Data Transmission Service (DTS) migrates data between homogeneous and heterogeneous database systems. Use DTS to migrate databases to Alibaba Cloud, move data between instances within Alibaba Cloud, or scale out through database sharding.
The data migration feature is charged. For pricing details, see Billing methods.
Migration types
DTS provides three migration types that you combine based on your downtime tolerance.
| Migration type | What it does |
|---|---|
| Schema migration | Copies object definitions (tables, views, triggers, and stored procedures) from the source to the destination. For heterogeneous databases, DTS converts schema syntax automatically — for example, the Oracle NUMBER data type becomes DECIMAL in MySQL. |
| Full data migration | Copies all existing data from the source to the destination at the time the task starts. If you select only Schema Migration and Full Data Migration, DTS does not migrate incremental data generated in the source database. |
| Incremental data migration | Takes a snapshot of the source for full data migration, then continuously replicates changes from the source to the destination in real time. The task does not stop automatically — stop it manually after you cut over. |
Choose a migration approach
Minimal-downtime migration (recommended for production)
Select Schema migration, Full data migration, and Incremental data migration together. DTS first copies historical data, then replicates incremental changes in real time. When the source and destination are in sync, stop the task and redirect traffic to the destination.
Do not write to the source database during full data migration. To ensure service continuity, select Schema Migration, Full Data Migration, and Incremental Data Migration when you configure a data migration task.
One-time migration with downtime
Select Schema migration and Full data migration only. Stop writes to the source before starting the task, wait for full data migration to complete, then redirect traffic to the destination.
Supported migration scenarios
DTS supports 14 source database types. Select the link for your source to view supported versions, migration types, and configuration steps.
Alibaba Cloud managed databases
| Source | Link |
|---|---|
| Self-managed MySQL or ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL | Configure migration |
| PolarDB for MySQL | Configure migration |
| PolarDB for PostgreSQL (Compatible with Oracle) | Configure migration |
| PolarDB-X | Configure migration |
| Instances across different Alibaba Cloud accounts | Configure migration |
Self-managed and third-party databases
| Source | Link |
|---|---|
| Oracle | Configure migration |
| Self-managed PostgreSQL or ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL | Configure migration |
| Self-managed SQL Server or ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server | Configure migration |
| Self-managed MongoDB or ApsaraDB for MongoDB | Configure migration |
| Self-managed Redis, Tair, or ApsaraDB for Redis | Configure migration |
| Db2 for LUW | Configure migration |
| Db2 for i (AS/400) | Configure migration |
| Teradata | Configure migration |
| Self-managed HBase | Configure migration |