All Products
Search

This Product

    Data Transport:Data migration process

    Document Center

    Data Transport:Data migration process

    Last Updated:Dec 23, 2025

    This topic describes the basic process of using a Data Transport II device for offline data migration. The process covers creating an order, migrating data to the device's local Network-Attached Storage (NAS), and transferring data between an on-premises data center and Alibaba Cloud.

    Process of migrating data from an on-premises data center to Alibaba Cloud

    Important

    You can lease a Data Transport II device only in regions within the Chinese mainland.

    lQLPKdWMfnjmvEXNBbzNA6awYK0EX-VETDwHQVu9va4eAA_934_1468

    Migrate data from an on-premises data center to Alibaba Cloud

    1. Create an order and complete the payment. For more information, see Create an order.

      Note

      After you complete the payment, Alibaba Cloud staff prepare a Data Transport device and ship it to the address specified in the order.

    2. Create an OSS bucket. For more information, see Create a bucket.

    3. After you receive and inspect the Data Transport II device, install the hardware. For more information, see Install hardware.

    4. Mount the source file system. For more information, see Mount a source file system.

    5. Create and run a data migration task to migrate on-premises data to the Data Transport II device. For more information, see Copy on-premises data.

    6. Power off the device and prepare it for return. For more information, see Migrate data to the cloud and verify the result.

      Note

      After the on-premises data is migrated to the device, Alibaba Cloud staff perform the following two steps.

      • Alibaba Cloud staff arrange for a designated logistics provider to pick up the Data Transport device and transport it to an Alibaba Cloud data center.

      • Alibaba Cloud staff install the Data Transport device in the data center, start the migration task, and migrate the data to Alibaba Cloud OSS.

    7. After the migration is complete, Alibaba Cloud staff provide a data migration report. The report includes the total number and volume of successfully uploaded files, and the locations of all files, including those that were migrated successfully and those that failed to migrate. The migration report is for reference only. Verify the data consistency between the source data and the data in the cloud. After the data migration is complete, promptly revoke the permissions granted to the RAM role.

    Process of migrating data from Alibaba Cloud to an on-premises data center

    Important

    This scenario is supported only in regions within the Chinese mainland.

    f8bb0002d7f4b5a0b086f64736a218b0

    Migrate data from Alibaba Cloud to an on-premises data center

    Important

    1. The fee for migrating data from Alibaba Cloud to an on-premises data center using Data Transport is USD 28.57 per TB. The minimum charge is for 10 TB. If your data volume is less than 10 TB, you are still charged for 10 TB.

    2. In addition to the Data Transport rental fee, you are also charged for OSS-related fees, such as data transfer fees and request fees. For more information, see OSS billing.

    3. If your source data is in the Archive storage class, you must restore it before migration. After the data is restored, use Data Transport to migrate it. Note the following when you restore data:

      • Ensure the data is restored before you start the migration.

      • Set the availability duration for the restored data based on the total data volume to prevent the data from returning to a frozen state during migration.

      • You are charged a data retrieval fee for restoring data. The fees for some restoration services can be high. For more information about billing rules, see OSS billing.

    1. Before you place an order, submit a ticket to request approval. In the ticket, provide your UID and the reason for the data migration.

    2. After your request is approved, select Back up to On-premises IDC in the console, create an order, and then complete the payment.

    3. Provide the required information to Alibaba Cloud staff so they can migrate the data to the specified Data Transport device. This information includes the source bucket name, the AccessKey pair of a new RAM user with OSS permissions, and the specified download directories.

    4. After the data is downloaded to the Data Transport II device, Alibaba Cloud staff provide a migration report. The report includes the total number and volume of files successfully migrated to the Data Transport device, and the locations of all files, including those that were migrated successfully and those that failed to migrate. The migration report is for reference only. Alibaba Cloud staff then arrange for a logistics provider to deliver the device to the specified address.

    5. After you receive and inspect the Data Transport II device, install the hardware. For more information, see Install hardware.

    6. Mount the file system in your on-premises data center. For more information, see Mount a source file system.

    7. Create and run a data migration task to migrate data from the Data Transport II device to your on-premises data center. For more information, see Copy on-premises data.

      Note

      You can submit a migration task only if your destination is a supported file system, such as a Windows file system, Linux file system, or NAS server. If your on-premises data center uses Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) or another storage type, you must use other tools to migrate the data.

    8. Power off the Data Transport II device and notify Alibaba Cloud to retrieve it. For more information, see the device power-off and retrieval notification steps in Migrate data to the cloud and verify the result.

    9. After data migration is complete, verify the data consistency between the data in the cloud and the data in your on-premises data center.