Cloud Migration & Network Architecture

A reference project demonstrating how enterprise workloads are assessed, migrated, and stabilized in cloud environments with a strong emphasis on network design, security boundaries, and operational continuity.


Overview

This project models a phased cloud migration approach where networking is treated as a first-class reliability and security concern. Rather than focusing on tooling, the emphasis is placed on sequencing, dependency awareness, blast-radius control, and post-migration operability.

All examples are intentionally sanitized and represent production-inspired decision-making patterns used in large enterprise environments.


Problem Space

  • Legacy on-prem workloads with undocumented dependencies
  • Mixed trust zones and flat network topologies
  • Need for hybrid connectivity during transition
  • High risk of outage during large-scale migration events
  • Operational teams needing continuity throughout the process

Architecture & Migration Approach

Migration is approached as a controlled program rather than a single event. Network architecture is established early to ensure that workloads can move incrementally without expanding blast radius or weakening security posture.

  • Hub-and-spoke network topology
  • Explicit segmentation by trust zone and workload type
  • Hybrid connectivity (VPN / private link) during transition
  • Ingress and egress controls defined before workload movement
  • Identity and routing validated prior to application cutover
Key Principle:

Migrate capabilities, not just servers. Networking, identity, and security must be operational before application traffic is introduced.


Migration Phases

  1. Discovery & Dependency Mapping – Understand traffic flows and coupling
  2. Network & Identity Baseline – Establish secure connectivity and segmentation
  3. Pilot Workloads – Validate assumptions with low-risk services
  4. Incremental Scale-Out – Migrate in controlled waves
  5. Optimization & Steady State – Cost, performance, and reliability tuning

Operational Considerations

  • Monitoring and alerting validated before production cutover
  • Rollback paths defined for every migration phase
  • Change windows aligned with business risk tolerance
  • Runbooks updated as topology evolves

Outcomes & Lessons Learned

  • Reduced outage risk through phased execution
  • Improved security posture via explicit segmentation
  • Faster troubleshooting due to cleaner network boundaries
  • Smoother handoff to operations teams post-migration

The primary lesson reinforced by this work is that cloud migration success is determined less by tooling and more by sequencing, communication, and operational discipline.


Reference Repository

Sanitized documentation, architecture diagrams, and migration guidance are available in the accompanying GitHub repository.

View GitHub Repository

This project is a reference implementation only. All details are generalized and intentionally exclude proprietary systems, configurations, and customer data.