This topic describes how to migrate data by using Data Transport.

Precautions

When you perform online migration, take note of the following items:
  • When the source data address and destination data address are Apsara File Storage Network Attached Storage (NAS) endpoints in the same region, the migration is performed over the internal network of Alibaba Cloud even if you select public endpoints as the data addresses.
  • A migration task occupies the network resources of the source and destination data addresses. To ensure business continuity, we recommend that you configure a rate limit for your migration task or run your migration task during off-peak hours.
  • Before an online migration task starts, the system checks the files at the source data address and the destination data address. If the source and destination have files with the same name, and the last modification time of the file in the source is later than the file in the destination, the file in the destination is overwritten. If both files are important and contain different information, we recommend that you change the name of one file or back up the destination file.
  • Symbolic links that exist at the source data address are skipped during the migration.

Step 1: Create a source data address

  1. Log on to the Alibaba Cloud Data Transport console.
  2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Data Online Migration > Data Address. On the page that appears, click Create Data Address.
  3. In the Create Data Address panel, configure the following parameters and click OK.
    Parameter Required Description
    Data Type Yes Select NAS.
    Data Name Yes Enter a name. The name must be 3 to 63 characters in length. Special characters are not supported, except for hyphens (-) and underscores (_).
    Data Region Yes Select the region where the NAS file system is located.

    If you select Alibaba Cloud for the NAS Type parameter, select the region where the Apsara File Storage NAS file system is located. If you select Others for the NAS Type parameter, select the region of the virtual private cloud (VPC) to which the third-party NAS file system is attached.

    NAS Type Yes Select the source NAS file system based on the actual conditions.
    • Alibaba Cloud: a NAS file system that is created on Alibaba Cloud.
    • Others: a NAS file system that is created on a third-party platform. You must mount the file system to an Alibaba Cloud VPC.
    File System This parameter is required when you select Alibaba Cloud for the NAS Type parameter. Select the NAS file system whose data you want to migrate.
    Mount Point This parameter is required when you select Alibaba Cloud for the NAS Type parameter. Select the mount target of the NAS file system.
    Notice You can mount the NAS file system only to a target that resides in a VPC. Mount targets in the classic network are not supported.
    VPC This parameter is required when you select Others for the NAS Type parameter. Select a VPC to which the NAS file system is mounted.
    Switches This parameter is required when you select Others for the NAS Type parameter. Select a vSwitch for the NAS file system.
    NAS Address This parameter is required when you select Others for the NAS Type parameter. Enter the private IP address of the third-party NAS server that is located in the VPC.
    Sub Folder Optional Enter the directory in which the data you want to migrate is stored. If you do not specify a value for this parameter, the default value is the root directory (/).
    Notice If you specify a subdirectory, make sure that the subdirectory exists on the NAS server. Otherwise, the data address fails to be created.
    Connection Method This parameter is required when you select Others for the NAS Type parameter. Select a protocol type.
    Connection Password This parameter is required when you select Others for the NAS Type parameter. Specify whether a password is required.
    • No Password: No password is required to access the NAS service.
    • Use Password: A username and a password are required to access the NAS service. You must enter a valid username and password.
    Note For more information about the status of a data address, see Data address status.
  4. Optional:If the system prompts that this feature is in public preview, click Application to apply for using this feature.
  5. Optional:Enter the required information and submit the application for public preview. After the application is approved, the system sends a text message to notify you.

Step 2: Create a destination data address

  • If the destination NAS file system is located in the same VPC as the source NAS file system, you can create the destination data address by following the instructions in Step 1: Create a source data address.
  • If the destination NAS file system is located in a different VPC from the source NAS file system, you need to configure the destination data address in the Data Transport console based on the following instructions:
    • Data Type: Select NAS.
    • Data Region: Select the region where the source NAS file system is located.
    • NAS Type: Select Others.
    • VPC: Select the VPC to which the source NAS file system is mounted.
    • Switches: Select the vSwitch of the source NAS file system.
    • NAS Address: If you set the NAS Type parameter of the destination NAS data address to Alibaba Cloud, enter the mount target of the destination NAS file system. If you set the NAS Type parameter to Others, enter the private IP address of the destination NAS file system in the VPC.
    • For more information, see Step 1: Create a source data address.

Step 3: Create a migration job

  1. Choose Data Online Migration > Migration Jobs and click Create Job.
  2. In the Create Job panel, read the terms of the migration service and select I understand the above terms and conditions, and apply for opening data migration service. Then, click Next.
    In the Fee Reminder dialog box, click Yes, Go Ahead. OSS request fee
  3. In the Job Config step, configure the following parameters and click Next.
    Parameter Required Description
    Job Name Yes Enter a job name. The name must meet the following requirements:
    • It must be 3 to 63 characters in length.
    • It can contain lowercase letters, digits, and hyphens (-).
    • It cannot start or end with a hyphen (-).
    Source Data Address Yes Select the source data address that you created.
    Destination Data Address Yes Select the destination data address that you created.
    Notice If the source and destination data addresses are located in different countries, make sure that you have the permissions to create cross-country migration jobs. To request the permissions, submit a ticket. You must declare that your business is legitimate, the data transmission process conforms to local rules and regulations, and your data does not contain illegal information.
    Specified Directory No Specify the directories whose files and subdirectories are included or excluded during migration.
    • Do not filter: All data from the source data address is migrated.
    • Exclude: The files and subdirectories in the specified directories are not migrated.
    • Contain: Only the files and subdirectories in the specified directories are migrated.
    Note
    • You must configure a whitelist before you set the Specified Directory parameter. For more information, see Advanced features.
    • A directory name cannot start with a forward slash (/) or a backslash (\), and cannot contain double forward slashes (//), double periods (..), or double quotation marks ("). The character string that consists of all the specified directory names cannot exceed 10 KB in length.
    • A directory name must end with a forward slash (/). For example, you can specify docs/ as the directory name.
    • You can specify a maximum of 20 directories of the Exclude or Contain type.
    Migration Type Yes
    • Full: The system migrates all data from the source data address to the destination data address. You must specify the Start Time Point of File parameter. The system migrates all data whose last modified time is greater than the specified time. After all data is migrated, the migration job ends. If the data at the source data address changes after the migration job is complete, you can submit another full migration job. In this case, the system migrates only the data that has changed since the last migration job.
    • Incremental: The system runs migration jobs based on the specified Migration Interval and Migration Times parameters. You must specify the Start Time Point of File parameter. On the first migration job, the system first migrates all data whose last modified time is greater than the specified time. After the first migration job is complete, incremental migration jobs are performed at a regular interval based on the Migration Interval parameter. In each subsequent migration job, the system migrates only the data that is created or modified after the previous migration job starts and before the current migration job starts. If you set Migration Times to N, a full migration job is performed once and then the incremental migration job is performed (N - 1) times. For example, assume that the current time is 08:00, March 10, 2019 and you set Migration Interval to 1 hour, Migration Times to 5, and Start Time Point of File to 08:00, March 5, 2019. The system first performs a full migration job of all files whose last modified time is between 08:00, March 5, 2019 and 08:00, March 10, 2019. In this example, the full migration job takes one hour to complete. After the full migration job is complete, the system waits one hour to start the first incremental migration job at 10:00, March 10, 2019. During the first incremental migration job, the system migrates the files whose last modified time is between 08:00, March 10, 2019 and 10:00, March 10, 2019. The system performs one full migration job and four incremental migration jobs in total.
    Notice
    Before a full or incremental migration job starts, the system compares files at the source data address with those at the destination data address. If a source file has the same name as a destination file, the destination file is overwritten when one of the following conditions is met:
    • The last modified time of the source file is later than that of the destination file.
    • The size of the source file is different from that of the destination file.
    Start Time Point of File Yes
    • All: All files are migrated.
    • Assign: Only the files that are created or modified after the specified time are migrated. For example, if you set the start time point to 08:00:00, November 01, 2018, only the files that are created or modified after this time point are migrated.
    Migration Interval This parameter is required when Migration Type is set to Incremental. The default value is 1 hour and the maximum value is 24 hours.
    Migration Times This parameter is required when Migration Type is set to Incremental. The default value is 1 and the maximum value is 30.
  4. Click Next. In the Performance step, go to the Data Prediction section and configure the Data Size and File Count parameters.
    Note To ensure a successful migration, we recommend that you estimate the amount of data that the system will migrate as accurately as possible.
  5. Optional: In the Performance step, navigate to the Flow Control section, specify the Time Range and Max Flow(MB/s) parameters, and then click Add.
    Note To ensure business continuity, we recommend that you configure the Time Range and Max Flow(MB/s) parameters based on the traffic fluctuations.
  6. Click Create and wait until the migration job is complete.

View the status of a data address

After you create a NAS data address, one of the following states is displayed for the data address:
  • Normal: The data address is created.
  • Creating: The data address is being created. The first NAS data address requires approximately 3 minutes to create. If the data address remains in the Creating state for an extended period of time, you can click Refresh in the upper-right corner to check the latest state of the data address.
  • Invalid: An exception has occurred in the process of creating the address. Check your settings and verify whether Data Online Migration can access the NAS service. If the exception persists, submit a ticket.

Success Stories

For examples of migrating data across NAS file systems, see Migrate data between NAS file systems that are located in different VPCs for a company and Migrate data from an on-premises NAS file system to Apsara File Storage NAS for a pharmaceutical company.