Migrate legacy on-premises VM workloads to modern Azure infrastructure. IaaS-first approach with a phased modernization path to PaaS services, containers, and managed databases.
The Lift & Shift Migration pattern uses an IaaS-first approach to migrate on-premises VMs to Azure. Azure Migrate discovers and assesses workloads, Azure Site Recovery replicates VMs with near-zero downtime, and Azure VMs serve as the initial landing targets. A phased modernization path moves workloads from VMs to containers and PaaS over time.
This is the ideal pattern for organizations that need to exit their data center quickly while maintaining existing application architectures and minimizing risk.
| Phase 1 | Assess |
| Phase 2 | Migrate |
| Phase 3 | Optimize |
| VM SKU | D4s_v5 |
| OS | Windows + Linux |
| Access | Bastion |
| Database | SQL on VM / SQL MI |
| Storage | Azure Files (SMB) |
Dev / Test
Production
Enterprise
graph LR
subgraph OnPrem[" On-Premises Data Center"]
direction TB
LEGACY["Legacy VMs<br/>Windows / Linux"]
LEGDB["SQL Server on VM<br/>File Servers"]
LEGAPP["Legacy Apps<br/>IIS / Apache / Tomcat"]
end
subgraph Phase1["Phase 1 - Assess"]
MIGRATE["Azure Migrate<br/>Discovery &<br/>Assessment"]
end
subgraph Phase2["Phase 2 - Migrate"]
direction TB
ASR["Azure Site Recovery<br/>Replication Engine"]
DMS["Database Migration<br/>Service"]
end
subgraph Phase3[" Phase 3 — Azure Target"]
direction TB
subgraph Compute["Compute Subnet /24"]
VM1["Azure VM D4s_v5<br/>Windows Server"]
VM2["Azure VM D4s_v5<br/>Linux RHEL"]
end
subgraph DataSub["Data Subnet /24"]
SQLVM["SQL Server on VM<br/>or Azure SQL MI"]
STOR["Azure Storage<br/>File Shares SMB"]
end
subgraph MgmtSub["Management Subnet /24"]
BAST["Azure Bastion<br/>Secure Access"]
BKUP["Azure Backup<br/>Recovery Vault"]
end
LAW["Log Analytics<br/>+ VM Insights"]
end
LEGACY -->|"Discover"| MIGRATE
LEGDB -->|"Discover"| MIGRATE
LEGAPP -->|"Discover"| MIGRATE
MIGRATE -->|"Replicate VMs"| ASR
MIGRATE -->|"Migrate DBs"| DMS
ASR -->|"Failover"| VM1
ASR -->|"Failover"| VM2
DMS -->|"Migrate"| SQLVM
BAST -.->|"Secure RDP/SSH"| VM1
BAST -.->|"Secure RDP/SSH"| VM2
BKUP -.->|"Backup"| VM1
BKUP -.->|"Backup"| VM2
VM1 -.-> LAW
VM2 -.-> LAW
SQLVM -.-> LAW
| # | Service | SKU / Tier | Purpose | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Azure Migrate | Free | Discovery & assessment | Free |
| 2 | Azure Site Recovery | Per-instance | VM replication & failover | ~$25/VM |
| 3 | Azure VM Ã- 2 | D4s_v5 | Application compute (Windows + Linux) | ~$560 |
| 4 | SQL Server on VM | D4s_v5 + SQL Std | Database server | ~$620 |
| 5 | Azure Bastion | Standard | Secure VM access (no public IPs) | ~$330 |
| 6 | Azure Backup | Vault | VM & SQL backup, 30-day retention | ~$120 |
| 7 | Azure Storage | Standard_LRS | File shares (SMB), diagnostics | ~$50 |
| 8 | Load Balancer | Standard | Traffic distribution | ~$25 |
| 9 | Log Analytics | PerGB2018 | Monitoring, VM Insights | ~$35 |
| 10 | VNet + NSGs | — | Network backbone | Free |
| Estimated Total (Medium Production) | ~$4,200/mo | |||
Costs based on Medium (Production) sizing. Small dev/test deployments start at ~$800/mo. Enterprise deployments with Firewall and ExpressRoute reach ~$12,500/mo.
Discovery, assessment, dependency mapping for on-premises VMs. Server Assessment + Database Assessment tools.
Continuous replication from on-premises to Azure. Automated failover/failback with near-zero RPO.
Modern Azure compute with Gen2 support, accelerated networking. Right-sized from assessment.
Secure RDP/SSH over TLS directly from Azure portal. No public IPs on VMs.
Automated daily backups with 30-day retention. Application-consistent snapshots for SQL.
Online migration with minimal downtime. Supports SQL Server to Azure SQL MI or SQL on VM.
Migrate IIS, .NET Framework, Active Directory workloads to Azure VMs with minimal application changes.
Move RHEL, Ubuntu, SUSE VMs running Apache, Tomcat, or custom services to Azure with same OS versions.
Consolidate multiple on-premises SQL Server instances to Azure SQL VM or Azure SQL Managed Instance.
Replace on-premises file servers with Azure Files (SMB 3.0) with Azure File Sync for hybrid scenarios.
| Constraint | Mitigation |
|---|---|
| VMs retain on-premises architecture debt | Plan modernization roadmap (6-12 months) |
| Licensing costs (BYOL vs PAYG) | Use Azure Hybrid Benefit for Windows/SQL |
| Network bandwidth for initial replication | Use Azure Data Box for bulk data, throttle ASR replication |
| VM size mapping not always direct | Run Azure Migrate assessment with performance-based sizing |
| Application dependencies may break | Use dependency analysis in Azure Migrate before cutover |
Generate a complete deployment spec sheet with GitHub Actions workflow, Bicep file structure, and prerequisite checklist.
Generate Deployment Spec Sheet