Use DTS to synchronize data from an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance to a DataHub project - Data Transmission Service

This topic describes how to synchronize data from an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance to a DataHub project by using Data Transmission Service (DTS).

Prerequisites

The source ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance is created. For more information, see Create an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance.
Important
For more information about the SQL Server versions that are supported by the source ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance, see Overview of data synchronization scenarios.
DataHub is activated and a project is created to receive the data to be synchronized. For more information, see Get started with DataHub and Manage projects.
If the source ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance meets one of the following conditions, we recommend that you split the synchronization task into multiple subtasks:
- The source instance contains more than 10 databases.
- A single database of the source instance backs up its logs at an interval of less than 1 hour.
- A single database of the source instance executes more than 100 DDL statements each hour.
- Logs are written at a rate of 20 MB/s for a single database of the source instance.
- The change data capture (CDC) feature needs to be enabled for more than 1,000 tables in the source ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance.

Usage notes

Note

DTS does not synchronize foreign keys in the source database to the destination database. Therefore, the cascade and delete operations of the source database are not synchronized to the destination database.

Limit type	Description
Limits on the source database	The tables to be synchronized must have PRIMARY KEY or UNIQUE constraints and all fields must be unique. Otherwise, the destination database may contain duplicate data records. If you select tables as the objects to be synchronized and you want to edit the tables in the destination database, such as renaming tables or columns, you can synchronize up to 5,000 tables in a single data synchronization task. If you run a task to synchronize more than 5,000 tables, a request error occurs. In this case, we recommend that you configure multiple tasks to synchronize the tables or configure a task to synchronize the entire database. A single data synchronization task can synchronize data from up to 10 databases. If you want to synchronize data from more than 10 databases, we recommend that you configure multiple tasks to synchronize the data. Otherwise, the performance and stability of your data synchronization task may be compromised. DTS uses the fn_log function to obtain logs of the source database. However, this function has performance bottlenecks. Therefore, we recommend that you do not clear the logs of the source database before the task is complete. Otherwise, the task may fail. The following requirements for data logs must be met: The data logging feature must be enabled. The backup mode must be set to Full and full physical backup must be performed. If you perform only incremental data synchronization, the data logs of the source database must be retained for more than 24 hours. If you perform both full data synchronization and incremental data synchronization, the data logs of the source database must be retained for at least seven days. Otherwise, DTS may fail to obtain the data logs and the task may fail. In some cases, data inconsistency or loss may even occur. After full data synchronization is complete, you can set the retention period to more than 24 hours. Make sure that you set the retention period of data logs based on the preceding requirements. Otherwise, the service reliability or performance stated in the service level agreement (SLA) of DTS may not be guaranteed. If CDC needs to be enabled for the tables to be synchronized from the source database, make sure that the tables meet the following requirements. Otherwise, the precheck fails. The value of the srvname field in the sys.sysservers view is the same as the return value of the SERVERPROPERTY function. If the source database is a self-managed SQL Server database, the database owner must be the sa user. If the source database is an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server database, the database owner must be the sqlsa user. If the source database is of the Enterprise edition, you must use SQL Server 2008 or later. If the source database is of the Standard edition, you must use SQL Server 2016 SP1 or later. If the source database is of the Standard or Enterprise edition and its version is SQL Server 2017, we recommend that you update the version. In hybrid log-based parsing mode, you cannot perform multiple operations to add columns to or remove columns from the source database within 10 minutes. For example, if you execute the following SQL statements within 10 minutes, an error is reported for the task. `ALTER TABLE test_table DROP COLUMN Flag; ALTER TABLE test_table ADD Remark nvarchar(50) not null default('');` During schema synchronization, do not perform DDL operations to change the schemas of databases or tables. Otherwise, the data synchronization task fails. If the source database is an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance that runs SQL Server Web edition, you must set the SQL Server Incremental Synchronization Mode parameter to Incremental Synchronization Based on Logs of Source Database (Heap tables are not supported) when you configure the task.
Other limits	Only incremental synchronization and schema synchronization are supported. Full synchronization is not supported. A single string in the destination DataHub project cannot exceed 2 MB in length. Requirements for the objects to be synchronized: DTS supports initial schema synchronization for the following types of objects: schema, table, view, function, and procedure. Warning The source and destination databases are heterogeneous databases. The data types that they support do not have one-to-one correspondence. In this case, the task may fail or data loss may occur. We recommend that you evaluate the impact of data type conversion on your business. For more information, see Data type mappings for schema synchronization. DTS does not synchronize the schemas of the following objects: assemblies, service brokers, full-text indexes, full-text catalogs, distributed schemas, distributed functions, CLR stored procedures, CLR scalar-valued functions, CLR table-valued functions, internal tables, systems, and aggregate functions. DTS does not synchronize the following types of data: CURSOR, ROWVERSION, SQL_VARIANT, HIERARCHYID, POLYGON, GEOMETRY, and GEOGRAPHY. DTS does not synchronize tables that contain computed columns. In Incremental Synchronization Based on Logs of Source Database mode, DTS creates a trigger named dts_cdc_sync_ddl, a heartbeat table named dts_sync_progress, and a DDL history table named dts_cdc_ddl_history in the source database to ensure that the latency of data synchronization is accurate. In hybrid log-based parsing incremental synchronization mode, DTS creates a trigger named dts_cdc_sync_ddl, a heartbeat table named dts_sync_progress, and a DDL history table named dts_cdc_ddl_history and enables CDC for the source database and specific tables. We recommend that you set the maximum number of records per second to 1,000 for the tables for which CDC is enabled in the source database. Before you synchronize data, evaluate the impact of data synchronization on the performance of the source and destination databases. We recommend that you synchronize data during off-peak hours. During initial full data synchronization, DTS uses the read and write resources of the source and destination databases. This may increase the loads on the database servers. During full data synchronization, concurrent INSERT operations cause fragmentation in the tables of the destination database. After full data synchronization is complete, the size of the used tablespace of the destination database is larger than that of the source database. Data inconsistency between the source and destination databases occurs if data from other sources is written to the destination database during data synchronization. For example, if you use DMS to execute online DDL statements while data from other sources is written to the destination database, data loss may occur in the destination database. If the data synchronization task involves incremental data synchronization, DTS does not allow you to perform the reindexing operation. If you perform the reindexing operation, the data synchronization task may fail and data loss may occur. Note DTS cannot synchronize DDL operations related to the primary key of a table for which change data capture (CDC) is enabled. If the number of tables for which CDC is enabled is greater than 1,000 in a data synchronization task, the precheck fails. When you modify the objects to be synchronized, you cannot add or remove databases.
Special cases	If the source instance is an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance, DTS automatically creates an account named `rdsdt_dtsacct` on the ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance. This account is used for data synchronization. Do not delete this account or change the password of this account when your data synchronization task is running. Otherwise, the task may fail. For more information, see System accounts.

Billing

Synchronization type	Task configuration fee
Schema synchronization and full data synchronization	Free of charge.
Incremental data synchronization	Charged. For more information, see Billing overview.

Supported synchronization topologies

One-way one-to-one synchronization
One-way one-to-many synchronization
One-way many-to-one synchronization

For more information about the synchronization topologies supported by DTS, see Synchronization topologies.

SQL operations that can be synchronized

Operation type	SQL statement
DML	INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE Note If an UPDATE operation updates only the large fields, DTS does not synchronize the operation.

Permissions required for database accounts

Database type	Required permissions	References
Source ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance	Owner permissions on the objects to be synchronized	Create a privileged account or a standard account and Modify the permissions of an account.

Procedure

Go to the Data Synchronization Tasks page.
1. Log on to the Data Management (DMS) console.
2. In the top navigation bar, click DTS.
3. In the left-side navigation pane, choose DTS (DTS) > Data Synchronization.
Note
- Operations may vary based on the mode and layout of the DMS console. For more information, see Simple mode and Customize the layout and style of the DMS console.
- You can also go to the Data Synchronization Tasks page of the new DTS console.
On the right side of Data Synchronization Tasks, select the region in which the data synchronization instance resides.
Note
If you use the new DTS console, you must select the region in which the data synchronization instance resides in the top navigation bar.

Click Create Task. On the Create Task page, configure the source and destination databases. The following table describes the parameters.

Section	Parameter	Description
N/A	Task Name	The name of the DTS task. DTS automatically generates a task name. We recommend that you specify a descriptive name that makes it easy to identify the task. You do not need to specify a unique task name.
Source Database	Select an existing DMS database instance. (Optional. If you have not registered a DMS database instance, ignore this option and configure database settings in the section below.)	The database instance that you want to use. You can choose whether to use an existing instance based on your business requirements. If you select an existing instance, DTS automatically populates the parameters for the database. If you do not select an existing instance, you must manually configure parameters for the database.
	Database Type	The type of the source. Select SQL Server.
	Access Method	The access method of the source database. Select Alibaba Cloud Instance.
	Instance Region	The region in which the source ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance resides.
	Replicate Data Across Alibaba Cloud Accounts	Specifies whether data is synchronized across Alibaba Cloud accounts. In this example, No is selected.
	RDS Instance ID	The ID of the source ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance.
	Database Account	The database account of the source ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance. For more information about the permissions that are required for the account, see the Permissions required for database accounts section of this topic.
	Database Password	The password that is used to access the database instance.
	Encryption	Specifies whether to encrypt the connection to the source database. Select Non-encrypted or SSL-encrypted based on your business requirements. If SSL encryption is not enabled for the source database, select Non-encrypted. If SSL encryption is enabled for the source database, select SSL-encrypted. By default, DTS trusts the server certificate.
Destination Database	Select an existing DMS database instance. (Optional. If you have not registered a DMS database instance, ignore this option and configure database settings in the section below.)	The database instance that you want to use. You can choose whether to use an existing instance based on your business requirements. If you select an existing instance, DTS automatically populates the parameters for the database. If you do not select an existing instance, you must manually configure parameters for the database.
	Database Type	The type of the destination database. Select DataHub.
	Access Method	The access method of the destination database. Select Alibaba Cloud Instance.
	Instance Region	The region in which the destination DataHub project resides.
	Project	The name of the destination DataHub Project.

In the lower part of the page, click Test Connectivity and Proceed.
If the source or destination database is an Alibaba Cloud database instance, such as an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL or ApsaraDB for MongoDB instance, DTS automatically adds the CIDR blocks of DTS servers to the whitelist of the instance. If the source or destination database is a self-managed database hosted on an Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instance, DTS automatically adds the CIDR blocks of DTS servers to the security group rules of the ECS instance, and you must ensure that the ECS instance can access the database. If the source or destination database is a self-managed database that is deployed in a data center or provided by a third-party cloud service provider, you must manually add the CIDR blocks of DTS servers to the whitelist of the database to allow DTS to access the database. For more information, see Add the CIDR blocks of DTS servers.
Warning
If the CIDR blocks of DTS servers are automatically or manually added to the whitelist of the database or instance, or to the ECS security group rules, security risks may arise. Therefore, before you use DTS to synchronize data, you must understand and acknowledge the potential risks and take preventive measures, including but not limited to the following measures: enhancing the security of your username and password, limiting the ports that are exposed, authenticating API calls, regularly checking the whitelist or ECS security group rules and forbidding unauthorized CIDR blocks, or connecting the database to DTS by using Express Connect, VPN Gateway, or Smart Access Gateway.

Configure the objects to be synchronized and advanced settings.

Parameter	Description
Synchronization Types	By default, Incremental Data Synchronization is selected. You must also select Schema Synchronization.
Processing Mode of Conflicting Tables	Precheck and Report Errors: checks whether the destination database contains tables that have the same names as tables in the source database. If the source and destination databases do not contain tables that have identical table names, the precheck is passed. Otherwise, an error is returned during the precheck, and the data synchronization task cannot be started. Note If the source and destination databases contain tables with identical names and the tables in the destination database cannot be deleted or renamed, you can use the object name mapping feature to rename the tables that are synchronized to the destination database. For more information, see Map object names. Ignore Errors and Proceed: skips the precheck for identical table names in the source and destination databases. Warning If you select Ignore Errors and Proceed, data inconsistency may occur and your business may be exposed to potential risks. If the source and destination databases have the same schema and a data record in the destination database has the same primary key value or unique key value as a data record in the source database: During full data migration, DTS does not migrate the data record to the destination database. The existing data record in the destination database is retained. During incremental data synchronization, DTS synchronizes the data record to the destination database. The existing data record in the destination database is overwritten. If the source and destination databases have different schemas, data may fail to be initialized. In this case, only some columns are synchronized, or the data synchronization task fails. Proceed with caution.
Naming Rules of Additional Columns	When DTS synchronizes data to a DataHub project, DTS adds additional columns to the destination topic. If the names of additional columns are the same as those of existing columns in the destination topic, the data synchronization task fails. You can set the Naming Rules of Additional Columns parameter to New Rule or Previous Rule based on your business requirements. Warning Before you set this parameter, check whether additional columns and existing columns in the destination topic have name conflicts. Otherwise, the data synchronization task may fail or data may be lost. For more information, see the Naming rules for additional columns section of the Modify the naming rules for additional columns topic.
Capitalization of Object Names in Destination Instance	The capitalization of database names, table names, and column names in the destination instance. By default, DTS default policy is selected. You can select other options to ensure that the capitalization of object names is consistent with that in the source or destination database. For more information, see Specify the capitalization of object names in the destination instance.
Source Objects	Select one or more objects from the Source Objects section and click the icon to add the objects to the Selected Objects section. Note You can select columns, tables, or databases as objects to synchronize. If you select tables or columns as the objects to be synchronized, DTS does not synchronize other objects such as views, triggers, and stored procedures to the destination database.
Selected Objects	To rename an object that you want to synchronize to the destination instance, right-click the object in the Selected Objects section. For more information, see the Map the name of a single object section of the Map object names topic. To rename multiple objects at a time, click Batch Edit in the upper-right corner of the Selected Objects section. For more information, see the Map multiple object names at a time section of the Map object names topic. Note To select SQL operations performed on a specific database or table, right-click an object in the Selected Objects section. In the dialog box that appears, select the SQL operations that you want to synchronize. For more information, see the SQL operations that can be synchronized section of this topic. To specify WHERE conditions to filter data, right-click an object in the Selected Objects section. In the dialog box that appears, specify the conditions. For more information, see Set filter conditions. If you use the object name mapping feature to rename an object, other objects that depend on the object may fail to be synchronized.

Click Next: Advanced Settings to configure advanced settings.

Parameter	Description
Dedicated Cluster for Task Scheduling	By default, DTS schedules tasks to shared clusters. You do not need to configure this parameter. If you want to improve the stability of data migration tasks, purchase a dedicated cluster. For more information, see What is a DTS dedicated cluster.
Set Alerts	Specifies whether to configure alerting for the data synchronization task. If the task fails or the synchronization latency exceeds the specified threshold, alert contacts will receive notifications. Valid values: No: does not enable alerting. Yes: configures alerting. In this case, you must also configure the alert threshold and alert contacts. For more information, see Configure monitoring and alerting when you create a DTS task.
Retry Time for Failed Connections	The retry time range for failed connections. If the source or destination database fails to be connected after the data synchronization task is started, DTS immediately retries a connection within the time range. Valid values: 10 to 1440. Unit: minutes. Default value: 720. We recommend that you set this parameter to a value greater than 30. If DTS reconnects to the source and destination databases within the specified time range, DTS resumes the data synchronization task. Otherwise, the data synchronization task fails. Note If you specify different retry time ranges for multiple data synchronization tasks that have the same source or destination database, the shortest retry time range takes precedence. When DTS retries a connection, you are charged for the DTS instance. We recommend that you specify the retry time range based on your business requirements. You can also release the DTS instance at your earliest opportunity after the source and destination instances are released.
Retry Time for Other Issues	The retry time range for other issues. For example, if the DDL or DML operations fail to be performed after the data synchronization task is started, DTS immediately retries the operations within the time range. Valid values: 1 to 1440. Unit: minutes. Default value: 10. We recommend that you set this parameter to a value greater than 10. If the failed operations are successfully performed within the specified time range, DTS resumes the data synchronization task. Otherwise, the data synchronization task fails. Important The value of the Retry Time for Other Issues parameter must be smaller than the value of the Retry Time for Failed Connections parameter.
Enable Throttling for Incremental Data Synchronization	Specifies whether to enable throttling for incremental data synchronization. You can enable throttling for incremental data synchronization based on your business requirements. To configure throttling, you must configure the RPS of Incremental Data Synchronization and Data synchronization speed for incremental synchronization (MB/s) parameters. This reduces the load on the destination database server.
Environment Tag	The environment tag that is used to identify the DTS instance. You can select an environment tag based on your business requirements. In this example, you do not need to configure this parameter.
Configure ETL	Specifies whether to enable the extract, transform, and load (ETL) feature. For more information, see What is ETL? Valid values: Yes: configures the ETL feature. You can enter data processing statements in the code editor. For more information, see Configure ETL in a data migration or data synchronization task. No: does not configure the ETL feature.

Save the task settings and run a precheck.
- To view the parameters to be specified when you call the relevant API operation to configure the DTS task, move the pointer over Next: Save Task Settings and Precheck and click Preview OpenAPI parameters.
- If you do not need to view or have viewed the parameters, click Next: Save Task Settings and Precheck in the lower part of the page.
Note
- Before you can start the data synchronization task, DTS performs a precheck. You can start the data synchronization task only after the task passes the precheck.
- If the data synchronization task fails the precheck, click View Details next to each failed item. After you analyze the causes based on the check results, troubleshoot the issues. Then, rerun the precheck.
- If an alert is triggered for an item during the precheck:
  If an alert item cannot be ignored, click View Details next to the failed item and troubleshoot the issue. Then, run a precheck again.
  If an alert item can be ignored, click Confirm Alert Details. In the View Details dialog box, click Ignore. In the message that appears, click OK. Then, click Precheck Again to run a precheck again. If you ignore the alert item, data inconsistency may occur, and your business may be exposed to potential risks.
Wait until the Success Rate becomes 100%. Then, click Next: Purchase Instance.

On the buy page, configure the Billing Method and Instance Class parameters for the data synchronization instance. The following table describes the parameters.

Section	Parameter	Description
New Instance Class	Billing Method	Subscription: You pay for a subscription when you create a data synchronization instance. The subscription billing method is more cost-effective than the pay-as-you-go billing method for long-term use. Pay-as-you-go: A pay-as-you-go instance is billed on an hourly basis. The pay-as-you-go billing method is suitable for short-term use. If you no longer require a pay-as-you-go data synchronization instance, you can release the instance to reduce costs.
	Resource Group Settings	The resource group to which the data synchronization instance belongs. Default value: default resource group. For more information, see What is Resource Management?
	Instance Class	DTS provides instance classes that vary in synchronization speed. You can select an instance class based on your business requirements. For more information, see Instance classes of data synchronization instances.
	Subscription Duration	If you select the subscription billing method, specify the subscription duration and the number of data synchronization instances that you want to create. The subscription duration can be one to nine months, one year, two years, three years, or five years. Note This parameter is available only if you select the Subscription billing method.

Read and select the Data Transmission Service (Pay-as-you-go) Service Terms.
Click Buy and Start. In the dialog box that appears, click OK.
You can view the progress of the task in the task list.