. We count back from the moment everything has to be running: power-on and testing first, then rebuild and cabling, then the transport, then the de-installation. If that does not fit your window we say so before anything comes loose, rather than halfway through the night.
What happens if it does not come up at the new location?
That is what the rollback plan is for. For each service it is agreed in advance up to which moment you can still return to the old set-up, and who takes that decision. It also means the old environment is not dismantled until that moment, however tempting that is when the rack has to be empty.
Move without surprises
Tell us what is there, where it has to go and what window you have. We check the inventory, count the window back and say so when it does not fit.
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