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AWS Application Discovery Service is a tool provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that is designed to help organizations understand their on-premises application portfolio and infrastructure dependencies. Its primary purpose is to assist in the planning and execution of migrations to the cloud or data center consolidation efforts. Here's a closer look at the purpose and key features of AWS Application Discovery Service:

1. Inventory and Application Mapping:

   • The service helps you create a comprehensive inventory of your on-premises servers and applications. It identifies and maps the relationships between servers, applications, and their dependencies, providing a detailed view of your existing infrastructure.

2. Dependency Analysis:

   • AWS Application Discovery Service identifies the dependencies between servers and applications. Understanding these dependencies is crucial for planning migrations and ensuring that all components are moved together without causing disruptions.

3. Performance Metrics:

   • The service collects performance metrics and utilization data from your servers, helping you analyze resource consumption and performance bottlenecks. This data is valuable for making informed decisions about resource allocation in the cloud.

4. Migration Assessment:

   • Application Discovery Service assists in assessing the feasibility of migrating your on-premises applications to AWS. It helps in identifying compatibility issues and providing recommendations for optimizing your cloud infrastructure.

5. Cost Analysis:

   • By collecting data on your existing infrastructure, the service can assist in estimating the cost of running your applications in AWS. This is valuable for budget planning and cost comparison between on-premises and cloud environments.

6. Resource Identification:

   • It identifies server configurations, operating systems, and installed software, which is essential for planning migrations and provisioning equivalent resources in the cloud.

7. Tagging and Categorization:

   • You can add custom tags and categorizations to your discovered resources. This allows you to organize and group resources based on your own criteria, such as department or function.

8. Agent-Based and Agentless Discovery:

   • AWS Application Discovery Service supports both agent-based and agentless methods for collecting data, giving you flexibility in how you gather information about your infrastructure.

9. Integration with AWS Migration Services:

   • The data collected by Application Discovery Service can be integrated with other AWS migration services, such as AWS Migration Hub and AWS Server Migration Service. This simplifies the process of planning and executing migrations.

10. Security and Compliance:

    • The service is designed with security and compliance in mind. It encrypts data during transit and at rest, and you can configure access controls and permissions.

In summary, AWS Application Discovery Service plays a crucial role in understanding and documenting your on-premises application portfolio and infrastructure. It provides a foundation for informed decision-making when planning migrations to the cloud or data center consolidations. By offering detailed insights into your existing environment, dependencies, and resource utilization, it helps ensure a smoother and more efficient migration process.