This article answers frequently asked questions about Insane mode, data security, and Server extension installation.

Insane mode is a setting found in ShareGate Migrate that allows you to migrate or import your content and objects faster.

You can use Insane mode with both on-premises and Microsoft 365 environments.

With Microsoft 365, Insane mode uses Microsoft's Migration API to move larger volumes of data.

The migration API includes Azure storage at the destination to help with your content's transition.

This process also helps reduce throttling in your Microsoft 365 tenant.

In on-premises environments, Insane mode uses the Server Extension (version 1.8.3 or later) on your destination server to improve migration performance.

To learn more about how your content gets copied in Insane mode, see our SharePoint to SharePoint migration diagram.

The data that transitions through ShareGate Migrate is encrypted when you connect to a SharePoint site that uses HTTPS.

When you use Insane mode in a Microsoft 365 environment, Microsoft encrypts your content with AES CBC 256 Standard encryption when it is uploaded to your Azure storage.

For more information, see Encryption and security.

Yes, for on-premises migrations, we highly recommend installing the Server Extension on your production server, without exception. Please see our Server Extension checklist article for more information and instructions on installing it on your web front-end servers.

Insane mode generally has less of an impact on your server(s).

In Microsoft 365 (which does not require server extension installation), Insane mode allows ShareGate Migrate to quickly push files to Azure storage, where Microsoft sends them automatically to your destination in the same data center. Most of that transaction is hosted in the cloud, so there is minimal impact.

For an on-premises migration, Insane mode allows data to be retrieved faster than Normal mode, so though there will be an impact, it will again be minimal as long as you have the Server Extension installed (since this results in fewer calls per operation).

Always keep your performance options in mind. These are separate from Insane mode or Normal mode (Insane mode and Normal mode are migration settings, whereas performance options pertain to server requests). Play around with the performance options to find the number of simultaneous requests you can comfortably handle, minimizing the impact on your server. The setting can also be adjusted during a live migration, so you are in control the whole time.

When you change your migration speed from Normal mode to Insane mode, Insane mode will apply to all future migrations. If you change your migration speed during a migration, the change will not impact that specific migration.

You do not need to restart ShareGate for a change in migration speed to take effect.

When you cancel an Insane mode migration to a Microsoft 365 destination, your cancellation request may experience a delay while Microsoft 365 imports items from Azure.

In this case, your content is sent to temporary Azure storage along with instructions, and Microsoft 365 imports it into the appropriate list or library. At this point, the application waits for confirmation that the import process was successful.

If no progress is made on a task for over 24 hours, there may be an issue with the Azure queue, and you might not be able to remove the task in the app. If that happens, you can safely ignore the running task and re-attempt your operation.

When you retry the operation, we recommend reducing your migration scope and checking your network to ensure ShareGate Migrate can adequately communicate with Microsoft 365.

Open the migration report for the task. Look for rows with the value Content in the Type column, then examine the various Microsoft 365 Import columns for that item.

If they are populated with values, your migration was done in Insane mode.

Here are the most common limitations of Insane mode:

An Insane mode migration to Microsoft 365 is most beneficial for Copy content-only procedures. In a Copy structure and content, the majority of your site objects are re-created with the proper settings at the destination. The impact is lowered if most of the content is structural. Having the server extension properly installed always reduces the risk of potential issues.

You can access a full list of our migration limitations in the Limitations portion of the help center.