Rackspace and AWS are different: Rackspace manages hosting, cloud services, and IT infrastructure management. AWS provides cloud computing services, including storage, networking, application hosting, etc. Still, many organizations want to migrate from Rackspace to AWS. If your reasons to transfer your emails from a Rackspace mailbox is to move to Amazon WorkMail. In this guide, I am going to explain how you can perform a Rackspace to AWS migration for mailboxes.
Note: Amazon will end its WorkMail support in March 2027. So, it will be good to migrate your WorkMail emails to a safe place.
Why Switch from Rackspace to AWS?
There are several reasons why a business has to move its data from Rackspace to Amazon, because of the flexibility, scalability, and other reasons. Below are the major reasons for this process.
- In AWS, organizations can increase the scale of computing, storage, and other infrastructure resources as per their workload. So, increase in resource demand when moving from Rackspace.
- The pricing and purchasing options of AWS are flexible, where you can select from multiple options according to your workloads and manage capacity.
- It gives you various range of services like computing, storage, databases, networking, security, analytics, monitoring, etc. These services help the business in different operations.
Rackspace vs AWS – Key Differences
To understand more about the migration between these two. I am going to explain the key differences between these services.
| Features | Rackspace | Amazon Web Services |
|---|---|---|
| Infrastructure | Offers managed hosting, cloud infrastructure, and IT services. | Contains extensive infrastructure and platform services. |
| Expandability | It provides you with flexible cloud and hosting solutions based on your environment. | The services are expandable as per your workloads, like scaling computing, storage, database, etc. |
| Pricing Structure | The prices vary according to the managed services, hosting environment, and the resources you use. | It offers multiple pricing and purchasing models. Such as pay-as-you-go and commitment-based. |
| Storage options | Gives you cloud and managed storage options. | Provides you with different storage options in Amazon S3, Amazon EBS, and Amazon EFS services. |
Prepare Rackspace Mailbox for Migration
To start the procedure, you have to first prepare the mailbox that you want to transfer. For this:
- You must have the proper credentials for your Rackspace mailbox for authentication.
- Check whether you can access your mailbox easily or not.
- Make sure your IMAP is properly enabled in your Rackspace account.
- Remove any unnecessary and duplicate emails from the mailbox.
- If you are transferring multiple accounts, note down all the source mailboxes.
- Backup Rackspace emails properly so that you can restore your data when it is needed.
Create Destination AWS Mailboxes for Migration
You also need the destination mailboxes where you move all your Rackspace emails. For this, you have to create them on your own by following these steps.
- In your destination AWS or Amazon WorkMail, create the required mailboxes or accounts.
- Ensure that each account is working properly and receiving emails.
- Properly verify that you can authenticate each account.
- Also, write down the destination server and details. And make sure each account has sufficient storage to store the Rackspace emails.
Are you ready for Rackspace to AWS migration? In the upcoming sections, I am going to explain how you can migrate your mailbox from Rackspace to AWS.
How to Migrate Rackspace Email to AWS Manually?
When we talk about manually transferring your emails, you need an email client like Outlook or Thunderbird to connect to both Rackspace and Amazon WorkMail. Then you can move them. Here are the ways to do it.
- Log in to your desktop email client and go to the account settings.
- Select the Add Account button. Then, enter the Rackspace email address.
- Provide the details of the server settings and then follow the prompts to configure your Rackspace account. With these same steps, add your AWS email account.
- Once you have properly synced both accounts, move the emails from the Rackspace folder to AWS using the drag-and-drop option.
Rackspace Email to AWS Migration via Professional Software
IMAP is a great way to move your Rackspace emails to an AWS destination. To transfer your mailbox, first prepare your Rackspace mailbox and your destination Amazon WorkMail. Then, download the IMAP Migration Tool by SysTools to move your complete mailbox. With this software, you can easily move multiple user accounts while also preserving the original emails. To know how it works, follow the steps below.
Instructions to use the Software
- Start by downloading and installing the software.
- After running the tool, you will see that IMAP is already selected, and the Email option as well. If you want, you can apply a date filter for selective migration.
- Then, go to the source dashboard, select the Other option from the list of IMAP servers.
- Provide the server URL and port. Then, click the Validate button.
- In the destination, choose Amazon WorkMail, then click the Validate button.
- Add your source and destination user IDs using the template file. Then, click Start migration.
Conclusion
Here, I have explained how you can migrate emails from Rackspace to AWS. First, I have explained why users are switching and discussed the comparison between them. Then, I explained ways to prepare your Rackspace and AWS environment for the migration. Then, provide the manual method to move the mailbox for free. Also, introduce a professional tool that can make the process much easier.