Azure Migrate is a hub of tools and services to aid with migrating workloads to the Azure cloud. The Server Assessment feature helps you assess your current environment for migration to Azure with two assessment options. Option one is to assess on-premise virtual machines, VMWare and Hyper-V, as well as physical servers. Option two is for assessing VMWare virtual machines for migrating to an Azure VMWare Solution. There are also two options for gathering information about your current machines. Importing a CSV file involves filling in a template with information about the on-premise servers. There are 4 mandatory fields in the template: server name, number of CPU cores, amount of memory, and the type of operating system the server is running. Optional fields include IP address, more OS information, CPU and memory utilization, boot type, and network metrics. The server's disk configuration can also be specified, with the number of discs, and for each disc, its size and performance metrics.

Alternatively, you can download an appliance to discover virtual and physical servers. In the case of VM discovery, the download is either a VHD image for Hyper-V or an OVA file for VMWare. Alternatively, you can download a zip file for VM types or physical machines. The zip file contains the installers for Hyper-V, VMware, and physical servers. The AzureMigrateInstaller PowerShell script runs the appropriate installers based on the content of the Scenario.json file, that is, HyperV, VMWare, or physical. VMware VMs need to be managed by vCenter Server 5.5 or higher to be discoverable by Server Assessment. For Hyper-V, the host machine's operating system must be Windows Server 2016 or newer, or Windows 2012 R2 with all the latest patches and updates installed.

Here, I've uploaded a CSV file with 3 Windows Server 2019 Hyper-V virtual machines. Once the file has been imported, it takes around 10 minutes before you can assess the machines. Start the assessment by clicking the Assess button. I've selected Azure VM as the type for the assessment details, and the discovery source is imported machines. Under Select machines to assess, I've given the assessment a name, created a new assessment group, and added all the imported machines to the group. Then it's just a case of reviewing and creating the assessment. After a few minutes, the assessment is ready to view. The overview displays overall Azure readiness and total costs. The Azure readiness tab is a breakdown by machine. The VM SKU isn't automatically deduced from the on-premise machines in the import file. I had to select the type of VM as part of the assessment setup. The cost detail is another by machine breakdown, splitting out compute and storage costs. By default, the assessment has given me standard hard drives with way more capacity than I specified in the import file. You can edit the properties and recalculate, although as soon as you save the changed properties, the assessment automatically refreshes. Quite a substantial change in cost, but of course, the new storage specs are insufficient for a typical SAP landscape. There is no shortage of tools within Azure and SAP to assist with landscape sizing, and some combination of the ones mentioned here will get you a long way towards deciding on what your new environment should look like.