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This article describes how to customize assessments created by Azure Migrate Discovery and assessment tool.
Azure Migrate provides a central hub to track discovery, assessment, and migration of your on-premises apps and workloads, and private/public cloud VMs, to Azure. The hub provides Azure Migrate tools for assessment and migration, as well as third-party independent software vendor (ISV) offerings.
You can use the Azure Migrate Discovery and assessment tool to create assessments for on-premises VMware VMs and Hyper-V VMs, in preparation for migration to Azure. The Discovery and assessment tool assesses on-premises servers for migration to Azure IaaS virtual machines and Azure VMware Solution.
About assessments
Assessments that you create with the Discovery and assessment tool are a point-in-time snapshot of data. There are two types of assessments that you can create using Azure Migrate: Discovery and assessment.
| Assessment Type | Details |
|---|---|
| Azure VM | Assessments to migrate your on-premises servers to Azure virtual machines. You can assess your on-premises VMware VMs, Hyper-V VMs, and physical servers for migration to Azure using this assessment type.Learn more. |
| Azure VMware Solution (AVS) | Assessments to migrate your on-premises servers to Azure VMware Solution. You can assess your on-premises VMware VMs for migration to Azure VMware Solution using this assessment type.Learn more. |
Sizing criteria options in Azure Migrate assessments:
| Sizing criteria | Details | Data |
|---|---|---|
| Performance-based | Assessments that make recommendations based on collected performance data. | Azure VM assessment: VM size recommendation is based on CPU and memory utilization data. Disk type recommendation (standard HDD/SSD or premium-managed disks) is based on the IOPS and throughput of the on-premises disks. Azure SQL assessment: The Azure SQL configuration is based on performance data of SQL instances and databases, which includes CPU utilization, Memory utilization, IOPS (Data and Log files), throughput, and latency of IO operations Azure VMware Solution (AVS) assessment: Azure VMware Solution nodes recommendation is based on CPU and memory utilization data. |
| As-is on-premises | Assessments that don't use performance data to make recommendations. | Azure VM assessment: VM size recommendation is based on the on-premises VM size The recommended disk type is based on what you select in the storage type setting for the assessment. Azure VMware Solution (AVS) assessment: Azure VMware Solution nodes recommendation is based on the on-premises VM size. |
How is an assessment done?
An assessment done in Azure Migrate Discovery and assessment has three stages. Assessment starts with a suitability analysis, followed by sizing, and lastly, a monthly cost estimation. A machine only moves along to a later stage if it passes the previous one. For example, if a machine fails the Azure suitability check, it’s marked as unsuitable for Azure, and sizing and costing won't be done. Learn more.
What's in an Azure VM assessment?
| Property | Details |
|---|---|
| Target location | The Azure location to which you want to migrate. Azure VM assessment currently supports these target regions: Australia East, Australia Southeast, Brazil South, Canada Central, Canada East, Central India, Central US, China East, China North, East Asia, East US, East US2, Germany Central, Germany Northeast, Japan East, Japan West, Korea Central, Korea South, North Central US, North Europe, South Central US, Southeast Asia, South India, UK South, UK West, US Gov Arizona, US Gov Texas, US Gov Virginia, West Central US, West Europe, West India, West US, and West US2. |
| Storage type | You can use this property to specify the type of disks you want to move to, in Azure. For as-on-premises sizing, you can specify the target storage type either as Premium-managed disks, Standard SSD-managed disks or Standard HDD-managed disks. For performance-based sizing, you can specify the target disk type either as Automatic, Premium-managed disks, Standard HDD-managed disks, or Standard SSD-managed disks. When you specify the storage type as automatic, the disk recommendation is done based on the performance data of the disks (IOPS and throughput). If you specify the storage type as premium/standard, the assessment will recommend a disk SKU within the storage type selected. If you want to achieve a single instance VM SLA of 99.9%, you may want to specify the storage type as Premium-managed disks. This ensures that all disks in the assessment are recommended as Premium-managed disks. Azure |
| Reserved Instances (RI) | This property helps you specify if you have Reserved Instances in Azure, cost estimations in the assessment are then done taking into RI discounts. Reserved instances are currently only supported for pay-as-you-go offer in Azure Migrate. |
| Sizing criterion | The criterion to be used to right-size VMs for Azure. You can either do performance-based sizing or size the VMs as on-premises, without considering the performance history. |
| Performance history | The duration to consider for evaluating the performance data of machines. This property is only applicable when sizing criterion is performance-based. |
| Percentile utilization | The percentile value of the performance sample set to be considered for right-sizing. This property is only applicable when sizing is performance-based. |
| VM series | You can specify the VM series that you would like to consider for right-sizing. For example, if you have a production environment that you do not plan to migrate to A-series VMs in Azure, you can exclude A-series from the list or series and the right-sizing is done only in the selected series. |
| Comfort factor | Azure VM assessment considers a buffer (comfort factor) during assessment. This buffer is applied on top of machine utilization data for VMs (CPU, memory, disk, and network). The comfort factor accounts for issues such as seasonal usage, short performance history, and likely increases in future usage. For example, a 10-core VM with 20% utilization normally results in a 2-core VM. However, with a comfort factor of 2.0x, the result is a 4-core VM instead. |
| Offer | The Azure offer you're enrolled to. Azure Migrate estimates the cost accordingly. |
| Currency | Billing currency. |
| Discount (%) | Any subscription-specific discount you receive on top of the Azure offer. The default setting is 0%. |
| VM uptime | If your VMs are not going to be running 24x7 in Azure, you can specify the duration (number of days per month and number of hours per day) for which they would be running and the cost estimations would be done accordingly. The default value is 31 days per month and 24 hours per day. |
| Azure Hybrid Benefit | Specify whether you have software assurance and are eligible for Azure Hybrid Benefit. If the setting is enabled, Azure prices for selected operating systems are not considered for VM costing. |
What's in an Azure VMware Solution assessment?
Here's what's included in an Azure VMware Solution assessment:
| Property | Details |
|---|---|
| Target location | Specifies the Azure VMware Solution private cloud location to which you want to migrate. |
| Storage type | Specifies the storage engine to be used in Azure VMware Solution. vSAN is part of all AVS SKUs' storage. Azure NetApp Files (Standard, Premium, and Ultra tiers) is used by default in the assessment if external storage can optimize the number of AVS nodes required. You can alternatively use Elastic SAN instead of Azure NetApp Files, in case you prefer, for assessing the cost using Elastic SAN as the external storage option. |
| Reserved Instances (RIs) | This property helps you specify Reserved Instances in Azure VMware Solution if purchased and the term of the Reserved Instance. Your cost estimates take the option chosen into account. Learn more If you select reserved instances, you can't specify "Discount (%)". |
| Node type | Specifies the Azure VMware Solution Node type used to be used in Azure. By default, all node types available in the selected region are used for the assessment. Currently, AV64 node type can only be used along with AV36, AV36P, or AV52 and can't be used as a single node type in an SDDC. The node type available for use depends on the capacity availability of the SKU in the region. |
| FTT Setting, RAID Level | Specifies the valid combination of Failures to Tolerate and Raid combinations. The selected FTT option combined with RAID level and the on-premises vSphere VM disk requirement will determine the total vSAN storage required in Azure VMware Solution. Total available storage after calculations also includes (a) space reserved for management objects such as vCenter Server and (b) 25% storage slack required for vSAN operations. |
| Sizing criterion | Sets the criteria to be used to determine memory, cpu, and storage requirements for Azure VMware Solution nodes. You can opt for performance-based sizing or as on-premises without considering the performance history. To lift and shift, choose as on-premises. To obtain usage based sizing, choose performance based. |
| Performance history | Sets the duration to consider in evaluating the performance data of servers. This property is applicable only when the sizing criteria are performance-based. |
| Percentile utilization | Specifies the percentile value of the performance sample set to be considered for right-sizing. This property is applicable only when the sizing is performance-based. |
| Comfort factor | Azure Migrate includes a buffer (comfort factor) during assessment. This buffer is added to the server utilization data for VMs (CPU, memory, and disk). The comfort factor accounts for seasonal usage, short performance history, and potential future increases in usage. For example, a 10-core VM with 20% utilization would typically result in a 2-core VM. However, with a comfort factor of 2.0x, it becomes a 4-core VM instead. |
| Offer | Displays the Azure offer you're enrolled in. Azure Migrate estimates the cost accordingly. |
| Currency | Shows the billing currency for your account. |
| Discount (%) | Lists any subscription-specific discount you receive on top of the Azure offer. The default setting is 0%. |
| Azure Hybrid Benefit | Specifies whether you have software assurance and are eligible for Azure Hybrid Benefit. Although it has no impact on Azure VMware Solution pricing due to the node-based price, customers can still apply the on-premises OS or SQL licenses (Microsoft based) in Azure VMware Solution using Azure Hybrid Benefits. Other software OS vendors have to provide their own licensing terms, such as RHEL for example. |
| vCPU Oversubscription | Specifies the ratio of number of virtual cores tied to one physical core in the Azure VMware Solution node. The default value in the calculations is 4 vCPU: 1 physical core in Azure VMware Solution. API users can set this value as an integer. Note that vCPU Oversubscription > 4:1 may impact workloads depending on their CPU usage. When sizing, we always assume 100% utilization of the cores chosen. |
| Memory overcommit factor | Specifies the ratio of memory overcommit on the cluster. A value of 1 represents 100% memory use, 0.5, for example is 50%, and 2 would be using 200% of available memory. You can only add values from 0.5 to 10 up to one decimal place. |
| Deduplication and compression factor | Specifies the anticipated deduplication and compression factor for your workloads. Actual value can be obtained from on-premises vSAN or storage configurations. These vary by workload. A value of 3 would mean 3x so for 300 GB disk only 100 GB storage would be used. A value of 1 would mean no deduplication or compression. You can only add values from 1 to 10 up to one decimal place. |
What properties are used to create and customize an Azure SQL assessment?
Here's what's included in Azure SQL assessment properties:
| Property | Details |
|---|---|
| Target location | The Azure region to which you want to migrate. Azure SQL configuration and cost recommendations are based on the location that you specify. |
| Target deployment type | The target deployment type you want to run the assessment on: Select Recommended if you want Azure Migrate to assess the readiness of your SQL servers for migrating to Azure SQL MI and Azure SQL DB, and recommend the best suited target deployment option, target tier, Azure SQL configuration, and monthly estimates. Select Azure SQL DB if you want to assess your SQL servers for migrating to Azure SQL Databases only and review the target tier, Azure SQL DB configuration, and monthly estimates. Select Azure SQL MI if you want to assess your SQL servers for migrating to Azure SQL Databases only and review the target tier, Azure SQL MI configuration, and monthly estimates. |
| Reserved capacity | Specifies reserved capacity so that cost estimations in the assessment take them into account. If you select a reserved capacity option, you can't specify “Discount (%)”. |
| Sizing criteria | This property is used to right-size the Azure SQL configuration. It is defaulted to Performance-based which means the assessment will collect the SQL Server instances and databases performance metrics to recommend an optimal-sized Azure SQL Managed Instance and/or Azure SQL Database tier/configuration recommendation. |
| Performance history | Performance history specifies the duration used when the performance data is evaluated. |
| Percentile utilization | Percentile utilization specifies the percentile value of the performance sample used for rightsizing. |
| Comfort factor | The buffer used during assessment. It accounts for issues like seasonal usage, short performance history, and likely increases in future usage. For example, a 10-core instance with 20% utilization normally results in a two-core instance. With a comfort factor of 2.0, the result is a four-core instance instead. |
| Offer/Licensing program | The Azure offer in which you're enrolled. Currently, you can only choose from Pay-as-you-go and Pay-as-you-go Dev/Test. Note that you can avail additional discount by applying reserved capacity and Azure Hybrid Benefit on top of Pay-as-you-go offer. |
| Service tier | The most appropriate service tier option to accommodate your business needs for migration to Azure SQL Database and/or Azure SQL Managed Instance: Recommended if you want Azure Migrate to recommend the best suited service tier for your servers. This can be General purpose or Business critical. General Purpose If you want an Azure SQL configuration designed for budget-oriented workloads. Learn More Business Critical If you want an Azure SQL configuration designed for low-latency workloads with high resiliency to failures and fast failovers. Learn More |
| Currency | The billing currency for your account. |
| Discount (%) | Any subscription-specific discounts you receive on top of the Azure offer. The default setting is 0%. |
| Azure Hybrid Benefit | Specifies whether you already have a SQL Server license. If you do and they're covered with active Software Assurance of SQL Server Subscriptions, you can apply for the Azure Hybrid Benefit when you bring licenses to Azure. |
Edit assessment properties
To edit assessment properties after creating an assessment, do the following:
- In the Azure Migrate project, select Servers, databases and web apps.
- In Azure Migrate: Discovery and assessment, select the assessments count.
- In Assessment, select the relevant assessment > Edit properties.
- Customize the assessment properties in accordance with the tables above.
- Select Save to update the assessment.
You can also edit the assessment properties when you're creating an assessment.
Next steps
- Learn more about how Azure VM assessments are calculated.
- Learn more about how Azure SQL assessments are calculated.
- Learn more about how Azure VMware Solution assessments are calculated.