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Everything you need to plan, execute, and verify a successful data migration.

TL;DR — 30+ items across 6 phases. Or skip the checklist and let syncopio handle discovery, transfers, verification, and rollback automatically.

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Progress:

Pre-Migration Assessment

Inventory all source storage systems Document every NAS, file server, and storage endpoint with hostnames, IPs, protocols, and capacity.

Document data volumes and file counts Get exact sizes and file counts per share/export. This determines migration duration and resource needs.

Map protocol requirements (NFS/SMB/S3) Identify source and destination protocols. Note any cross-protocol migrations (e.g., SMB to NFS).

Identify permission and ownership models Document POSIX UIDs/GIDs, ACLs, and any identity mapping requirements between systems.

Assess file size distribution Profile small vs. large files. Millions of tiny files need different optimization than terabytes of large files.

Define success criteria and SLAs Set maximum downtime, acceptable data loss window, and verification requirements before starting.

Infrastructure Preparation

Verify network connectivity between source and destination Test throughput (not just ping) between all endpoints. Identify bottlenecks, VLANs, and firewall rules.

Provision destination storage with adequate capacity Plan for 20% headroom above source volume. Verify IOPS and throughput specs match requirements.

Configure NFS/SMB exports on destination Create shares, set export options, and test mounts from the migration worker hosts.

Set up migration workers Deploy worker nodes with access to both source and destination. Size workers based on file count and volume.

Test bandwidth between all endpoints Run iperf3 or similar between worker, source, and destination. Document actual throughput vs. theoretical.

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Data Analysis

Run discovery scan on all source datasets Profile file count, size distribution, and directory depth. Identify any path length or character issues.

Identify files with special characters or long paths Windows MAX_PATH (260 chars) and special chars (:, *, ?) can break cross-protocol migrations.

Check for hardlinks and symlinks Document symlink behavior and hardlink preservation strategy. Some protocols handle these differently.

Estimate migration duration Use actual scan data and bandwidth tests to project timeline. Plan for incremental syncs.

Document exclusion rules Identify temp files, caches, thumbs.db, .DS_Store, and other files to exclude from migration.

Migration Execution

Run initial bulk mirror during off-hours Schedule the first full copy when network and storage load is lowest. This is the longest phase.

Monitor transfer progress and error rates Watch for permission errors, path issues, and throughput degradation. Address failures immediately.

Run incremental delta syncs After initial mirror, run delta syncs to capture changes. Each sync should be faster than the last.

Schedule final cutover sync Plan a maintenance window for the final sync. Minimize the time between last sync and DNS/mount changes.

Freeze writes on source during cutover Set source to read-only or notify users to stop writing before the final sync. Prevents data loss.

Execute final delta sync Run the last incremental transfer. This should complete quickly if regular delta syncs were maintained.

Post-Migration Verification

Compare file counts between source and destination Total files and directories must match (minus any planned exclusions). Investigate discrepancies.

Run checksum verification on transferred data Verify data integrity with checksums (SHA-256 or similar). This catches silent corruption.

Verify permissions and ownership Spot-check permissions, UIDs/GIDs, and ACLs on critical directories and files.

Verify timestamps (mtime, atime) Check that modification times were preserved. Some protocols or mount options can alter timestamps.

Test application access on destination Have application owners verify their services work correctly with the new storage paths.

Rollback Plan

Document rollback procedure before starting Write step-by-step instructions to revert DNS, mounts, and configurations to pre-migration state.

Keep source storage read-only (not decommissioned) for 30 days Don't wipe the source immediately. Keep it available as a fallback during the validation period.

Define rollback triggers Set clear criteria for when to roll back: data corruption, performance degradation, permission failures.

Test rollback procedure in staging Practice the rollback on a test dataset before relying on it for production.

That's a Long Checklist.

syncopio handles most of these steps automatically — discovery scans, bandwidth profiling, delta syncs, checksum verification, and progress tracking. You focus on the decisions, we handle the execution.

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