Live LUN Migration
Background
Data Migration is the process of moving data from one storage system to another. Big data is what drives most modern businesses, and big data never sleeps. Our solution makes data migration to be well-established, seamless process so that live systems do not experience downtime while data goes through processing and transitions to the new storage system.
Problem
1. User should be able to migrate any project, any dataset or multiple datasets within a project.
2. The configuration to start migration should provide all kinds of flexibility and yet be very simple and intuitive.
3. User should be aware of the on-going migration status, also needs to be notified if any error occurs during the process.
4. While migration is on-going few operations should be restricted for the project or dataset(s).
5. Live systems should not experience downtime while data goes through processing and transitions to the new storage system.
Process
Research & Approach
1. This project required lot of attention to understand the technicalities about data transfer, data access, related protocols and the limitations.
2. My research started with exploring the competitors similar products.
3. While working on the task flow, I proposed two ideas. One approach was to keep the migration configuration process really short since most of the settings will be as per the system recommendations and will be configured by default. The other way was to keep all options open and give user the flexibility to customise. Finally we went for the second approach.
4. After presenting initial wireframes the requirements changed few times as the development team confirmed few limitations.
5. After delivering the phase 1 final prototype, I continued working on phase 2.
Initial Wireframes
Final Version
Live LUN Migration Blog
Result
The design process for phase 1 and 2 took cumulatively 1.5 months. It took 6 months to complete implementation and quality testing. This feature is now available in our latest OS version. Initial response is really positive from sales and support team.
