Creating the Live Environment

Most migration projects change the application s live environment. This section describes the areas that might be affected by your migration.

The live environment is discussed in greater detail in Chapter 13, Creating the Live Environment.

Hardware and Software Infrastructure

Your new application requires Windows platforms on which it can operate . The rollout of Windows platforms is beyond the scope of this guide, but is covered extensively in other Microsoft guides.

Purchase and configure your the servers and clients on which you will run Windows, as well as other infrastructure elements such as networking equipment, as appropriate for the application.

Note  

For more information about migrating your live environment to the Windows platform, see the guides on the Microsoft TechNet Web site. Also see Migrating to Windows from Unix and Linux on the Microsoft Web site http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/migrate/unix/ .

Interoperation

Most migration processes require interoperability between the old and new environments. The length of time for which interoperability is required differs significantly for different types of migrations.

To accommodate interoperability, you can consider these strategies:

• Create a Windows-only environment.

  If the project is low-risk, you may be able to run the Windows and UNIX environments in parallel only for the time it takes for the users to make the transition to the migrated application.

• Create a separate Windows environment alongside the UNIX environment.

  This approach is suitable for short- term parallel running, or when the application has both UNIX and Windows modules.

• Create an integrated cross-platform environment.

  This approach is ideal when the two environments will coexist for a longer period time.

You can use a variety of tools to enable interoperation between UNIX and Windows. In the live environment, users and support staff are most often interested in gaining access to both systems and sharing data (typically files) between the two environments.

Windows and UNIX Interoperation

Users generally require four main areas of interoperation in your live environment:

• Client connectivity

• File sharing

• Resource sharing

• Security and user authentication

Microsoft and third-party sources offer a wide range of products and tools that assist in each of these areas. Research these products after you determine your specific requirements.

Note  

Windows operating systems include basic interoperability with UNIX over TCP/IP as a part of Microsoft Services for UNIX. In addition, Interix provides additional tools (such as X-Windows clients) that assist further integration.

Deploying the Migrated Application

The deployment of the migrated application takes place in two phases: the initial deployment and an ongoing deployment of upgrades and fixes. Many solutions exist for application deployment; some are UNIX based and some Windows based.

The following approaches can be used to deploy the migrated application:

• Native Windows deployment

  A native deployment uses Microsoft Installer, the standard software distribution and installation method for Microsoft Windows 2000 and Microsoft Windows XP . This approach requires software that is packaged in MSI (Microsoft Installer) format.

• Manual deployment

  In a manual deployment, the application is installed individually on each computer. This approach is appropriate for applications that are infrequently deployed to a small number of computers.

• Automatic (custom) deployment

  This approach makes use of a scripting tool or third-party product to deploy the software automatically.

• Package deployment

  This approach uses a package that can be distributed to remote client computers (by using Windows Installer, for example) and can then be deployed by remote users or customers.

UNIX systems have a wide variety of software management and distribution tools, but the tools are often incompatible. Many UNIX environments make extensive use of bespoke scripts to deploy applications. You have two main choices:

• Use a new Windows-based solution.

• Migrate the software distribution to Interix or a similar environment. The migration options and process will be similar to migrating the software application.

Support and Maintenance

An appropriate level of support and maintenance is key to the success of your migration project. Your support staff and systems have to be ready for the new environment. Plan to migrate the appropriate support tools and monitoring systems and to retrain your support staff.

User Training

The user training that is required after the UNIX-to-Windows migration depends on the scale of the difference between the application s UNIX user interface and the Windows user interface. After a port to the Interix environment, the user base may experience no change. With a port to the Windows Win32 environment, the users may require some training.

You should assess the training needs of individual users before you implement the live environment, so that user training can be planned appropriately.