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    OpenSearch:Connect to a cross-region ApsaraDB RDS or PolarDB data source

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    OpenSearch:Connect to a cross-region ApsaraDB RDS or PolarDB data source

    Last Updated:Jun 22, 2026

    OpenSearch High-performance Search Edition requires ApsaraDB RDS and PolarDB data sources to reside in the same region as your OpenSearch instance. If your database is in a different region, you can use one of the following solutions to bridge the data into OpenSearch.

    The data source instances must be under the same Alibaba Cloud account as your OpenSearch instance. These solutions also apply to self-managed MySQL databases.

    Solution overview

    The following table compares the three available solutions in terms of data freshness, complexity, and cost.

    DTS API or SDK + DTS MaxCompute
    Full data transfer Supported Supported Supported
    Incremental data transfer Supported Supported Supported. Incremental data is transferred on a daily basis.
    Required resources ApsaraDB RDS, and full data migration and incremental data migration in DTS Development and debugging of API operations or SDKs, and full data migration in DTS MaxCompute Professional Edition (subscription), exclusive cluster resources, Cloud Enterprise Network (CEN), Resource Access Management (RAM), and region-based access control
    Difficulty Easy Medium Hard
    Possible costs Fees for ApsaraDB RDS and pay-as-you-go DTS instances Fees for ApsaraDB RDS and full data migration in DTS Fees for MaxCompute resources and exclusive clusters

    When to use each solution

    • DTS migration: Recommended for most use cases. Provides near-real-time full and incremental data synchronization with minimal setup.

    • DTS full migration + API push: Suitable when you need near-real-time incremental updates and already have application logic that pushes changes through the OpenSearch API or SDK.

    • MaxCompute: Suitable for batch analytics workloads where a daily data refresh is acceptable. Does not support real-time data transfer.

    Before you begin

    Important

    For information about the limits, configurations, and billing of Data Transmission Service (DTS) tasks, see the following topics:

    Procedure (DTS migration)

    Step 1: Create an ApsaraDB RDS or PolarDB instance in the OpenSearch region

    1. Purchase an ApsaraDB RDS or PolarDB instance in the same region as OpenSearch.

    2. Create a database and a database account. The account must have DDL and DML permissions.

    Step 2: Create and configure a DTS task

    1. Purchase a DTS instance. If this is your first time using DTS, activate the service first.

    2. Select the region in which OpenSearch is activated.

    3. Configure a data migration task. For more information, see Data Migration. > Note: When migrating data from an ApsaraDB RDS instance across regions, connect to the source instance through its public endpoint. Apply for a public endpoint in the ApsaraDB RDS console. > Note: The IP address whitelist of the source ApsaraDB RDS instance does not need additional configuration. The connectivity test passes with only 127.0.0.1 in the whitelist.

    Step 3: Create an OpenSearch application

    1. After the full data migration task is complete, configure an application in the OpenSearch console.

    2. Use the destination ApsaraDB RDS or PolarDB instance as the data source to create the application schema. For more information, see Data sources.

    3. Real-time data transfer performance depends on both the data migration speed and the data import speed into OpenSearch. Under normal conditions, no significant delay occurs. For more information, see OpenSearch documentation.