Pre-Staging Migration
Distribute migration workload before your cutover date.
Pre-Staging Timeline
Overview
A pre-staging migration is a multi-pass process that transfers most mailbox content before the final cutover. This approach is particularly useful if network bandwidth is low and you estimate that you won't be able to complete your migration during a single weekend or maintenance window.
When to Use Pre-Staging
- → Large mailboxes that take days to migrate
- → Limited bandwidth during business hours
- → Need to minimize cutover downtime
- → Phased migration approach
Migration Process
1 Initial Pre-Stage Phase
During the days or weeks before cutover, migrate the bulk of your data:
- • Emails up to a specific date
- • Calendars and contacts
- • Historical data that won't change
2 Normal Operations Continue
Users continue working in the source system. New emails arrive and calendar entries are created as normal. These will be captured in the final pass.
3 Final Delta Pass
On cutover day, run a quick secondary migration capturing only the remaining items:
- ✓ New emails since pre-stage
- ✓ Updated calendar entries
- ✓ New contacts
Key Benefits
✓ No Duplicates
Cloudiway tracks migrated items, allowing multiple delta passes without duplicating content in the target.
✓ Flexible Date Filtering
Configure specific date ranges to control which items migrate during each pass of the migration.
✓ Reduced Bandwidth Impact
Distribute the migration workload across multiple sessions rather than one large transfer.
✓ Minimal Cutover Time
Final migration pass is quick since only recent changes need to be transferred.
Configuration
Pre-Stage Configuration
Set an "End" date for the pre-staging phase to capture all items created before that point:
| From Date | Leave empty (all historical) |
| End Date | Set to a date before cutover (e.g., last Friday) |
Final Pass Configuration
For the final pass, remove the end date and set the previous cutoff as the "From" date:
| From Date | Previous pre-stage end date |
| End Date | Remove (migrate to present) |