This topic describes how to use Data Transmission Service (DTS) to migrate data between ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instances. DTS supports schema migration, full data migration, and incremental data migration. When you configure a data migration task, you can select all of the supported migration methods to ensure business continuity.
Prerequisites
The source and destination ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instances are created. For information about the supported database versions, see Overview of data migration scenarios. For information about how to create an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance, see Create an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance.
ImportantIf the engine version of the source ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance is 2008 or 2008 R2, incremental data migration is not supported.
If the SQL Server Incremental Synchronization Mode parameter is set to Log-based Parsing for Non-heap Tables and CDC-based Incremental Synchronization for Heap Tables, data is migrated in hybrid log-based parsing mode and you can use one of the following engine versions for the source database:
Self-managed SQL Server or ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server database of the Enterprise or Enterprise Evaluation edition: version 2012, 2014, 2016, 2019, or 2022.
Self-managed SQL Server or ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server database of the Standard edition: version 2016, 2019, or 2022.
The available storage space of the destination ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance is larger than the total size of the data in the source ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance.
Multiple DTS instances are purchased to configure multiple data migration tasks if the source ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance meets one of the following conditions:
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
DTS does not migrate foreign keys in the source database to the destination database. Therefore, the cascade and delete operations of the source database are not migrated to the destination database.
Limit type | Description |
Limits on the source database |
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Other limits |
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Special cases |
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Billing
Migration type | Instance configuration fee | Internet traffic fee |
Schema migration and full data migration | Free of charge. | Charged only when data is migrated from Alibaba Cloud over the Internet. For more information, see Billing overview. |
Incremental data migration | Charged. For more information, see Billing overview. |
Migration types
Schema migration
DTS migrates the schemas of required objects from the source database to the destination database.
Full data migration
DTS migrates the historical data of the selected objects from the source database to the destination database.
Incremental data migration
After full data migration is complete, DTS migrates incremental data from the source database to the destination database. Incremental data migration allows data to be migrated smoothly without interrupting the services of self-managed applications.
SQL operations that support incremental migration
Operation type | SQL statement |
DML | INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE Note If an UPDATE operation updates only the large fields, DTS does not migrate the operation. |
DDL |
Note
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Permissions required for database accounts
Database type | Schema migration | Full data migration | Incremental data migration | References |
Source instance | The SELECT permission | The SELECT permission | The owner permission on the objects to be migrated | For more information, see Create databases and accounts. |
Destination instance | Read and write permissions | Read and write permissions | Read and write permissions |
Procedure
Go to the Data Migration Tasks page.
Log on to the Data Management (DMS) console.
In the top navigation bar, move the pointer over DTS.
Choose .
NoteThe actual 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 Migration page of the new DTS console.
From the drop-down list on the right side of Data Migration Tasks, select the region in which your data migration instance resides.
NoteIf you use the new DTS console, select the region in which the data migration instance resides in the top navigation bar.
Click Create Task to go to the task configuration page.
Optional. In the upper-right corner of the page, click New Configuration Page.
NoteSkip this step if the Back to Previous Version button is displayed in the upper-right corner of the page.
Specific parameters in the new and previous versions of the configuration page may be different. We recommend that you use the new version of the configuration page.
Configure the source and destination databases. The following table describes the parameters.
Section
Parameter
Description
N/A
Task Name
The name of the task. DTS automatically generates a task name. We recommend that you specify an informative name to identify the task. You do not need to specify a unique task name.
Source Database
Select an existing DMS database instance
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 configure the following database information.
Database Type
The type of the source database. 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 migrated 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 required permissions, 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 disabled 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
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 configure the following database information.
Database Type
The type of the destination database. Select SQL Server.
Access Method
The access method of the destination database. Select Alibaba Cloud Instance.
Instance Region
The region in which the destination ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance resides.
Instance ID
The ID of the destination ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance.
Database Account
The database account of the destination ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance. For more information about the required permissions, 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 destination database. Select Non-encrypted or SSL-encrypted based on your business requirements.
If SSL encryption is disabled for the destination database, select Non-encrypted.
If SSL encryption is enabled for the destination database, select SSL-encrypted. By default, DTS trusts the server certificate.
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 IP address 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 make sure that the ECS instance can access the database. If the self-managed database is hosted on multiple ECS instances, you must manually add the CIDR blocks of DTS servers to the security group rules of each ECS instance. 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 IP address whitelist of the database to allow DTS to access the database. For more information, see the CIDR blocks of DTS servers section of the Add the CIDR blocks of DTS servers topic.
WarningIf the public CIDR blocks of DTS servers are automatically or manually added to the whitelist of a database instance or to the security group rules of an ECS instance, security risks may arise. Therefore, before you use DTS to migrate 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 security group rules and forbidding unauthorized CIDR blocks, or connecting the database instance to DTS by using Express Connect, VPN Gateway, or Smart Access Gateway.
Configure the objects to be migrated.
On the Configure Objects page, configure the objects that you want to migrate.
Parameter
Description
Migration Types
To perform only full data migration, select Schema Migration and Full Data Migration.
To ensure service continuity during data migration, select Schema Migration, Full Data Migration, and Incremental Data Migration.
NoteIf you do not select Incremental Data Migration, we recommend that you do not write data to the source database during data migration. This ensures data consistency between the source and destination databases.
Method to Migrate Triggers in Source Database
The method that is used to migrate triggers from the source database. You can select a migration method based on your business requirements. If no triggers are to be migrated, you do not need to configure this parameter. For more information, see Synchronize or migrate triggers from the source database.
NoteThis parameter is available only if you select both Schema Migration and Incremental Data Migration for the Migration Types parameter.
SQL Server Incremental Synchronization Mode
Log-based Parsing for Non-heap Tables and CDC-based Incremental Synchronization for Heap Tables (Hybrid Log-based Parsing):
Advantages:
This mode supports heap tables, tables without primary keys, compressed tables, and tables with computed columns.
This mode provides higher stability and a variety of complete DDL statements.
Disadvantages:
DTS creates the trigger dts_cdc_sync_ddl, the heartbeat table dts_sync_progress, and the DDL storage table dts_cdc_ddl_history in the source database and enables change data capture (CDC) for the source database and specific tables.
You cannot execute the SELECT INTO or TRUNCATE statement on tables with CDC enabled in the source database. Triggers created by DTS in the source database cannot be manually deleted.
Incremental Synchronization Based on Logs of Source Database (Heap tables are not supported):
Advantages:
This mode does not modify the settings of the source database.
Disadvantages:
This mode does not support heap tables, tables without primary keys, compressed tables, or tables with computed columns.
Polling and querying CDC instances for incremental synchronization:
Advantages:
Full data migration and incremental data migration are supported if the source database is an Amazon RDS for SQL Server instance, a database in Microsoft Azure SQL Database, a Microsoft Azure SQL Managed Instance, a Microsoft Azure SQL Server on Virtual Machine, or a Google Cloud SQL for SQL Server instance.
If you use the native CDC component of SQL Server to obtain incremental data, incremental migration is more stable and occupies less network bandwidth.
Disadvantages:
The source database account that is used by the DTS instance must have the permission to enable CDC. Incremental data migration takes about 10 seconds.
If you migrate multiple tables in multiple databases, stability and performance issues may occur.
Processing Mode of Conflicting Tables
Precheck and Report Errors: checks whether the destination database contains tables that use 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 migration task cannot be started.
NoteIf 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 migrated 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.
WarningIf you select Ignore Errors and Proceed, data inconsistency may occur and your business may be exposed to the following potential risks:
If the source and destination databases have the same schema, and a data record has the same primary key as an existing data record in the destination database, the following scenarios may occur:
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 migration, DTS migrates 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, only specific columns are migrated or the data migration task fails. Proceed with caution.
Source Objects
Select one or more objects from the Source Objects section. Click the icon to add the objects to the Selected Objects section.
NoteYou can select columns, tables, or schemas as the objects to be migrated. If you select tables or columns as the objects to be migrated, DTS does not migrate other objects, such as views, triggers, or stored procedures, to the destination database.
Selected Objects
- To rename an object that you want to migrate to the destination instance, right-click the object in the Selected Objects section. For more information, see Map the name of a single object.
- To rename multiple objects at a time, click Batch Edit in the upper-right corner of the Selected Objects section. For more information, see Map multiple object names at a time.
NoteIf you use the object name mapping feature to rename an object, other objects that are dependent on the object may fail to be migrated.
To specify WHERE conditions to filter data, right-click a table in the Selected Objects section. In the dialog box that appears, specify the conditions. For more information, see Specify filter conditions.
To select the 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 migrate. For more information about the SQL operations that support incremental migration, see the SQL operations that support incremental migration section of this topic.
Click Next: Advanced Settings to configure advanced settings.
Parameter
Description
Dedicated Cluster for Task Scheduling
By default, DTS schedules the data migration task to the shared cluster if you do not specify a dedicated cluster. 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.
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 migration task is started, DTS immediately retries a connection within the retry time range. Valid values: 10 to 1440. Unit: minutes. Default value: 720. We recommend that you set the parameter to a value greater than 30. If DTS is reconnected to the source and destination databases within the specified retry time range, DTS resumes the data migration task. Otherwise, the data migration task fails.
NoteIf you specify different retry time ranges for multiple data migration tasks that share the same source or destination database, the value that is specified later 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 the earliest opportunity after the source database and destination instance are released.
Retry Time for Other Issues
The retry time range for other issues. For example, if DDL or DML operations fail to be performed after the data migration task is started, DTS immediately retries the operations within the retry time range. Valid values: 1 to 1440. Unit: minutes. Default value: 10. We recommend that you set the parameter to a value greater than 10. If the failed operations are successfully performed within the specified retry time range, DTS resumes the data migration task. Otherwise, the data migration task fails.
ImportantThe 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 Full Data Migration
Specifies whether to enable throttling for full data migration. During full data migration, DTS uses the read and write resources of the source and destination databases. This may increase the loads of the database servers. You can enable throttling for full data migration based on your business requirements. To configure throttling, you must configure the Queries per second (QPS) to the source database, RPS of Full Data Migration, and Data migration speed for full migration (MB/s) parameters. This reduces the loads of the destination database server.
NoteYou can configure this parameter only if you select Full Data Migration for the Migration Types parameter.
Enable Throttling for Incremental Data Migration
Specifies whether to enable throttling for incremental data migration. To configure throttling, you must configure the RPS of Incremental Data Migration and Data migration speed for incremental migration (MB/s) parameters. This reduces the loads of the destination database server.
NoteYou can configure this parameter only if you select Incremental Data Migration for the Migration Types parameter.
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.
Monitoring and Alerting
Specifies whether to configure alerting for the data migration task. If the task fails or the migration latency exceeds the specified threshold, the alert contacts receive notifications. Valid values:
No: does not configure alerting.
Yes: configures alerting. In this case, you must also configure the alert threshold and alert notification settings. For more information, see the Configure monitoring and alerting when you create a DTS task section of the Configure monitoring and alerting topic.
Click Next Step: Data Verification to configure the data verification task.
For more information about how to use the data verification feature, see Configure a data verification task.
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.
NoteBefore you can start the data migration task, DTS performs a precheck. You can start the data migration task only after the task passes the precheck.
If the task fails to pass the precheck, click View Details next to each failed item. After you analyze the causes based on the check results, troubleshoot the issues. Then, run a precheck again.
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 issues. Then, run a precheck again.
If the 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 Success Rate becomes 100%. Then, click Next: Purchase Instance.
Purchase a data migration instance.
On the Purchase Instance page, configure the Instance Class parameter for the data migration instance. The following table describes the parameters.
Section
Parameter
Description
New Instance Class
Resource Group
The resource group to which the data migration instance belongs. Default value: default resource group. For more information, see What is Resource Management?
Instance Class
DTS provides instance classes that vary in the migration speed. You can select an instance class based on your business scenario. For more information, see Instance classes of data migration instances.
Read and agree to Data Transmission Service (Pay-as-you-go) Service Terms by selecting the check box.
Click Buy and Start. In the message that appears, click OK.
You can view the progress of the task on the Data Migration page.