Azure ARC SQL Migration Assessment gives different feedback

Hello Tim Braes,

It looks like you're facing some confusion with the Azure ARC SQL migration assessment providing different feedback for the same server configurations. Here’s what you might want to consider:

Understanding the Different Feedback

1. Assessment Factors: The assessment takes into account several parameters, including performance metrics, compatibility, and specific configurations of your SQL Server instance. If you're receiving varying recommendations, it could be due to differences in the performance data collected, or the assessment's interpretation of your server's workload capabilities.
2. Data Collection: Ensure that you have enough performance data leading up to the assessment. If the data points available to the assessment are sparse or if the SQL server hasn’t been profiled for a sufficient period, it may provide inconsistent results. Performance metrics are collected every 30 seconds and aggregated every 10 minutes, so it might help to let the system run longer to gather comprehensive data.

About Flowcharts

Currently, there is no specific flowchart available for understanding why certain decisions are made in the Azure SQL assessment. However, you can verify the results against known guidelines and troubleshooting measures:

• Confidence Rating: The confidence rating of your assessment can give insights into the reliability of the feedback. A low confidence rating indicates that there may not be enough data points for an accurate assessment.
• Feature Compatibility Check: The readiness for your SQL instances is evaluated against feature compatibility with the targeted Azure SQL deployment type. This can lead to varying results based on the specific configurations being assessed.

Recommendations

1. Recalculate the Assessment: If you’ve made any changes to your SQL server configuration, it’s a good idea to recalculate the assessment to reflect those changes.
2. Review Performance Data: Check whether performance data is consistently being collected as expected and verify that your SQL instances are visible in the Azure Migrate portal.
3. Consult Documentation: You can refer to Azure SQL assessment recommendations for deeper insights into how the assessments are calculated and what factors influence the recommendations.

Follow-Up Questions

If you still see discrepancies or want to dive deeper, consider answering the following:

• How long has the assessment been running, and how frequently do you recalculate it?
• Have you made recent changes to your SQL Server configurations that might affect the assessment?
• Are you receiving additional information or error messages along with the differing feedback?
• Can you confirm that no performance data is being missed during the assessment process?

I hope this helps resolve your confusion about the feedback from the Azure ARC SQL migration assessment! If you have any more questions or need further clarification, feel free to ask!