A beginner’s guide to getting started with AWS Database Migration Service (AWS DMS)

AWS Database Migration Service (AWS DMS) is a cloud-based service that simplifies the migration of relational databases, data warehouses, NoSQL databases, and other data stores. AWS DMS can be used to migrate data into the AWS Cloud, between on-premises instances, or between cloud and on-premises configurations.

Before the option for AWS DMS solution for your company, it’s good to have a fair knowledge about the steps to get started with it. That’s what we are going to discuss in this blog with a simple approach.

3 main steps to get started with AWS DMS:

Sign into your AWS account

There are two distinct user kinds in AWS. Either you are an IAM user or the root user of the account. Depending on what kind of AWS user you are, a different procedure will be used to sign in to your account. When an AWS account is created with the same email address and password that were used to create the account, the root user is also created. Within the AWS account, either the root user or an IAM administrator can create IAM users.

Start a database migration

After signing into the AWS account, the next step is to start the database migration. AWS Database Migration Service offers both homogeneous migrations and heterogeneous migrations.

Homogeneous Migrations – When migrating a homogeneous database, just one step is required because the source and target database engines are the same or compatible. You set up a migration task with connections to the source and target databases, and with a click, you can begin the migration. The rest is handled by the AWS Database Migration Service.

Heterogeneous Migrations – In this migration type, the engines for the source and target databases are different. There is a two-step approach for heterogeneous migrations. First, change the source code and schema to match the target database using the AWS Schema Conversion Tool. After that, transfer data from the source database to the target database using the AWS Database Migration Service. During the migration, all necessary data types will be automatically converted.

Create a replication instance

This is the final step where we create a replication instance. The actual data transfer between the source and target endpoints is carried out by a replication instance. For the tasks that move data from your source database to your target database, your instance needs enough storage and processing power. The amount of data to transfer and the duties your instance must perform will determine how big this replication instance has to be.

Conclusion

Briefly said, you may easily and securely migrate databases from on-premises databases, DB instances, or databases running on AWS EC2 instances to the cloud using the AWS Database Migration Service (DMS).

However, the AWS DMS process might become challenging at multiple points in time. Contact the Princeton IT team of professionals for all of your AWS DMS requirements to leverage AWS DMS technology in a seamless way to achieve your business goals.