When it comes to database migration, all organizations have one goal: making the switch as quickly, seamlessly, and securely as possible.
If you’re in the AWS cloud, that’s where AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) comes in handy. We briefly touched on this service in another blog, AWS 101: A Look at AWS Database Services, which gave you a basic overview of the service.
Now let’s explore how to simplify your AWS database migration with one tool: AWS Database Migration Service.
What Is AWS Database Migration Service?
AWS DMS manages all of the complexities that come with typical database migrations. It ensures that your source database remains fully operational during the migration process without any changes to it in order to minimize downtime for the crucial apps that rely on this database.
It also supports both homogeneous and heterogeneous database migrations:
- Homogenous migrations are instances where you are migrating data between the same kind of databases, such as Oracle-to-Oracle migration.
- Conversely, in heterogeneous migrations, DMS will transfer data between different types of databases, such as Oracle to Amazon Aurora or Amazon Redshift, for example.
AWS Database Migration Service is tried and true — Amazon Web Services reports that users have successfully migrated more than 350,000 databases using DMS, proving its reliability, consistency, and efficiency.
What Are the Other Benefits of AWS Database Migration Service?
In addition to keeping your source database running during both homogeneous and heterogeneous migrations, AWS Database Service eases a number of other process-related pain points.
A Simplified Process
You don’t need to install any drivers or software for your migrations — instead, you simplify AWS database migration by starting the process with just a few clicks. AWS notes that most data replication tasks can be set up in less than ten minutes in the AWS Management Console when you activate the Migration Wizard. You can do this in just a few steps:
- Specify your source and target endpoints.
- Select or create a replication instance.
- Accept default schema mapping rules or create your own.
One thing to keep in mind is that you can set up the process as a one-time migration or as an ongoing replication task. The latter method helps you keep your source and target databases in sync by continuously supplying the target database with source changes while maintaining minimal latency.
Migration Optimization
As soon as you complete the Wizard, your migration will begin. Once it does, DMS monitors your source and target endpoints, the replication instances, and network availability. It is highly resilient and self-healing, so if any disruption occurs, the process automatically restarts and continues from where it left off before the interruption — without affecting your source database.
If you have opted to do a one-time migration, you can switch your production environment over to the new database once the target is caught up with the source . If you choose to perform ongoing replication, the task will run until you change or end it, as it doesn’t stop and switch over automatically.
At-Scale Cost
When you use AWS DMS, you pay only for the services that you use during migration. You will also have to pay for any additional log storage. AWS indicates that database migration using DMS can cost as little as $3/terabyte for both homogeneous- and heterogeneous-supported database migrations.
Are You Ready To Kick Start Your Simplified Database Migration?
Migration and modernization are more attainable than you may think. By working with Onix, we can help you unlock your data’s potential, migrate your existing workload at-scale, and achieve business outcomes more efficiently. Kick-start your data migration and modernization journey today!
Dive into the many other services AWS offers with these blogs in our AWS 101 series:
- AWS 101: An Introduction to Modern Cloud Computing
- AWS 101: What is Amazon WorkSpaces?
- AWS 101: How Does Amazon EC2 Work in Cloud Computing?
- AWS 101: What is Amazon S3 and Why Should I Use It?
- AWS 101: How AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) Works
- AWS 101: How AWS Cloud Security Securely Protects Your Data
- AWS 101: Why You Should Be Deploying AWS Lambda to Run Code
- AWS 101: Using AWS Auto Scaling to Manage Infrastructure
- AWS 101: What is Amazon Route 53?
- AWS 101: What is Amazon S3 Glacier Storage?
- AWS 101: A Look at AWS Database Services
- AWS 101: Understanding Amazon Elastic Block Store
- AWS 101: Monitoring with Amazon CloudWatch
