Enterprise open source Toolkit

How to avoid a Linux-migration disaster

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Jack Wallen Tech Republic

Published: 14 Nov 2008 15:02 GMT

…the USB sub-system automatically detect the insertion and ask whether you want to view the contents in a new window. Most of the time, viewing the contents in a new window mounts the device for you.

Once you are done with the device, you just have to follow through with the 'safely remove' action your desktop demands. Without this 'safely remove' action, your data most probably will not be written to the device.

If you have users who employ removable media often, you will want to make sure you deploy a distribution that has a more seamless removable-media system, such as Mandriva. Otherwise, skip the migration.

6. Is your hardware supported?
Generally speaking, this isn't such an issue any longer. However, for larger corporations that try to cut costs by going with cheaper hardware, it can still be a big concern.

Most often, the suspect hardware will be an onboard video card. Normally, that would be a cheap fix but, when your company is looking at migrations of more than 100 machines, replacing video cards can be a costly endeavour.

There are other issues to consider here. Deploying laptops will be the biggest hurdle. Will your wireless card work? Will video work? Will sound work? Hibernation/suspend could easily be the deal-breaker.

Fortunately, the Linux operating system benefits from the LiveCD phenomenon, so you can download an ISO image, boot from the LiveCD and find out, at first hand, whether your hardware is supported. If it isn't, you have your answer.

7. Are you using Active Directory?
If your organisation is large enough to require Active Directory, it is important to realise that the process of migrating from Active Directory to OpenLDAP is unwieldy, and some Active Directory functionality is not compatible with OpenLDAP.

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This does not necessarily mean Active Directory is superior to OpenLDAP.

If you have an enterprise-level Active Directory deployment and you're looking to migrate to the same size OpenLDAP deployment, you can manage it with pwdump2 and ActiveState Perl. But don't expect the migration to be a simple execution of a single command or the click of a button. This is one migration criterion that should be the focus of an IT meeting or two before a decision is made.

8. Do you outsource your helpdesk support?
Many larger companies pay to outsource helpdesk support. If this is the case for your company, you would be well advised to do a little research before you make the move to Linux.

If your company plans on migrating to Linux via Ubuntu (Canonical), Red Hat or Suse (Novell) Linux, you're in luck and can purchase support. If you go with a different distribution — for example, Debian — you won't find nearly the same level of help. There are other sources of support, such as mailing lists, but you will not get the same level of support that you are accustomed to.

9. Are you subject to licensing fees for software?
If you pay for contract licences for security software, you're going to be out of that money, because you probably won't need to deploy those services.

There are a number of security services you simply won't need when the migration is complete. If you're still paying for a contract, it would be best to manage the migration so that it coincides with the contract expiration.

10. Do some of your employees fit the Linux user experience more than others?
This is where you can control a partial migration, and do it intelligently and effectively.

There are most certainly employees in your company who fit the bill for the migration. For example, some of your employees may do only web-browser work; they will be perfect candidates for migration because, on the user level, web browsers do not differ much. For such employees, the migration will, for the most part, be totally transparent.

You could also consider users who mostly do office-suite work, such as word-processing or spreadsheet tasks. For them, the difference between OpenOffice and Microsoft Office will be mostly aesthetic.

On the other hand, there will be users who would not be good targets for migration, such as those using proprietary software.

Proceed with caution
Clearly, a migration of this magnitude deserves careful consideration and study. Evaluating these criteria before migrating to Linux could possibly save you from disaster. After all, in this economy, an IT disaster could spell corporate failure.

Credit: 10 questions to ask before migrating to Linux from TechRepublic.com