Data Transmission Service:Migrate data from a self-managed SQL Server database to an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance

Prerequisites

• The version of the self-managed SQL Server database is supported by DTS. For more information, see Overview of data migration scenarios.

• The destination ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance is created. For more information, see Create an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance.

• The available storage space of the destination ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance is larger than the total size of data in the source self-managed SQL Server database.

• If the source database meets one of the following conditions, we recommend that you migrate data by using the backup feature of ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server. For more information, see Migrate data from a self-managed database to an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance.

  • 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.

  • The logs of a database in the source ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance involve heap tables, tables without primary keys, compressed tables, or tables with computed columns. You can execute the following SQL statements to check whether the source database contains these tables.

    1. Execute the following SQL statement to check for heap tables:

       SELECT s.name AS schema_name, t.name AS table_name FROM sys.schemas s INNER JOIN sys.tables t ON s.schema_id = t.schema_id AND t.type = 'U' AND s.name NOT IN ('cdc', 'sys') AND t.name NOT IN ('systranschemas') AND t.object_id IN (SELECT object_id FROM sys.indexes WHERE index_id = 0);

    2. Execute the following SQL statement to check for tables without primary keys:

       SELECT s.name AS schema_name, t.name AS table_name FROM sys.schemas s INNER JOIN sys.tables t ON s.schema_id = t.schema_id AND t.type = 'U' AND s.name NOT IN ('cdc', 'sys') AND t.name NOT IN ('systranschemas') AND t.object_id NOT IN (SELECT parent_object_id FROM sys.objects WHERE type = 'PK');

    3. Execute the following SQL statement to check for primary key columns that are not contained in clustered index columns:

       SELECT s.name schema_name, t.name table_name FROM sys.schemas s INNER JOIN sys.tables t ON s.schema_id = t.schema_id WHERE t.type = 'U' AND s.name NOT IN('cdc', 'sys') AND t.name NOT IN('systranschemas') AND t.object_id IN ( SELECT pk_colums_counter.object_id AS object_id FROM (select pk_colums.object_id, sum(pk_colums.column_id) column_id_counter from (select sic.object_id object_id, sic.column_id FROM sys.index_columns sic, sys.indexes sis WHERE sic.object_id = sis.object_id AND sic.index_id = sis.index_id AND sis.is_primary_key = 'true') pk_colums group by object_id) pk_colums_counter inner JOIN ( select cluster_colums.object_id, sum(cluster_colums.column_id) column_id_counter from (SELECT sic.object_id object_id, sic.column_id FROM sys.index_columns sic, sys.indexes sis WHERE sic.object_id = sis.object_id AND sic.index_id = sis.index_id AND sis.index_id = 1) cluster_colums group by object_id ) cluster_colums_counter ON pk_colums_counter.object_id = cluster_colums_counter.object_id and pk_colums_counter.column_id_counter != cluster_colums_counter.column_id_counter);

    4. Execute the following SQL statement to check for compressed tables:

       SELECT s.name AS schema_name, t.name AS table_name FROM sys.objects t, sys.schemas s, sys.partitions p WHERE s.schema_id = t.schema_id AND t.type = 'U' AND s.name NOT IN ('cdc', 'sys') AND t.name NOT IN ('systranschemas') AND t.object_id = p.object_id AND p.data_compression != 0;

    5. Execute the following SQL statement to check for tables with computed columns:

       SELECT s.name AS schema_name, t.name AS table_name FROM sys.schemas s INNER JOIN sys.tables t ON s.schema_id = t.schema_id AND t.type = 'U' AND s.name NOT IN ('cdc', 'sys') AND t.name NOT IN ('systranschemas') AND t.object_id IN (SELECT object_id FROM sys.columns WHERE is_computed = 1);

Usage notes

Billing

Migration types

• Schema migration

  DTS migrates the schemas of the selected objects from the source database to the destination database.

  • DTS supports schema migration for the following types of objects: table, view, trigger, synonym, SQL stored procedure, SQL function, plan guide, user-defined type, rule, default, and sequence.

  • DTS does not migrate the schemas of assemblies, service brokers, full-text indexes, full-text catalogs, distributed schemas, distributed functions, Common Language Runtime (CLR) stored procedures, CLR scalar-valued functions, CLR table-valued functions, internal tables, systems, or aggregate functions.

• Full data migration

  DTS migrates the historical data of required 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 during data migration.

SQL operations that support incremental data migration

Permissions required for database accounts

For more information about how to create and authorize a database account, see the following topics:

• Self-managed SQL Server database: CREATE USER

• ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance: Create a privileged account or a standard account and Modify the permissions of an account.

Data migration process

To prevent data migration failures caused by dependencies among objects, DTS migrates schemas and data from the source SQL Server database in the following order:

1. Migrate the schemas of tables, views, synonyms, user-defined types, rules, defaults, and plan guides.

2. Perform full data migration.

3. Migrate the schemas of SQL stored procedures, SQL functions, triggers, and foreign keys.

4. Perform incremental data migration.

Preparations

1. Execute the following statements on the self-managed SQL Server database to change the recovery model to full.

   use master;
   GO
   ALTER DATABASE <database_name> SET RECOVERY FULL WITH ROLLBACK IMMEDIATE;
   GO

   Parameter description:

   <database_name>: the name of the source database.

   Example:

   use master;
   GO
   ALTER DATABASE mytestdata SET RECOVERY FULL WITH ROLLBACK IMMEDIATE;
   GO

2. Execute the following statement to create a logical backup for the source database. Skip this step if you have already created a logical backup.

   BACKUP DATABASE <database_name> TO DISK='<physical_backup_device_name>';
   GO

   Parameter description:

   • <database_name>: the name of the source database.

   • <physical_backup_device_name>: the storage path and file name of the backup file.

   Example:

   BACKUP DATABASE mytestdata TO DISK='D:\backup\dbdata.bak';
   GO

3. Execute the following statement to back up the log entries of the source database:

   BACKUP LOG <database_name> to DISK='<physical_backup_device_name>' WITH init;
   GO

   Parameter description:

   • <database_name>: the name of the source database.

   • <physical_backup_device_name>: the storage path and file name of the backup file.

   Example:

   BACKUP LOG mytestdata TO DISK='D:\backup\dblog.bak' WITH init;
   GO

Procedure

1. Use one of the following methods to go to the Data Migration page and select the region in which the data migration instance resides.

   DTS console

   1. Log on to the DTS console.

   2. In the left-side navigation pane, click Data Migration.

   3. In the upper-left corner of the page, select the region in which the data migration instance resides.

   DMS console

   Note

   The actual operation 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.

   1. Log on to the DMS console.

   2. In the top navigation bar, move the pointer over Data + AI > DTS (DTS) > Data Migration .

   3. From the drop-down list to the right of Data Migration Tasks, select the region in which the data synchronization instance resides.

2. Click Create Task to go to the task configuration page.

3. Optional. Click New Configuration Page in the upper-right corner of the page.

   Note

   • Skip 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.

4. Configure the source and destination databases. The following table describes the parameters.

   Warning

   After you configure the source and destination databases, we recommend that you read the Limits that are displayed in the upper part of the page. Otherwise, the task may fail or data inconsistency may occur.

   Section	Parameter	Description
   N/A	Task Name	The name of the DTS task. DTS automatically generates a task name. We recommend that you specify an informative name that makes it easy to identify the task. You do not need to specify a unique task name.
   Source Database	Select Existing Connection	The 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 use an existing instance, you must configure the database information below. Note You can register a database with DTS on the Database Connections page or the new configuration page. For more information, see Manage database connections. In the DMS console, you can select an existing database from the Select a DMS database instance. drop-down list. You can also click Add DMS Database Instance or go back to the homepage of the DMS console to register a database with DMS. For more information, see Register an Alibaba Cloud database instance and Register a database hosted on a third-party cloud service or a self-managed database.
   	Database Type	The type of the source database. Select SQL Server.
   	Access Method	The access method of the source database. Select Public IP Address. Note If your source database is a self-managed database, you must prepare the network environment for the database. For more information, see Preparation overview.
   	Instance Region	The region in which the self-managed SQL Server database resides.
   	Hostname or IP address	The endpoint that is used to connect to the self-managed SQL Server database. In this example, enter the public IP address.
   	Port Number	The service port number of the self-managed SQL Server database. Default value: 1433.
   	Database Account	The account of the self-managed SQL Server database. For more information about the permissions that are required for the account, 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 Existing Connection	The 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 use an existing instance, you must configure the database information below. Note You can register a database with DTS on the Database Connections page or the new configuration page. For more information, see Manage database connections. In the DMS console, you can select an existing database from the Select a DMS database instance. drop-down list. You can also click Add DMS Database Instance or go back to the homepage of the DMS console to register a database with DMS. For more information, see Register an Alibaba Cloud database instance and Register a database hosted on a third-party cloud service or a self-managed database.
   	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 permissions that are required for the account, see Permissions required for database accounts.
   	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.

5. In the lower part of the page, click Test Connectivity and Proceed, and then click Test Connectivity in the CIDR Blocks of DTS Servers dialog box that appears.

   Note

   Make sure that the CIDR blocks of DTS servers can be automatically or manually added to the security settings of the source and destination databases to allow access from DTS servers. For more information, see Add the CIDR blocks of DTS servers.

6. Configure the objects to be migrated.

   1. 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. Note If you do not select Schema Migration, make sure a database and a table are created in the destination database to receive data and the object name mapping feature is enabled in Selected Objects. If 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. Note This 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. Note This parameter is available only if the Incremental Data Migration parameter is included in Migration Types.
      The maximum number of tables for which CDC is enabled that DTS supports.	We recommend that you, based on your business requirements, set the maximum number of tables for which CDC is enabled that a DTS task supports. Default value: 1,000. Note This parameter is unavailable if you set the SQL Server Incremental Synchronization Mode parameter to Incremental Synchronization Based on Logs of Source Database (Heap tables are not supported).
      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. Note If 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. Warning If 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. Note You 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. Note If 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.

   2. 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 1,440. 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. Note If 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. Important The 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. Note You 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. Note You 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.

   3. 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.

7. 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.

   Note

   • Before 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.

8. Purchase an instance.

   1. Wait until Success Rate becomes 100%. Then, click Next: Purchase Instance.

   2. 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.

   3. Read and agree to Data Transmission Service (Pay-as-you-go) Service Terms by selecting the check box.

   4. Click Buy and Start. In the message that appears, click OK.

      You can view the progress of the task on the Data Migration page.