Moving Server to Cloud, What To Consider and How to Do It [2024 Complete Guide]

• Support: Migrating server host content to cloud hosting by 2024.
• Target: Small and medium-sized businesses.

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Can I migrate from a server to the cloud?

Yes, of course. Most midsize and large companies have sophisticated operations teams that keep their servers humming along smoothly and quickly. When a company tries to move its servers to the cloud, it is the ops team's job to do so.

But what if you're a small business without such a team? Do you know how to migrate your server data from on-premise to the cloud?

This page will discuss the pros and cons of using physical on-premises servers versus cloud servers, as well as the entire process of successfully migrating your server to the cloud. Let's get started.

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Why do companies move their servers to the cloud?

Here's a chart that compares local servers with cloud servers, and it's pretty clear why so many companies are moving to the cloud.

Local Server vs Cloud Server:

As you can clearly see from the comparison chart, cloud servers have a significant advantage over on-premises servers. As we mentioned earlier, most larger companies have dedicated server and cloud migration management teams. But many small business administrators may be doing this work on their own. Here's an infographic on the advantages of Alibaba Cloud products that illustrates why more and more companies are moving from servers to the cloud:

So, what do you need to consider or prepare for when migrating from a local server to a cloud server?

What should I consider in moving from client/server to the cloud?

Before you rush to move your physical servers to the cloud, hold on a minute. Think it through, and make sure you know what you're getting into – and what you need to consider ahead of time.

Here is a checklist of important factors to consider when migrating from on-premises client or server to the cloud – factors that should not be overlooked. Let's take a look:

• #1. Choosing the right cloud service and budget planning
• #2. Identifying data that should not be uploaded to the cloud
• #3. Deciding whether to create server backups
• #4. Migrating servers to the cloud

You don't need to know the details of each factor. We'll guide you through the whole process to make your server migration to the cloud as smooth as possible. Let's get started.

Guideline 1: Select a Reliable Cloud Service Based on Your Budget

Here, you'll find a range of cloud service providers and their respective pricing for their services. You can estimate your budget first and then opt for a suitable cloud server to migrate to.

Since prices vary from service to service, we recommend that you follow the pricing links in the table to choose the cloud service that's right for your company. Generally, small businesses opt for AWS or Alibaba because of their low costs and excellent service.

Guideline 2: Move data or apps that don't need to be in the cloud beforehand

To protect your company's core databases and user privacy, it's essential to transfer some sensitive data, documents, folders, or even applications in advance to another local disk. A reliable server PC transfer software - Todo PCTrans Technician, with its large file cleanup and application migration features, can offer all-around assistance.

You can easily use it to move large files, folders, or even applications to another local or external drive.

#1. Move Large Files to Another Drive

< strong > Step 1. < /strong > Run Todo PCTrans on your computer. Choose “Big File Cleaner” and click “Start” to proceed.

Step 2. Select the disk that you want to scan and click on “Scan”.

Step 3: After the scan, all files larger than 20 MB will be listed. Select the files you want to move and the target drive. (You can click on the triangle icon to choose the destination folder or click "Browse" to select a location of your choice.)

Step 4: Click the "Move" button, select the files in the popup window, and click "Move" again.

#2. Migrate an application to another drive

Step 1: Run Todo PCTrans on your computer and click “App Migration”.

Select App Migration

Step 2. Choose the app or program you want to transfer.

All portable apps will be listed with a “Yes” and you can select the destination. Choose the external device or another local disk as the destination.

Select the apps and the target location

Step 3: Transfer the apps. Click on “Transfer” to start the process.

Click Transfer to start the app migration.

If you have more questions about migrating your Server content to the cloud or need online assistance, please click on the chat button below to connect with our Support team right away:

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Guideline 3: Create server backups before migrating to the cloud

Before migrating to the cloud, we recommend creating a full backup of your server data and even your system. It's crucial to ensure that your data – and your customers' data – is protected.

Creating a full backup is a traditional and effective way to protect your server website data. Todo PCTrans Technician tool can meet your needs with its backup and restore capabilities.

For a step-by-step guide, please refer to this:

Windows Server Backup and Its Alternatives

On this page, we will provide you with a complete guide to help you successfully install and back up Windows Server.

Guideline 4: How to Migrate Your Server to the Cloud

Note that each cloud services provider has its own server-to-cloud migration guide available on its official website. We've recommended the four major cloud services above, and here are the official guides from Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Alibaba, respectively, which you can follow to migrate your server to the cloud:

#1. Amazon Web Services (AWS)

- Migrating to the cloud: https://aws.amazon.com/cloud-migration/how-to-migrate/

Video tutorial:

#2. Azir

- Migrate physical servers to Azure: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/migrate/tutorial-migrate-physical-virtual-machines

Video tutorial:

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#3. Google Cloud

Migrating physical servers to Google Cloud: https://cloud.google.com/migrate/compute-engine/docs/4.5/how-to/prepare-vms-servers/physical-servers

#4. Alibaba Cloud

- Migrate to Alibaba Cloud: https://www.alibabacloud.com/blog/alibaba-cloud-migration-tool-server-migration-center_596498

Video Tutorial:

Migrating servers to the cloud is a complex and challenging task that requires safeguarding critical content well in advance.

On this page, we compare physical servers to cloud servers, which many companies are choosing to migrate to because they offer more flexibility, easier deployment, and can be more cost-effective.

We also outline four factors to consider before migrating your server data to the cloud: choosing which cloud, locking down critical data and apps, server backup, and how to move your server to the cloud.

Note that the process can be quite involved, and will require some patience on your part. Also, all cloud service providers have robust support teams that you can rely on to help with the migration of your physical server to the cloud. Before beginning, make sure to move any sensitive data, files, and applications to a secondary or external drive so they aren't uploaded to the cloud.