Dedicated Migration Servers
Content Matrix can be installed on dedicated migration servers to facilitate maximum resource utilization in migrations whenever possible. In this configuration, Content Matrix can then be remotely pointed at the target SharePoint farm.
NOTE: This deployment scenario will require the installation of the Metalogix Extensions Web Service adapter on the target SharePoint server (as defined in the Connection Adapters section of this document). This will allow for remote connections to the SharePoint Object Model (OM).
Load balancing can be effectively used in this case to ensure that migration requests from Content Matrix will be properly balanced to WFE servers in the target farm based on utilization.
The number of migration servers that can be utilized should be managed to ensure that the target SharePoint server can effectively handle all of the migration requests. Generally a one to one correlation with WFE servers is recommended.
If load balancing is not being used on the target farm, migration servers can be directly pointed at specific WFE servers to ensure maximum concurrent throughput. See below image:
Installation on WFE Servers
When dedicated migration servers are unavailable, Content Matrix can be directly installed on WFE servers. In this configuration, Content Matrix can use the local OM adapter for connections.
In this configuration, load balancing will be bypassed due to Content Matrix utilizing only the local WFE OM for migrations.
It is recommended that Content Matrix be installed on the maximum number of idle WFE servers in order to maximize throughput.
NOTE: If WFE servers are already servicing user requests in a production environment, extreme care should be taken to ensure that the user experience is not impacted. Due to the potential resource utilization of Content Matrix on the host server, it is recommended that migrations via the application never be run on a production WFE outside of a maintenance window.
Scaling Up
Scaling up is the process of adding additional hardware to a single migration machine in order to facilitate faster copies.
In general, scaling up is only recommended to the point specified in the hardware best practices section below. It is more efficient to scale out the migration infrastructure and parallelize migration instead of overly increasing resources on a single machine.
Connection Adapters
There are four primary adapter types available in Content Matrix for connections to SharePoint on premises environments. They are defined below: