Get started with migration of data from a self-managed SQL Server database to an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance - ApsaraDB RDS

Database migration is complex and time-consuming. When you migrate a database, you must consider data security and integrity and evaluate the impacts of service interruptions caused by database migration. You can use Alibaba Cloud Data Transmission Service (DTS) to quickly and smoothly migrate a database. You can also perform a full backup on a self-managed SQL Server database and use the backup file to restore data to an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance.

Preparations

You must create an RDS instance as the destination instance. You can use the RDS instance that is created in Create an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance as the destination instance. If the RDS instance is released, you must create another RDS instance.

Note

We recommend that you use an RDS instance whose major engine version is later than or equal to the engine version of the self-managed SQL Server database. If the major engine version of the existing RDS instance is earlier than the engine version of the self-managed SQL Server database, you can upgrade the major engine version. For more information, see Upgrade the major engine version.

Billing rules

After you create an RDS instance, you are charged for the instance type and the storage capacity of the RDS instance. The fees that are generated for the RDS instance vary based on the billing method, RDS edition, instance type, storage type, and storage capacity. For more information, see Billable items.
If you use DTS to migrate data of a self-managed database to an RDS instance, a data migration instance is created and you are charged instance configuration fees. The fees vary based on the duration and the specification of the data migration instance. For more information, see Billable items.
If you use a full or incremental backup file to restore a self-managed database to an RDS instance, you must upload the full or incremental backup file of the self-managed SQL Server database to an Object Storage Service (OSS) bucket and then migrate the backup data from the OSS bucket to the RDS instance in the ApsaraDB RDS console. In this case, you are charged storage fees for the OSS bucket. For more information, see Storage fees.

Cloud migration solutions

For more information, see Overview of data migration methods and Migrate SQL Server databases to Alibaba Cloud.

Data source	Support for incremental migration	Supported solution	Recommended solution
Self-managed SQL Server database	Yes	Use OSS to manually migrate data to the cloud based on physical backup files Use Data Disaster Recovery and DTS to migrate data to the cloud based on physical backup files Use DTS to perform logical cloud migration	Use Data Disaster Recovery and DTS to migrate data to the cloud based on physical backup files
Azure SQL Database	Yes	Use DTS to perform logical cloud migration Note If you want to migrate incremental data, you must set the SQL Server Incremental Synchronization Mode parameter to Polling and querying CDC instances for incremental synchronization. Use the ApsaraDB RDS console to perform end-to-end cloud migration Use SSMS to perform cloud migration	Use the ApsaraDB RDS console to perform end-to-end cloud migration or use DTS to perform logical cloud migration
Azure SQL Managed Instance
SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines		Use DTS to perform logical cloud migration Note If you want to migrate incremental data, you must set the SQL Server Incremental Synchronization Mode parameter to Polling and querying CDC instances for incremental synchronization. Use the ApsaraDB RDS console to perform end-to-end cloud migration Use SSMS to perform cloud migration Use OSS to manually migrate data to the cloud based on physical backup files
Amazon RDS for SQL Server	Yes	Use DTS to perform logical cloud migration Note If you want to migrate incremental data, you must set the SQL Server Incremental Synchronization Mode parameter to Polling and querying CDC instances for incremental synchronization. Use the ApsaraDB RDS console to perform end-to-end cloud migration Use SSMS to perform cloud migration Use OSS to manually migrate data to the cloud based on physical backup files	Use the ApsaraDB RDS console to perform end-to-end cloud migration or use DTS to perform logical cloud migration
Huawei Cloud RDS for SQL Server	No	Use SSMS to perform cloud migration Use DTS to perform logical cloud migration for full data migration Use OSS to manually migrate full data to the cloud based on physical backup files	Use OSS to manually migrate full data to the cloud based on physical backup files Note If the source database runs SQL Server 2008 R2, we recommend that you upgrade the database version before you perform the operation. For information about how to manually create and download backup files in Huawei Cloud RDS for SQL Server, see the Huawei Cloud official documentation.
TencentDB for SQL Server database	Yes	Use DTS to perform logical cloud migration Use OSS to manually migrate data to the cloud based on physical backup files Use SSMS to perform cloud migration	Use DTS to perform logical cloud migration
TencentDB for SQL Server database	No	Use SSMS to perform cloud migration	Use DTS to perform logical cloud migration
Google Cloud SQL for SQL Server	Yes	Use SSMS to perform cloud migration Use DTS to perform logical cloud migration Note If you want to migrate incremental data, you must set the SQL Server Incremental Synchronization Mode parameter to Polling and querying CDC instances for incremental synchronization.	Use DTS to perform logical cloud migration