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Workload Discovery and Assessment

Runbook Azure

DOCUMENT CATEGORY: Runbook SCOPE: Application and workload evaluation PURPOSE: Assess customer workloads for Azure Local MASTER REFERENCE: Microsoft Learn - Azure Local Workloads

Status: Active

Overview​

Workload discovery and assessment is a critical phase where deployment teams evaluate customer applications and services to determine:

  • Resource requirements - Compute, memory, storage, and IOPS
  • Performance characteristics - Baselines and SLA requirements
  • Network dependencies - Connectivity and security zone placement
  • Migration complexity - Compatibility and sequencing
  • Backup and DR requirements - RTO, RPO, and recovery procedures
Assessment Scope

Complete workload assessment for all applications that will run on Azure Local. This information directly impacts cluster sizing, network design, and migration planning.

Application Inventory​

Workload Catalog Template​

Complete the following for each application:

FieldValue
Application Name________________________
Application Version________________________
Application Owner________________________
Owner Contact________________________
Business Unit________________________
Business Criticality☐ Tier 1 (Critical) ☐ Tier 2 (Important) ☐ Tier 3 (Standard)

Current Hosting Information​

FieldValue
Current Platform☐ Physical ☐ VMware ☐ Hyper-V ☐ Cloud ☐ Other: ________
Current Location________________________
Current Hostname(s)________________________
Operating System________________________
OS Version________________________
Virtualized☐ Yes ☐ No
Number of Instances____

Target Placement​

FieldValue
Target Azure Local Cluster________________________
Target Site________________________
Target Resource Group________________________
Migration Priority☐ Wave 1 ☐ Wave 2 ☐ Wave 3 ☐ Wave 4
Migration Method☐ P2V ☐ V2V ☐ Fresh Install ☐ Replatform

Resource Requirements​

Compute and Memory​

Complete current and target resource specifications:

ResourceCurrentPeak UtilizationTargetNotes
vCPUs________ %____
RAM (GB)________ %____
GPU Required☐ Yes ☐ NoType: ________

Storage Requirements​

StorageCurrent SizeCurrent IOPSTarget SizeTarget IOPSNotes
OS Disk____ GB__________ GB______
Data Disk 1____ GB__________ GB______
Data Disk 2____ GB__________ GB______
Data Disk 3____ GB__________ GB______
Total Storage____ GB____ GB

Storage Performance Characteristics​

MetricCurrent BaselineRequired SLANotes
Read IOPS________________________
Write IOPS________________________
Read Throughput (MB/s)________________________
Write Throughput (MB/s)________________________
Read Latency (ms)________________________Target < 10ms
Write Latency (ms)________________________Target < 10ms

Network Dependencies​

Application Network Requirements​

Network TypeVLAN/SubnetPort(s)ProtocolDirectionPurpose
Management______________________________________
Production______________________________________
Database______________________________________
Backup______________________________________
External______________________________________

Firewall Rule Requirements​

SourceDestinationPort(s)ProtocolPurposeStatus
________________________________________________☐ Existing ☐ New
________________________________________________☐ Existing ☐ New
________________________________________________☐ Existing ☐ New

Load Balancer Requirements​

FieldValue
Load Balancer Required☐ Yes ☐ No
Load Balancer Type☐ Azure Load Balancer ☐ Software LB ☐ Hardware LB
Load Balancing Algorithm☐ Round Robin ☐ Least Connections ☐ Source IP
Health Check Protocol☐ HTTP ☐ HTTPS ☐ TCP
Health Check Port____________
Session Persistence☐ Required ☐ Not Required

External Connectivity​

FieldValue
Public IP Required☐ Yes ☐ No
DNS Hostname________________________
SSL Certificate Required☐ Yes ☐ No
Certificate Provider________________________
VPN Connectivity Required☐ Yes ☐ No

Security Zone Classification​

Security Zone Assignment​

ZoneDescriptionNetwork IsolationAccess Controls
☐ DMZInternet-facing applicationsSeparate VLAN, firewall restrictedWAF, strict ingress rules
☐ InternalInternal business applicationsStandard internal networkStandard firewall rules
☐ SecureSensitive data processingIsolated VLAN, enhanced monitoringMFA, privileged access
☐ IsolatedHighly restricted systemsAir-gapped or very restrictedPhysical/logical isolation

Data Classification​

FieldValue
Data Classification☐ Public ☐ Internal ☐ Confidential ☐ Restricted
Contains PII☐ Yes ☐ No
Contains PHI☐ Yes ☐ No
Contains PCI Data☐ Yes ☐ No
Data Residency Requirements________________________

Compliance Requirements​

Compliance FrameworkRequiredNotes
HIPAA☐ Yes ☐ No________________________
PCI DSS☐ Yes ☐ No________________________
SOC 2☐ Yes ☐ No________________________
NIST 800-53☐ Yes ☐ No________________________
ISO 27001☐ Yes ☐ No________________________
FedRAMP☐ Yes ☐ No________________________
Other☐ Yes ☐ No________________________

Security Controls Required​

  • Encryption at rest required
  • Encryption in transit required
  • MFA for application access
  • Audit logging enabled
  • Vulnerability scanning required
  • Endpoint protection required
  • Network segmentation required
  • Privileged access management
  • Data loss prevention (DLP)

Performance Baselines​

Current Performance Metrics​

Capture current performance metrics during typical and peak usage:

MetricTypicalPeakPeak TimeMeasurement Period
CPU Utilization____ %____ %____________________
Memory Utilization____ %____ %____________________
Disk Read IOPS________________________________
Disk Write IOPS________________________________
Network Throughput (Mbps)________________________________
Active Connections________________________________
Response Time (ms)________________________________

Performance SLAs​

SLA MetricTargetMeasurement MethodEscalation
Availability____ %________________________
Response Time____ ms________________________
Transaction Rate____ /sec________________________
Error Rate____ %________________________

Backup and DR Requirements​

Backup Specifications​

FieldValue
Backup Required☐ Yes ☐ No
Backup Solution☐ Azure Backup ☐ Azure Backup ☐ Third-party: ________
Backup Frequency☐ Hourly ☐ Daily ☐ Weekly ☐ Custom: ________
Backup WindowStart: ______ End: ______
Retention Period____________ days/weeks/months/years
Backup Type☐ Full ☐ Incremental ☐ Differential
Application-Consistent☐ Required ☐ Not Required

Recovery Point and Time Objectives​

FieldValueJustification
RPO (Recovery Point Objective)____________ hours________________________
RTO (Recovery Time Objective)____________ hours________________________
Maximum Data Loss Acceptable____________ hours
Maximum Downtime Acceptable____________ hours

Disaster Recovery​

FieldValue
DR Required☐ Yes ☐ No
DR Solution☐ Azure Site Recovery ☐ Storage Replica ☐ Third-party: ________
DR Site________________________
Replication Mode☐ Synchronous ☐ Asynchronous
Failover Type☐ Automatic ☐ Manual
DR Testing Frequency☐ Quarterly ☐ Semi-annually ☐ Annually
Last DR Test Date____________
DR Runbook Documented☐ Yes ☐ No

Application Dependencies​

Upstream Dependencies (Services This Application Needs)​

DependencyTypeHostname/IPPortProtocolCritical
____________☐ Database ☐ API ☐ Auth ☐ Storage ☐ Other____________________☐ Yes ☐ No
____________☐ Database ☐ API ☐ Auth ☐ Storage ☐ Other____________________☐ Yes ☐ No
____________☐ Database ☐ API ☐ Auth ☐ Storage ☐ Other____________________☐ Yes ☐ No

Downstream Dependencies (Services That Need This Application)​

DependentTypePurposeImpact if Unavailable
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________

Dependency Map​

Document application dependencies in a visual diagram or table:

┌─────────────┐ ┌─────────────┐ ┌─────────────┐
│ Web App │────▶│ API Tier │────▶│ Database │
│ (IIS/Web) │ │ (.NET) │ │ (SQL Server)│
└─────────────┘ └─────────────┘ └─────────────┘
 │ │
 ▼ ▼
┌─────────────┐ ┌─────────────┐
│ Auth │ │ Cache │
│ (Entra ID) │ │ (Redis) │
└─────────────┘ └─────────────┘

Migration Complexity Rating​

Compatibility Assessment​

FactorAssessmentNotes
OS Compatibility☐ Compatible ☐ Requires Upgrade ☐ Not Compatible____________
Virtualization Support☐ Supported ☐ Untested ☐ Not Supported____________
Hardware Dependencies☐ None ☐ USB ☐ Dongle ☐ Other: ____________________
License Portability☐ Portable ☐ Requires New License ☐ Unknown____________
Application Support☐ Vendor Supported ☐ Community ☐ End of Life____________

Migration Complexity Score​

Rate each factor 1-5 (1=Low complexity, 5=High complexity):

FactorScore (1-5)Notes
Technical Complexity__OS/app compatibility, dependencies
Data Volume__Amount of data to migrate
Downtime Sensitivity__Business tolerance for outage
Testing Requirements__Amount of validation needed
Rollback Complexity__Difficulty to revert if needed
Total Score__ / 25

Complexity Rating:

  • 5-10: Low complexity - Wave 1 candidate
  • 11-17: Medium complexity - Wave 2 candidate
  • 18-25: High complexity - Wave 3/4 candidate

Migration Method​

MethodDescriptionUse Case
☐ P2VPhysical to Virtual conversionPhysical servers to VM
☐ V2VVirtual to Virtual migrationVMware/Hyper-V to Azure Local
☐ Fresh InstallNew installation with data migrationLegacy apps, major upgrades
☐ ReplatformRebuild on new platformCloud-native transformation
☐ ContainerizePackage as containerModernization initiative

Migration Wave Planning​

Wave Assignments​

Organize applications into migration waves based on complexity and dependencies:

WaveTimelineCriteriaApplications
Wave 1Week 1-2Low complexity, few dependencies, non-critical________________________
Wave 2Week 3-4Medium complexity, some dependencies________________________
Wave 3Week 5-6Higher complexity, critical apps________________________
Wave 4Week 7-8Highest complexity, most dependencies________________________

Wave 1 Candidates (Pilot)​

Best candidates for initial migration:

  • Low business criticality (Tier 3)
  • Minimal dependencies
  • Standard OS and applications
  • Flexible maintenance window
  • Tolerant users for testing

Dependency Sequencing​

Ensure applications are migrated in the correct order:

  1. Infrastructure Services First: DNS, AD, authentication
  2. Database Tier: Migrate databases before dependent apps
  3. Middle Tier: API servers, application servers
  4. Frontend: Web servers, client-facing applications
  5. Dependent Services: Monitoring, backup, ancillary services

Workload Assessment Deliverables​

Per-Application Outputs​

  • Application inventory form completed
  • Resource requirements documented (CPU, RAM, storage, IOPS)
  • Network dependencies mapped
  • Security zone and compliance requirements identified
  • Performance baselines captured
  • Backup and DR requirements defined
  • Migration complexity rated
  • Migration wave assigned

Aggregate Outputs​

  • Total resource requirements summary (cluster sizing input)
  • Network design requirements summary
  • Complete dependency map
  • Migration wave schedule
  • Risk assessment summary
  • Compliance requirements matrix

Next Steps​

After completing workload assessment:

  1. Proceed to Data Consolidation to organize all discovery findings
  2. Update cluster sizing based on aggregate resource requirements
  3. Finalize migration schedule with application owners
  4. Create migration runbooks for each application wave