Ascend.io Gen2 Migration

As technology evolves, so do we — and with Ascend.io Gen2, you'll experience an array of refined features, optimized performance, and improved reliability. This guide gives you a step-by-step walkthrough, ensuring your move is seamless and efficient.

Migration Steps

We've created a structured approach for migrating from Gen1 to Gen2. Following this approach means you'll have a hassle-free and efficient migration, leveraging the best of Ascend.io's capabilities.

Step 1: Audit Gen1 components.

• If Ascend hosts your Gen1 environment, Ascend leads the audit and shares the findings with you.
• If you host your Gen1 environment,, choose between two options:
  • allow Ascend limited access to conduct the audit for you, or
  • follow Ascend’s detailed instructions to carry out the audit in-house.

Step 2: Launch a new Gen2 environment.

• If you're using Ascend Cloud, Ascend launches a new environment. You'll need to provide an Iceberg bucket for data storage.
• If you're self-hosted, you need to provision a new environment in Ascend Cloud according to your cloud platform.
  • AWS
  • Azure
  • GCP

Step 3: Migrate Connections & Credentials.

• If you store credentials internally, you handle the migration.
• If you don't have access to your credentials, Ascend's team assists you in shifting from Gen1 to Gen2.

Step 4: Launch Custom Docker.

• You deploy a new Docker container, which generally takes about a week.

Step 5: Migrate Connectors.

• Ascend oversees the transition of all Read, Transform, and Write Connectors and associated Data Feeds. Once your Docker container is deployed, we'll begin migrating those components into the Gen2 environment with a paused status. Components in Gen2 will remain paused until the Gen2 environment is activated.
• Gen1 components will remain running during migration.

Step 6: Migrate Ascend-persisted data.

• Ascend helps you migrate any persisted data within the platform to Gen2, ensuring all functionalities remain intact.

Step 7: Validate your data.

• Unpause Gen2 Read Connector and Transform components and point them to Gen1 Write Connectors.
• Validate your data by comparing and spot-checking data points across your external sources. If needed, Ascend assists in the validation process.

Step 8: Active the Gen2 environment.

• Once data is validated, pause the Gen1 Write Connector, point Gen2 Read Connector and Transform components to the Gen2 Write Connector counterpart, and unpause.

Step 9: Deprecate the Gen1 environment.

• We'll place Gen1 in hibernation for two weeks. After two weeks, Ascend will decommission the Gen1 environment.

Migration Timeline

You can expect the migration to take less than 4 weeks.

Every client has unique needs. During migration, extra tasks may come up that extends your migration timeframe. Ascend is prepared to handle these and ensure a smooth transition.

Associated Costs

Ascend Cloud Enterprise Environments:
If you have an enterprise account with Ascend Cloud, both the Gen2 Infrastructure and Ascend processing costs are waived for you during the migration phase. This means you don't have to worry about these specific expenses while transitioning. This assumes you work with Ascend on Cluster Management optimizations. Making changes to the cluster settings during the migration efforts without aligning with the Ascend migration team can result in additional costs for you.

Dedicated Ascend on Customer Clouds:
If you have a dedicated Ascend environment with your own cloud account, you'll need to cover the infrastructure costs. The Gen2 Ascend processing costs, though, are still waived during migration. This means you should be prepared to budget for infrastructure expenses when you migrate to Gen2.

Communication

Ascend communicates with you primarily through Slack. If you aren’t on Slack, emails serve as the main communication method. After the kickoff, Ascend creates a temporary Slack channel named ascend_customer_gen2_migration for all migration-related discussions.

Escalation

During migration, keep in mind the following escalation points:

Field Engineering: Field engineering manages customer communications related to engineering tasks, resolves migration issues, answers queries, oversees the Gen1 audit, sets up Gen2 environments, and manages connector migrations.

Technical Project Manager: maintains communication with you, reports progress, and acts as the primary escalation point.

Customer Delivery: ensures the migration aligns with Ascend.io's strategy and serves as the secondary escalation point after the Technical Project Manager.