Attention, procrastinators! The deadline to complete your upgrade to App Service Environment v3 is approaching fast. By now you know about how we’re retiring App Service Environment v1 and v2 and that your organization needs to upgrade version 3 before Aug. 31, 2024. Failure to do so means losing your environments, running apps, and all app data—so we recommend starting the migration process as soon as possible!
Ensuring your services run smoothly is our top priority, so in this article we will review new and existing tools and services available from Microsoft to speed up your upgrade process.
Eliminate downtime with our new side by side migration feature
Customers have been busy completing self-service upgrades using our free, in-place migration feature. This option upgrades your existing App Service Environment in the same subnet. It offers minimal changes to your networking configuration and requires about an hour of application downtime.
But what if you don’t have an hour of downtime to spare? Provided you also have another subnet handy or can create one, then you can use side-by-side migration, our newest automated offering.
Currently in preview, side-by-side migration’s key benefit is zero downtime. Existing applications continue to run in the original environment while the migration to the new environment takes place, ensuring no disruption to your services. This feature is ideal for migrating development or staging environments first, allowing you to test the process and familiarize yourself with the new environment before migrating production workloads. Plus, if any issues arise during the migration, you can easily roll back to the original environment with minimal impact.
It's important to note that side-by-side migration won’t be the right approach for everyone. For example, the feature is not recommended for production environments as a first attempt, and we advise testing it with non-production environments before using it for critical workloads. Also bear in mind that while there’s no cost to migrate your App Service Environment, with side-by-side migration you will be billed for both your existing version 2 environment and the new version 3 environment while both are up and running. It’s important that you quickly validate and complete the final step of the migration to prevent excess charges.
Read more about the steps to complete a side by side migration at Microsoft Learn, or contact your Microsoft account team or Microsoft partner to see if side by side migration is a good fit for your organization.
What support exists to help me upgrade?
If side-by-side migration isn’t right for you, we have a comprehensive set of technical resources available to facilitate a smooth upgrade to App Service Environment v3.
- The App Service Environment v3 upgrade landing page is your one-stop shop to learn more about the features, benefits, and migration resources related to App Service Environment v3. In addition to learning more about the previously mentioned free automated migration features, you will learn about the pre-flight checks to help you determine if your environment meets the prerequisites to automate your upgrade. Otherwise you can follow the instructions for a manual upgrade.
- For customers seeking hands-on support, FastTrack is a service we provide to help companies successfully migrate to Azure and accelerate the deployment of Azure solutions, including App Service Environment v3. We highly recommend our Learn Live session with Azure FastTrack Architects, available to watch on demand, that gives viewers a comprehensive overview of the steps to complete the upgrade.
- Finally, Microsoft Learn provides walkthroughs, tutorials, and links to help you get familiar with the options for upgrading to App Service Environment v3. The Microsoft developer community is a vibrant space where experts and peers gather to share insights, experiences, and solutions. By participating in these forums, developers can seek help and gain valuable insights from others who have already upgraded to App Service Environment v3.
Why should I upgrade to App Service Environment v3?
An App Service Environment is an Azure App Service feature that provides a fully isolated and dedicated environment for running App Service apps securely at high scale. App Service Environment v3 is the latest version of App Service Environment. It’s easier to use, with reduced deployment times and running on more powerful infrastructure that can go up to 64 cores and 256-GB RAM. It also has a simpler network topology, with scaling speeds averaging under 10 minutes for both Windows and Linux, which is a huge advantage compared to older versions.
The new capabilities in version 3 also lead to tangible financial benefits, and our Senior Product Manager, Jordan Selig, has a great blog post about how you can calculate your estimated cost savings.
In addition to continued operation of your services, this upgrade will also improve your business outcomes. You can get a detailed overview with our App Service Environment version comparison, but here’s a quick recap:
- Enhanced scalability: Leverage the increased scalability of version 3 to seamlessly handle growing workloads and traffic demands compared to older versions.
- Improved performance: Experience enhanced performance and responsiveness with the optimized infrastructure changes.
- Simplified management: Reduce administrative overhead with more streamlined management tools and simplified configurations in version 3.
- Enhanced security: Benefit from robust security features that safeguard your sensitive data and applications.
- Future-proof your environment: Ensure your App Service Environment remains aligned with the latest advancements and capabilities.
We’re here to make your upgrade process a success
What are you waiting for? Prioritize your App Service Environment upgrade today to safeguard the continued operation of your services and position your environment for future success.
With our new side by side migration feature, customers can achieve a seamless migration with minimal downtime and a rollback option, providing a safe and controlled approach to transitioning to a new environment.
To get started, follow any of the options listed above. If you have questions, don’t hesitate to contact your Microsoft account team or Microsoft partner for further assistance.
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