Database migration can be referred to as the method of transferring databases from one storage type to the other, as well as formats types, or computer systems. Businesses and organizations may also need to migrate their databases for several reasons, such as maintenance or upgrades, server or storage equipment replacements, application migration, website consolidation and data center relocation. The process requires the transfer of every object in the database and categories: table definitions, data, indexes, constraints, views, triggers, stored procedures and functions, user accounts, roles and permissions.
Databases can possibly be transferred programmatically or manually with the aid of dedicated software known as database migration tools.
The process of manually transferring data includes:
- Export table definitions along with indexes and constraints from the source database in form of SQL definition statements
- The statements must be translated into the destination format and then imported to the target database
- Next step is to extract the source data into an intermediate storage like comma separated values (CSV) files
- Transform the data to comply with the target format and load it into the database
- Views, stored procedures/functions and triggers must be exported from the source database as SQL definition statements and source code
- Finally, these statements and source code must be translated into the target format and imported into the database
As soon as you are done uploading the data into the new system, the resulting data has to be confirmed to decide if the database went through the right migration process, and if the process is complete and maintains the right supports for programs in the new system. It could be needed to operate both the source and destination database systems concurrently throughout verification to determine the parts of discrepancy, prevent data loss or corruption.
Database project that are required to handle large and complex migration process is usually performed programmatically to automate the flow of the process, this does not only free up human resources but help you overcome the tedious task required to achieve this process. Certainly, it is ideal to go for the right tool anytime you are looking at migrating the database in the shortest time frame without the loss of data or corruption. Below are few of the features that you need to lookout for in high-quality migration tools:
- All modern versions of the source and target database management systems are supported
- Table definitions, indexes and constraints are converted with all necessary attributes
- Conversion settings must be stored into a profile for next use
- Unicode support
- Option to customize migration (allow user to edit types mapping, conversion rules, etc)
- Command line support
- Comprehensive documentation and 24/7 support service
You’ll find a wide variety of software providers that provide specialized resources to automate database migration. Intelligent Converters happen to be one of those companies that specializes in database migration and synchronization since 2001. They are known for developing variety of conversion tool to migrate databases between popular database management systems such as PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, SQL Server, Azure SQL, Microsoft Access, FoxPro and SQLite.
