The 7Rs migration strategies provide a comprehensive framework for moving workloads to AWS, enabling organizations to choose the most appropriate approach based on business requirements, technical constraints, and desired outcomes.
**1. Rehost (Lift and Shift)**: Moving applications to the cloud w…The 7Rs migration strategies provide a comprehensive framework for moving workloads to AWS, enabling organizations to choose the most appropriate approach based on business requirements, technical constraints, and desired outcomes.
**1. Rehost (Lift and Shift)**: Moving applications to the cloud with minimal changes. This approach offers quick migration timelines and is ideal for organizations seeking rapid cloud adoption. Tools like AWS Application Migration Service facilitate this process.
**2. Replatform (Lift, Tinker, and Shift)**: Making targeted optimizations during migration to leverage cloud benefits. Examples include migrating databases to Amazon RDS or containerizing applications using Amazon ECS, achieving improvements with moderate effort.
**3. Repurchase (Drop and Shop)**: Replacing existing applications with cloud-native SaaS alternatives. Organizations might transition from on-premises CRM systems to Salesforce or switch legacy email servers to Amazon WorkMail.
**4. Refactor/Re-architect**: Redesigning applications using cloud-native architectures to maximize scalability, performance, and agility. This involves breaking monoliths into microservices, implementing serverless patterns with AWS Lambda, or adopting event-driven architectures.
**5. Retire**: Identifying and decommissioning applications that are no longer needed. This reduces complexity, costs, and security risks associated with maintaining obsolete systems.
**6. Retain (Revisit)**: Keeping certain applications in their current environment temporarily. This applies to applications requiring major refactoring, those with recent upgrades, or systems pending further evaluation for future migration phases.
**7. Relocate**: Moving infrastructure to AWS using VMware Cloud on AWS, maintaining existing VMware investments while benefiting from AWS infrastructure. This strategy suits organizations with significant VMware dependencies.
Selecting the appropriate strategy depends on factors including application complexity, business criticality, compliance requirements, available skills, timeline constraints, and long-term business objectives. Most organizations employ multiple strategies across their application portfolio to optimize migration outcomes.
7Rs Migration Strategies - Complete Guide
Why 7Rs Migration Strategies Are Important
Understanding the 7Rs migration strategies is crucial for AWS Solutions Architect Professional exam success because they form the foundation of any cloud migration decision-making process. AWS uses these strategies to help organizations systematically evaluate and plan their migration approach for each application or workload. Approximately 15-20% of exam questions relate to migration scenarios, making this topic essential for certification.
What Are the 7Rs Migration Strategies?
The 7Rs represent seven distinct approaches to migrating applications to the cloud:
1. Rehost (Lift and Shift) Moving applications to the cloud with minimal or no changes. This involves recreating the on-premises environment in AWS using services like EC2. It is the fastest migration method but offers the least cloud optimization initially.
2. Replatform (Lift, Tinker, and Shift) Making targeted optimizations during migration while maintaining the core architecture. Examples include migrating databases to Amazon RDS or using Elastic Beanstalk instead of managing EC2 instances manually.
3. Repurchase (Drop and Shop) Replacing existing applications with SaaS alternatives. This involves moving from traditional licenses to cloud-based subscription models, such as switching from on-premises CRM to Salesforce.
4. Refactor/Re-architect Redesigning applications to be cloud-native, leveraging services like Lambda, DynamoDB, and containers. This offers the highest cloud benefits but requires the most time and effort.
5. Retire Identifying and decommissioning applications that are no longer needed. This reduces costs and simplifies the migration portfolio.
6. Retain (Revisit) Keeping certain applications on-premises, either permanently or temporarily. This applies to applications with compliance requirements, recent upgrades, or complex dependencies.
7. Relocate Moving infrastructure to the cloud at the hypervisor level using VMware Cloud on AWS. This maintains existing VMware investments while gaining AWS benefits.
How the 7Rs Work in Practice
Organizations typically follow this process:
Discovery Phase: Use AWS Application Discovery Service or Migration Evaluator to inventory applications and dependencies.
Assessment Phase: Evaluate each application against criteria including business value, complexity, compliance requirements, and technical debt.
Strategy Selection: Match each application to the most appropriate R based on business goals, timeline, budget, and technical constraints.
Execution: Use AWS Migration Hub to track progress across all strategies being implemented.
When to Use Each Strategy
Rehost: Large-scale migrations with tight deadlines, legacy applications that are stable Replatform: When modest optimization is acceptable, database migrations to managed services Repurchase: Commercial off-the-shelf software with better SaaS alternatives Refactor: Strategic applications requiring scalability, performance, or new features Retire: Redundant, obsolete, or unused applications Retain: Applications with compliance restrictions or recent major investments Relocate: VMware-based environments needing rapid migration
Exam Tips: Answering Questions on 7Rs Migration Strategies
Tip 1: When a question mentions fastest migration or tight deadline, think Rehost or Relocate first.
Tip 2: Questions mentioning cloud-native, serverless, or maximum cloud benefits point toward Refactor.
Tip 3: If the scenario involves databases moving to managed services while keeping application code unchanged, this indicates Replatform.
Tip 4: Look for keywords like SaaS, subscription, or commercial software replacement to identify Repurchase scenarios.
Tip 5: When compliance, data sovereignty, or mainframe systems are mentioned, consider Retain as a valid option.
Tip 6: Questions about reducing migration scope or eliminating redundant systems suggest Retire.
Tip 7: VMware environments with existing investments typically map to Relocate using VMware Cloud on AWS.
Tip 8: Remember that multiple strategies can apply to different applications within the same organization - exam scenarios often require selecting the most appropriate strategy for specific criteria.
Tip 9: Cost optimization questions may involve a combination of strategies - starting with Rehost and later moving to Refactor is a valid phased approach.
Tip 10: Always consider the business context provided in the question, including budget constraints, timelines, and organizational capabilities when selecting the best strategy.