SQL Server Database Migration

Migrate SQL Server databases on time, on budget, with higher ROI.

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Streamline Migration

Pinpoint Performance Issues

Reduce Migration Risk

Continuously Optimize

Migration Support

Make testing and analysis part of your SQL Server database migration process

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For painless SQL Server database migration, it’s critical to test and analyze performance at every stage. You’ll need to build a baseline to have initial documentation on how the migrated database runs and test for issues having the potential to become problems in the future. Once your migration is complete, you’ll need to have testing and analysis in place to ensure your migrated database is fully functional as required for your organization.

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Pinpoint Pre- vs. Post-Migration Performance Differences

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SolarWinds^® SQL Sentry^® allows you to visualize the comparative performance of the pre-and post-migration versions of your database. SQL Sentry Advisory Conditions compare current workload performance to legacy performance and alert you when deviations are detected. Insights like these help accelerate functional testing and allow you to put migrated SQL Server databases into production more confidently.

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Document the Migration Process and Data Lineage

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SQL Server database migration can be challenging for many organizations worried about prolonged downtime and losing valuable data during cloud migration. To aid in the database migration process, SolarWinds Database Mapper includes powerful documentation and data lineage analysis. With Database Mapper, you can easily maintain up-to-date documentation and data lineage to help ensure the migrated database complies with business rules and data privacy regulations.

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Continuously Optimize Your Migrated SQL Server Database

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Under- or over-provisioning the target server or cloud database service for your SQL Server database migration can mean a poor user experience and wasted budget. During the migration process and beyond, SolarWinds SQL Sentry (formerly known as SentryOne^® SQL Sentry) helps monitor SQL Server performance metrics and allows you to distinguish consistent baseline performance patterns from anomalies, which is critical to your data platform continuously delivering optimal performance to your database users.

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Benefit From Tech Support During SQL Server Database Migration

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Migrating a SQL Server database can bring significant benefits and challenges. But migrating SQL Server workloads doesn’t have to be risky, complex, or expensive. With the correct approach, you can avoid many common pitfalls associated with the migration process. SolarWinds can provide this guidance as you migrate SQL Server workloads and help ensure your migrated workloads are optimized for peak performance.

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Get More on SQL Server Database Migration

Frequently asked questions

What is SQL database migration?
What steps do I need to take for database migration?
How can I test database migration?
How does SQL Server database migration benefit the business?
What are SQL Server database migration best practices?
How does SolarWinds support SQL Server database migration?
Related Features and Tool

There are plenty of reasons why more and more businesses are migrating on-prem databases to the cloud. Cloud databases can offer faster retrieval and a more scalable solution for expanding or contracting with the needs of your business. Cloud databases also provide the possibility to save money over time compared to on-prem databases because cloud storage is bought in increments, meaning you won’t have to deal with the sunk costs of an on-prem database with excess storage.

The process of moving an on-prem SQL database to the cloud requires a careful approach. Without proper testing and documentation, you could lose time, money, and data. Once you’ve decided to migrate to the cloud, you’ll need to approach migration with a tried and true incremental plan.

SQL database migration takes time, a challenge for any business’s bottom line. The aim of database migration is to save enough money with your cloud database to offset the money lost due to migration downtime. Many businesses find this cost-benefit analysis yields excellent results, which is why cloud migration is growing at lightning speed.

SQL database migration poses several difficulties you must keep in mind before migrating. Once you’ve decided to migrate your on-prem SQL database to the cloud, you’ll need a migration plan accounting for potential problem spots.

First and foremost, migrating your SQL database to the cloud requires understanding cloud technology, database security, and database automation. Before you migrate, you’ll also need to thoroughly understand how your database application is running—which means thorough documentation of your database architecture, latency networks, and performance metrics. Because migration aims to address the inefficiencies of your on-premises database, identifying and addressing your highest-latency networks is an effective way to determine which parts you should migrate first.

Drafting an effective migration plan requires taking an informed, precise approach. Successful cloud migrations happen in four distinct steps: discovery, testing, migration, and finally, management and support.

The following SQL database migration checklist is a helpful way to organize your approach to and understand the steps necessary for successful cloud migration results.

Discovery: Discovery refers to the documentation of your SQL data systems, so you can understand the precise operations of your on-prem database before migrating to AWS or Azure. Discovery requires research into the data systems the migration target uses for data consumption and the systems receiving data from your target database. The discovery process will also require you to identify the software used by your SQL database and performance metrics like CPU utilization, memory, and storage.
Testing: Database testing aims to simulate how your SQL database will behave after it’s migrated to the cloud. Your database could lose efficiency and data during migration without a careful testing procedure. Effective testing involves running automated tests, recording performance regressions and degradations, and identifying improvements in your tests.
Migration: Once you’ve planned your migration with documentation and testing, the migration itself should be straightforward. Effective migration will be an automated process. Before moving your SQL database to AWS or Azure cloud systems, documentation and testing can ensure minimal uncertainty in the migration process. The resulting cloud database will be more efficient and less costly than your SQL Server database, and once you set a timeline with automated decision gates, you can migrate to the cloud with ease.
Management and Support: Managing your new cloud database is a crucial final step in migration. Once you’ve completed the cloud migration process, database management with AWS or Azure will require monitoring and tuning similar to your SQL Server monitoring process. Continuing to manage your cloud database, and providing support when necessary, helps you make sure your database maintains efficiency well into the future.

SQL Sentry and Database Mapper work together to help you plan your SQL Server database migration, archive your data, and monitor performance metrics before, during, and after the database migration process, to prevent business interruptions. Here are a few ways SQL Sentry can help as your data migration assistant:

Better visibility: SolarWinds helps ensure fast performance for your migrated SQL Server database before and after migration by providing unmatched visibility into key performance metrics.

Discovery and scope definition: After your team has identified the systems involved in the migration process, a comprehensive discovery of those systems is needed to gather all the data necessary to make informed decisions about the best path for performing the migration. SQL Sentry enables your team to archive your data while mapping your migration process.

For example, suppose you’re working with a clearly-defined scope, and the data platform has online transaction processing (OLTP), ETL, and reporting layers. Your team should still perform adequate due diligence to ensure you haven’t omitted any necessary systems or data and there aren’t any departmental applications in use you aren’t aware of. Using SQL Sentry archival capabilities helps ensure you aren’t overlooking any critical data in the migration process.

Documentation: Documenting a collection of SQL Server systems and producing a cohesive library of information often takes valuable time and resources. However, SolarWinds Database Mapper can help speed up the process. Database Mapper easily creates a solution containing the database, ETL, and reporting servers you want to analyze. Afterward, this information is stored in a SQL Server database accessible via the Database Mapper interface, allowing for more efficient collaboration among team members. Once the system scan is complete, review all the configuration data about the servers and the databases they contain in one convenient location. Better visibility into the data flowing through each server, database, and SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) package you’ll be migrating helps your understanding of the upstream and downstream impact of the changes. This information can also be documented and analyzed to ascertain business risk during the migration.

There are plenty of reasons why more and more businesses are migrating on-prem databases to the cloud. Cloud databases can offer faster retrieval and a more scalable solution for expanding or contracting with the needs of your business. Cloud databases also provide the possibility to save money over time compared to on-prem databases because cloud storage is bought in increments, meaning you won’t have to deal with the sunk costs of an on-prem database with excess storage.
The process of moving an on-prem SQL database to the cloud requires a careful approach. Without proper testing and documentation, you could lose time, money, and data. Once you’ve decided to migrate to the cloud, you’ll need to approach migration with a tried and true incremental plan.
SQL database migration takes time, a challenge for any business’s bottom line. The aim of database migration is to save enough money with your cloud database to offset the money lost due to migration downtime. Many businesses find this cost-benefit analysis yields excellent results, which is why cloud migration is growing at lightning speed.
SQL database migration poses several difficulties you must keep in mind before migrating. Once you’ve decided to migrate your on-prem SQL database to the cloud, you’ll need a migration plan accounting for potential problem spots.
First and foremost, migrating your SQL database to the cloud requires understanding cloud technology, database security, and database automation. Before you migrate, you’ll also need to thoroughly understand how your database application is running—which means thorough documentation of your database architecture, latency networks, and performance metrics. Because migration aims to address the inefficiencies of your on-premises database, identifying and addressing your highest-latency networks is an effective way to determine which parts you should migrate first.
Drafting an effective migration plan requires taking an informed, precise approach. Successful cloud migrations happen in four distinct steps: discovery, testing, migration, and finally, management and support.
The following SQL database migration checklist is a helpful way to organize your approach to and understand the steps necessary for successful cloud migration results.
Discovery: Discovery refers to the documentation of your SQL data systems, so you can understand the precise operations of your on-prem database before migrating to AWS or Azure. Discovery requires research into the data systems the migration target uses for data consumption and the systems receiving data from your target database. The discovery process will also require you to identify the software used by your SQL database and performance metrics like CPU utilization, memory, and storage.
Testing: Database testing aims to simulate how your SQL database will behave after it’s migrated to the cloud. Your database could lose efficiency and data during migration without a careful testing procedure. Effective testing involves running automated tests, recording performance regressions and degradations, and identifying improvements in your tests.
Migration: Once you’ve planned your migration with documentation and testing, the migration itself should be straightforward. Effective migration will be an automated process. Before moving your SQL database to AWS or Azure cloud systems, documentation and testing can ensure minimal uncertainty in the migration process. The resulting cloud database will be more efficient and less costly than your SQL Server database, and once you set a timeline with automated decision gates, you can migrate to the cloud with ease.
Management and Support: Managing your new cloud database is a crucial final step in migration. Once you’ve completed the cloud migration process, database management with AWS or Azure will require monitoring and tuning similar to your SQL Server monitoring process. Continuing to manage your cloud database, and providing support when necessary, helps you make sure your database maintains efficiency well into the future.
While it can be time-consuming, it’s ultimately beneficial to the business. Here are some common business reasons for migrating SQL Server databases:
Cost-savings: Migrating the database from costly legacy DBMSes like DB2, Oracle, or SQL Server on-premises to the cloud can significantly reduce spend on DBMS licenses, resources, maintenance, and real estate costs.
Business growth: Over time, the amount of data you manage or the number of people accessing your database might outgrow your SQL Server instance. Users will complain about poor performance, and DBAs will be overworked trying to address those complaints. Migrating the database to a new platform capable of handling the increased workload will help solve the problem. Some new platforms, especially cloud-based ones, can alter resources in real-time when demand rises and as the organization grows.
Business continuity: SQL Server databases can be migrated to platforms such as Azure and AWS that facilitate backup, failover, and disaster recovery. SQL Server database migration in these use cases helps improve an organization’s day-to-day operations by ensuring databases are available to users 24 hours a day.
For most organizations, the main goal of a SQL Server database migration is to move the database from one platform to another as effectively as possible with minimal input. There are four important best practices for SQL Server database migration.
Outline your goals for the new database and the migration process itself. Prioritize these goals and adjust your plan accordingly. Assess this migration plan before implementation and then keep testing during every step of the execution process to ensure the migration is going according to plan to avoid costly mistakes and minimize downtime.
Clean up your existing data. Do away with anything taking up unnecessary space to start fresh with only high-quality data.
Make a meticulous map of your existing data to ensure valuable system documents aren’t lost in the migration. Create notes around where your data has already been, from inception through extract, transform, load (ETL) processes.
Make sure you’re testing every step of the way. The testing process includes building performance baseline reports, monitoring the new system, and further testing for any possible future-occurring issues instead of simply focusing on the initial migration.
Other SolarWinds Tools:
Database Performance Analyzer (DPA)
Server & Application Monitor (SAM)
Other Features:
Performance Analysis Dashboard
SQL Server Deadlock Analysis

Streamline your SQL Server database migration

SolarWinds SQL Sentry

Test and analyze performance at every stage of migration for faster, more confident migration
Powerful documentation and data lineage analysis protect data quality and compliance
Get expert guidance as you’re migrating SQL Server workloads

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Fully functional for 14 days

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