AWS Database Migration Service Now Available

After a five month testing period, Amazon Web Service’s Database Migration Service (DMS), is now ready to go.
DMS was first announced at the AWS reInvent conference in October as a beta product. It became generally available on Tuesday to AWS datacenters located in Northern Virginia.
, Oregon,
Northern California
Ireland
Frankfurt
Tokyo
, Singapore
Sydney. According to Jeff Barr, AWS evangelist, the company will expand its availability to other areas “in the next months,” according to a blog post.

The company stated that over 1000 databases have been moved into AWS by pilot customers since the beginning of the year.
AWS promotes the service as a way for organizations to move their database into the AWS cloud with minimal disruption and at low cost. For example, it can cost as low as $3 to move one terabyte-sized data base. It supports the following databases: Amazon Aurora and Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, and Microsoft SQL Server.
It’s also very easy to use. A homogeneous database transfer is done in one step in the AWS Management console, while a heterogeneous move takes two steps according to AWS.
The AWS Schema Conversion Tool allows for heterogeneous database migrations, such as SQL Server to MySQL, Oracle PostgreSQL, and Oracle to Amazon Aurora. It “convert[s]] the source schema and a majority the custom code, including stored procedures and functions to a format compatible to the target database.” According to AWS. The Schema Conversion Tool can be used on Windows, Mac, Ubuntu Linux, Fedora Linux, and Linux.
DMS can also serve as a continuous data replication tool, and for migrating multiple databases to one target database from different sources.
“The AWS Database Migration Service
It works by creating and managing a replica instance on AWS. This instance loads data from the source database and loads it into destination database. It can be used for a single-time migration or ongoing replication to support a low-downtime migration,” Barr wrote. “DMS handles many of those complex details associated to migration, such as data type transformation and conversion between one database platform (Oracle to Aurora). The service monitors the health and replication of the instance and notifies you if anything goes wrong. If necessary, it automatically provisions a replacement instance.
He said, “The service supports many different types of migration and networking options. The AWS endpoint must be the source and destination. The other endpoint can be on-premises or on an EC2 instance. If you are migrating from one cloud to another, the source and destination can be located in the same Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), or in two separate VPCs. You can connect to an existing database on-premises via the public internet or via AWS Direct Connect.