Migrate to the Cloud

Not sure which option is right for you? Dig deeper with the Choose the right Azure hosting option guide.

The Azure Virtual Machines logo.

Option 1: Azure Virtual Machines

App compatibility An information icon. See link title for information. Azure VMs have a five-out-of-five rating for app compatibility.
Existing skill set An information icon. See link title for information. Azure VMs have a five-out-of-five rating for utilising your existing skillset.
Automated scale An information icon. See link title for information. Azure VMs have a one-out-of-five rating for supporting automated scale.
Automated patching An information icon. See link title for information. Azure VMs have a three-out-of-five rating for supporting automated patching.

The easiest way to move to cloud hardware, with minimal-to-no changes to your application. Azure Virtual Machines allow you to create the same environment your app currently runs on, but hosted on cloud hardware.

Operating system administration, scaling, availability, deployment, etc. are still manually managed by you.

Migrate to Azure VMs
The Azure App Service logo.

Option 2: Azure App Service

App compatibility An information icon. See link title for information. Azure App Service have a three-out-of-five rating for app compatibility.
Existing skill set An information icon. See link title for information. Azure App Service have a three-out-of-five rating for utilising your existing skillset.
Automated scale An information icon. See link title for information. Azure App Service have a five-out-of-five rating for supporting automated scale.
Automated patching An information icon. See link title for information. Azure App Service have a five-out-of-five rating for supporting automated patching.

Azure App Service is a Platform as a Service (PaaS), meaning you don't worry about operating system administration. Scaling, availability, and deployment can be easily automated.

Migration often requires some changes to your application. The Azure App Service Migration Assistant can see if your app is ready to migrate.

Migrate to Azure App Service
The Azure Container Service logo.

Option 3: Windows Containers

App compatibility An information icon. See link title for information. Windows Server Docker containers on Azure have a five-out-of-five rating for app compatibility.
Existing skill set An information icon. See link title for information. Windows Server Docker containers on Azure have a two-out-of-five rating for utilising your existing skillset.
Automated scale An information icon. See link title for information. Windows Server Docker containers on Azure have a four-out-of-five rating for supporting automated scale.
Automated patching An information icon. See link title for information. Windows Server Docker containers on Azure have a two-out-of-five rating for supporting automated patching.

Containerize your exiting web app using Windows Server Docker containers, with minimal-to-no code changes.

Migrate to Containers on Azure

Migrate databases to the cloud

Not sure which option is right for you? Dig deeper with the Migrate a SQL Server database to Azure guide.

The Azure Virtual Machines logo.

Option 1: SQL Server in Azure VMs

The easiest way to migrate your database to cloud hardware, with no changes required to your database. Running SQL Server in a virtual machine allows full control of the database server and the VM it runs on. You can also use existing SQL Server licenses that you have.

Database server administration, operating system administration, backup, recovery, scaling, and availability are still manually managed by you.

Migrate to SQL Server in Azure VMs
The Azure SQL Databse logo.

Option 2: Azure SQL Database

Azure SQL Database is a Platform as a Service (PaaS), meaning that the administration of the database server and the operating system are managed by the service. Backup, recovery, scaling, and availability are also automated.

Not all SQL Server features are available in Azure SQL. The Data Migration Assistant can evaluate if your database is ready to migrate.

Migrate to Azure SQL Database

Get help migrating to the cloud

Work with Microsoft, or one of our partners, to move your existing apps to Azure.

The Avanade logo.

Avanade Cloud Transformation

Avanade provides services to plan and implement moving existing applications to Azure.

Avanade Cloud Transformation
The Microsoft logo.

.NET product team

Free help from the .NET product team to explore different migration options that Azure offers.

Sign up for assistance
The Docker logo.

Docker Modernize Traditional Apps (MTA)

Resources from Docker, and industry leading partners, to migrate your existing app to containers.

Docker MTA

Free e-book

This guide describes how to move your existing .NET Framework server applications directly to the cloud by modernizing specific areas, without re-architecting or recoding entire applications.

This guide also highlights the benefits of moving your apps to the cloud and partially modernizing apps by using a specific set of new technologies and approaches, like Windows Containers and orchestrators in Azure.

Download PDF

MOBI EPUB
Cover of the 'Modernize existing .NET applications with Azure cloud and Windows Containers' e-book.

Need help migrating?

Free help from the .NET product team to explore different migration options that Azure offers.

Sign up for assistance