Leveraging Database Migration Services (DMS)

Leveraging Database Migration Services (DMS) as Part of your Migration and Modernization Project

No doubt if you are undertaking a migration or modernization in the cloud, there is some sort of database involved.

If you’re not simply lifting and shifting on-premises instances onto EC2 in AWS, you’re probably migrating data from its present database into its future target database.

And if so, you really need to check out AWS’ Database Migration Service.

AWS Database Migration Service is like database replication software that sits between a source database and a target database. These sources and targets can be any number of databases that you need to replicate from one place to another.

DMS includes a service called “DMS Fleet Advisor” that can collect information on your server infrastructure, data usage, and schemas of the source database. This helps you accurately analyze and plan sizing for your target, too.

Another tool, called “DMS Schema Conversion,” does just that – it maps from your target database to its destination. There is also a tool called the “AWS Schema Conversion Tool” that will convert a schema from one platform to another. SQL Server to MySQL, Oracle to SQL Server – you get the point.

This is the list of available schema sources.

This is the list of available schema targets.

Once you have created the target schema, you map fields and create replication tasks to move data from the target to the source. There are a number of ways that these can be configured, but you get the point. There’s a lot it can do.

AWS Data Migration Services fit into the Migration Acceleration Program, typically while doing a Proof of Concept during the Assess phase, while standing up and proving out data migrations as part of a Minimally Viable Product (MVP) during Mobilize phases, and of course, during data migrations during Migration and Modernization phases.

See some of our case studies for ways we’ve used it to successfully migrate customers to the cloud and modernize their applications.