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Migration Abp.io Platform to Azure
Migrating a Kubernetes platform with a database from on-premise to Azure can be a daunting task, but it can be a necessary one to take advantage of the benefits that the cloud offers. In this article, we will discuss the reasons for migrating from an old on-premise platform to Azure, the steps taken to create and configure the abp.io platform on Azure, and the benefits gained from the migration.
On-Premise Old Platform
There were several reasons why the decision was made to migrate from the old on-premise platform to Azure. The first reason was that the Kubernetes cluster and the database were on the same Windows server. This configuration was not ideal as it posed a high risk of security and accessibility issues. Additionally, the virtual machines in Kubernetes were on Windows server and had limited resources. The platform was not in a private network, which further increased the risk of security breaches. Not to mention how challenging the Kubernetes maintenance was and that made another reason for the migration.
Reasons for Moving to Azure
The decision to move to the cloud was made to eliminate the disadvantages of the old platform. The migration to Azure meant that the resources would be independent of each other but faster in terms of communicating with each other. The platform would also take advantage of cloud security and availability. The managed Kubernetes service that Azure offers comes with autoscaling and loadbalancing, which makes the platform more reliable. Finally, the migration to Azure would provide a better quality service to global customers and the community.
Creating and Configuring abp.io Platform on Azure
To create and configure the abp.io platform on Azure, several steps were taken. Terraform was used to create the infrastructure (VM, Private Network, AKS, Postgresql Flexible Server...), while Ansible was used to configure the resources(terraform, helm, kubectl, docker, vpn, redis, prometheus, grafana, elasticserach, kibana...) on Azure. Azure DevOps pipelines and release were used for AKS deployment. The most time-consuming part in this process was to prepare, test and optimize the terraform and ansible settings files.
The most important step was to transfer the data in both the database and Kubernetes of the volumes. Rsync was used to transfer data from Kubernetes volumes to Azure NFS through the VPN machine. Additionally, pg_dump and pg_restore were used to transfer the PostgreSQL database through the machine with VPN.
Before the production environment, the data migration was tested many times for the staging environment. It was discovered that the migration would take approximately 1.5 hours. The community was informed that there may be interruptions during the hours designated for the transition to Azure. During the migration of the production environment, the websites and databases were still up and running. After the data transfer, the only remaining step was to direct the traffic of the already standing abp.io sites to the Azure Kubernetes service via Cloudflare.
Benefits of Moving to Azure
The migration to Azure resulted in several benefits. The platform is now more reliable and available for abp.io. Additionally, the critical resources are in a private network, making them more secure than the old environment. There were significant improvements in connection speeds after the migration, which resulted in speeds that were twice as fast as before.
In conclusion, migrating a Kubernetes platform with a database from on-premise to Azure is a complex process that requires careful planning and execution. However, the benefits gained from the migration make the process worthwhile. By moving to Azure, the abp.io platform now has a more reliable and available infrastructure that is more secure than the old environment. The migration also resulted in significant improvements in connection speeds, which ultimately provides a better service to global customers and the community.