ApsaraDB RDS:Use SSMS to migrate data to the cloud

Prerequisites

• An ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance that has a larger storage capacity than the storage capacity of the source instance is created. The ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance meets the following requirements:

  • The RDS instance resides in a region other than the China (Zhangjiakou) region.

  • The RDS instance runs RDS Basic Edition, RDS High-availability Edition, or RDS Cluster Edition. If your RDS instance runs RDS High-availability Edition, make sure that the instance runs SQL Server 2012 or later.

  • The RDS instance belongs to a general-purpose or dedicated instance family. The shared instance family is not supported.

  • The RDS instance uses the subscription or pay-as-you-go billing method. Serverless RDS instances are not supported.

  • The RDS instance resides in a virtual private cloud (VPC). For more information about how to change the network type of an RDS instance, see Change the network type of an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance.

  • The creation time of the RDS instance meets the following requirements:

    • If the RDS instance runs RDS High-availability Edition or RDS Cluster Edition, the instance is created on or after January 01, 2021.

    • If the RDS instance runs RDS Basic Edition, the instance is created on or after September 02, 2022.

  Note

  • We recommend that the storage capacity of the ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance be 1.2 times the storage capacity of the source instance.

  • For more information about how to create an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance, see Create an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance. If you have an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance but the storage capacity of the instance is insufficient for cloud migration, you can expand the storage capacity by following the instructions in Change the specifications of an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance.

• SSMS is installed on your computer.

  Note

  You can create an Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instance that resides in a virtual private cloud (VPC), runs a Windows Server image, and is assigned a public IP address. Then, you can install SSMS on the ECS instance. For more information, see Quick start.

Usage notes

• To prevent data inconsistency, you must stop data writes to the source instance. The period of time during which data cannot be written to the source instance varies based on the amount of data that you want to migrate and the actual operations.

• The speed of exporting data varies based on the specifications of the source instance.

Preparations

• Enable access to Azure SQL Database over the Internet. Configure your firewall to allow the public IP address of the ECS instance or the IP address of your on-premises device to access Azure services and resources.

  Note

  For more information, see official Azure documentation or contact the technical support of Azure.

• Make sure that the constraints and views of the source instance do not cause exporting failures.

• Create a system admin account on the ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance.

  Note

  Lon to the RDS instance by using an Alibaba Cloud account to create a system admin account. For more information about how to create a system admin account, see Create a system admin account.

• Execute the SELECT name, compatibility_level FROM sys.databases; statement on both the source and destination databases to check whether the destination database is compatible with the source database. For more information, see ALTER DATABASE (Transact-SQL) compatibility level.

• Configure a whitelist for the ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance to allow the ECS instance or on-premises device on which the client is deployed to connect to the ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance. For more information, see Configure an IP address whitelist.

  Note

  • If you want to connect an ECS instance to the RDS instance over an internal network, make sure that these instances reside in the same virtual private cloud (VPC), and the private IP address of the ECS instance is added to an IP address whitelist of the RDS instance.

  • If you want to connect an on-premises device to the RDS instance, make sure that the public IP address of the on-premises device is added to an IP address whitelist of the RDS instance.

Procedure

1. Stop writing data to the source database in Azure SQL Database.

2. Export the data in the database.

   1. Use SSMS to connect to the database.

      Note

      For more information, see Connect to your database.

   2. Go to the page for exporting data.

      1. In Object Explorer, expand Databases.

      2. Right-click the required database.

      3. Choose Tasks > Export Data-tier Application.

      Note

      For more information about data exporting, see Export a Data-tier Application.

   3. Click Next.

   4. Select the objects that you want to export.

      1. On the Settings tab of the Export Settings page, select Save to local disk.

      2. Click Browse and select a file save path and file name.

      3. On the Advanced tab, select the tables that you want to export.

         Note

         If you need to select other objects, such as triggers and stored procedures, right-click the required database in Object Explorer and choose Tasks > Generate Scripts.

      4. Click Next.

   5. Click Finish.

   6. After the data is exported, click Close.

3. Import the exported data into the ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance.

   1. Use SSMS to connect to the ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance.

      1. Open SSMS.

      2. In the Connect to Server dialog box, configure the following parameters.

         Parameter	Description
         Server type	Select Database Engine.
         Server name	Enter the internal endpoint or public endpoint of the ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance. For more information about how to obtain the endpoint, see View and change the endpoints and port numbers.
         Authentication	Select SQL Server Authentication.
         Login	Enter the username of the system admin account.
         Password	Enter the password of the system admin account.

      3. Click Connect.

   2. In Object Explorer, right-click Databases.

   3. Select Import Data-tier Application.

   4. Click Next.

   5. Configure Import Settings.

      1. Select Import from local disk.

      2. Click Browse and select the .bacpac file exported from Azure SQL Database.

      3. Click Next.

   6. Configure Database Settings.

      1. In the New database name field, enter the name of the database on the ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance. The database corresponds to the source database.

         Important

         • We recommend that you use the same name as the name of the database in Azure SQL Database. If you do not use the same name, some features may not work as expected after your workloads are switched over to the ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance.

         • If the database name you entered exists in the ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance, the data import may fail or the data may be inconsistent.

      2. In the SQL Server Settings section, change the values of Data file path and Log file path to E:\SQLDATA\DATA.

      3. Click Next.

   7. Click Finish.

   8. After the data is imported, click Close.

4. Verify data consistency.

   After the data is imported, execute the required statements on the source and destination databases to verify data consistency. If the return results for the source and destination databases are the same, the data is consistent.

   • Query the number of data rows in the database. The sum of data rows in all business tables is returned.

     Important

     Make sure that the source table data and snapshot data are not changed during data migration. Otherwise, the number of data rows in the source database is inconsistent with that in the destination database.

     use <dbname>;
     
     SELECT SUM(b.rows) AS 'RowCount' 
     FROM sysobjects AS a INNER JOIN
     sysindexes AS b ON a.id = b.id
     WHERE (a.type = 'u') AND (b.indid IN (0, 1))

   • Query the data size. The percentage of the storage occupied by data files to the total storage capacity is returned.

     use <dbname>;
     
     SELECT a.name [File name]
       ,cast(a.[size]*1.0/128 as decimal(12,1)) AS [Specified file size (MB)]
       ,CAST( fileproperty(s.name,'SpaceUsed')/(8*16.0) AS DECIMAL(12,1)) AS [Storage occupied by the file (MB)]
       ,CAST( (fileproperty(s.name,'SpaceUsed')/(8*16.0))/(s.size/(8*16.0))*100.0  AS DECIMAL(12,1)) AS [Percentage of the storage occupied by the file to the total storage capacity]
       ,CASE WHEN A.growth =0 THEN 'Fixed file size' ELSE 'Increment at which the storage that is allocated to the file increases' end [Increase mode]
       ,CASE WHEN A.growth > 0 AND is_percent_growth = 0 THEN 'Fixed increment'
         WHEN A.growth > 0 AND is_percent_growth = 1 THEN 'Increment represented by an integer percentage'
         ELSE 'Fixed file size' END AS [Increase mode]
       ,CASE WHEN A.growth > 0 AND is_percent_growth = 0 THEN cast(cast(a.growth*1.0/128as decimal(12,0)) AS VARCHAR)+'MB'
         WHEN A.growth > 0 AND is_percent_growth = 1 THEN cast(cast(a.growth AS decimal(12,0)) AS VARCHAR)+'%'
         ELSE 'Fixed file size' end AS [Increment (% or MB)]
       ,a.physical_name AS [File directory]
       ,a.type_desc AS [File type]
     FROM sys.database_files  a 
     INNER JOIN sys.sysfiles AS s ON a.[file_id]=s.fileid 
     LEFT JOIN sys.dm_db_file_space_usage b ON a.[file_id]=b.[file_id] 
     ORDER BY a.[type]

5. After data consistency verification is complete, you can switch your workloads to the ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance and test whether features run as expected.