Oracle Database Migration To Cloud (Lift & Shift): Overview & Methodology

Database Migration (Lift & Shift) is the process of migrating an Oracle Database from On-Premise to Cloud (Oracle Cloud (OCI), Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, etc).

This post covers the Overview, Methodology and Database Concepts that are important related to Migration like Version, Character-set, Big/Little Endian, Multi-Tenant Architecture (PDB & CDB), DB Size, DB Options, etc.

Migration Methodology

Different Migration Scenarios

Migrating From On-Premise to Oracle Cloud
Migrating From Amazon RDS, EC2 to Oracle Cloud
Migrating From Azure to Oracle Cloud

Various Database Options Available In Oracle Cloud

Before migrating your database, you need to check which database option you will be choosing to migrate your on-prem database.

Databases in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure can be put in two main categories:

User-Managed Database: User-managed Database are the Databases on bare metal, virtual machine, and Exadata DB systems that enable you to customize with the resources that meet your requirements.
Autonomous Database: It includes
1. ATP: Autonomous Transaction Processing
2. ADW: Autonomous Data Warehouse

To know more about the various Database options in detail please check my previous post on Oracle Cloud Database Options (VMDB, BMDB, ExaCS, ExaCS & Autonomous (ADW, ATP)

Various Connectivity Option To Oracle Cloud

Once you are done with choosing which database option you will be choosing to migrate your on-prem database, the second thing you need to consider is how your database is shipped to Oracle Cloud.

Online Method

In this method, you will be directly connecting to Oracle Cloud Network and migrating your database. You can use three different options to connect to the Oracle Cloud network.

Internet Gateway: You will be using Public to connect and data will flow over the internet, used this only for POC’s purpose
IPsec VPN Tunnel: The second way to connect is using IP Sec VPN Tunnel and typically used to extend OCI Network (i.e. VCN) as if this is an extension to your On-Premise Network so that your users in On-Premise Network can connect to Cloud using Secure Tunnel over the Internet but on Internal (or non -public IP).
FastConnect: FastConnect is the most expensive solution whereas connecting over the IPSec VPN Tunnel is the most common method.

To know more about the three connectivity options check my post on 3 Ways to Connect to Oracle Cloud

Offline Method

Data Transfer Disk: Data Transfer is an offline data migration service that lets you securely move petabyte-scale datasets from your datacenter to Object Storage or Archive Storage on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.

To know more about data transfer disk check here

Supported Versions (DBCS Migration)

Supported version for migration to Oracle DBaaS currently (as of March 2018) are

11G On-Premise Database to 11G Database on Cloud
11G On-Premise Database to 12C PDB on Cloud
12C Non-CDB On-Premise Database to 12C PDB (Pluggable Database) on Cloud
12C PDB On-Premise Database to 12C PDB (Pluggable Database) on Cloud

Where PDB Stands for Pluggable Database and CDB stands for Container Database in Multi-Tenant Architecture of 12c Database.

Note: If your on-prem database is at lower version i.e. 11g release 1 or lesser, then first you need to upgrade it to a higher version and then you can migrate to the cloud

Migration Methods

There are multiple migrations possible depending on things like, Source & Destination Database version, Endian, Characterset, Options, Downtime, etc . Methods to migrate Oracle Database to Cloud includes

Conventional Export/Import and Data Pump
Transportable Tablespace Data Pump
Full Transportable Data Pump
Unplug/Plug (12c Only)
Remote Cloning (PDB and Non-CDB)
Recovery Manager (RMAN)
SQL* Loader
Oracle GoldenGate
ZDM (Zero Downtime Migration)
MV2ADB
MV2OCI
Hybrid DataGuard

Lets Deep-Dive into each Migration Methods we have:

**Original* Export/Import**

Traditional oldest Method to Migrate Data
Very SlowNot designed for large Database (100GB+)
Must be used for 9i or previous versions
Not fit to Migrate to Cloud

Data Pump Export/Import

Introduced in 10g Database
Designed to handle a large volume of data
Very data is very large (few hundred GBs)
From a performance point of view, the Transportable Tablespace method could be quicker
Nothing to worry about Character set or Endian
Can be used for 11g on-premise to 11g/12c PDB Cloud Migration
Can be used for 12c Non-CDB/PDB on-premise to 12c PDB Cloud Migration

Data pump Transportable Tablespace

Fastest Method to migrate Data
Entire Datafiles in a Tablespace are moved from source to Target Database
Moving of Datafiles is quick compared to each object hence this method is
quicker than Data Pump Export/Import
Requires some configuration and setup to migrate using Transportable
Tablespaces could be complex
Can be used for 11g on-premise to 11g/12c PDB Cloud Migration
Can be used for 12c Non-CDB/PDB on-premise to 12c PDB Cloud Migration

Data Pump Full Transportable

Introduced in 12c, make migration to 12c Database Easy & Quick
12c can be configured as Non-CDB or CDB/PDB
Can be used to migrate to both Non-CDB or PDB
Moves all of System, User, and Application Metadata without complex setup
required in Transportable Tablespace Method
Combines the ease of Data-pump and speed of Transportable Tablespaces
Can be used for 11.2.0.3+ on-premise to 12c PDB Cloud Migration
Can be used for 12c Non-CDB/PDB on-premise to 12c PDB Cloud Migration
Use this method to migrate from Non-CDB to PDB
One PDB to another PDB

Unplug/Plug

Uses 12c Multitenant feature of Pluggable Database(PDB)
Supported by
12c Non-CDB on Premise to PDB on Cloud
12c PDB on Premise to PDB on Cloud
If TDE is enabled, export TDE master encryption key on the source before migration and
Import TDE Master key in CDB on target (If no key store in CDB then create it)

Remote Cloning

Uses 12c Multitenant feature of Pluggable Database(PDB) Supported from
12c Non-CDB on Premise to New PDB on Cloud
12c PDB on Premise to New PDB on Cloud
Target database on DBCS must be new PDB (You can’t clone to an existing PDB)
During migration, the on-premise database must be Read Only
After migration, on-premise can be changed to reading Write and can be used

RMAN Convert Transport Tablespace With Data Pump

RMAN Convert TTS + expdp for
11g on-premise to 11g Cloud Migration
12c Non-CDB or PDB on-premise to new or Existing PDB Cloud Migration
Copy Dump & Image File to Cloud Compute
Import (impdp) to Cloud 11g Database

RMAN TTS with Data Pump

RMAN Backup TS + expdp: 11g on-premise to 12c PDB on Cloud
Copy Dump & data file to Cloud Compute
Restore + impdp to Cloud PDB
Very Similar to RMAN Convert TTS plus Data pump

RMAN Cross-Platform Transportable Tablespace Backup Sets

RMAN Backup To Platform: 12c Non-CDB/PDB on-premise to 12c PDB on
Cloud
If Endian Conversion is required RMAN BACKUP TO PLATFORM DATAPUMP TABLESPACE
Copy Backup Set & Dump File
Restore Foreign Tablespace Dump File to Cloud PDB

RMAN Cross-Platform Transportable PDB

RMAN Un-Plug/Plug: 12c PDB on-premise to 12c PDB on Cloud
If Endian Conversion is Required
Unplug PDB + RMAN BACKUP FOR TRANSPORT PLUGGABLE DATABASE
Copy PDB to Compute Cloud
RMAN RESTORE ALL FOREIGN DATAFILES + Plug PDB

SQL Developer

SQL Developer to migrate data to Cloud has two options
DDL statement + SQL*loader control & Data File
DDL statement + Insert Statement (Use SQL Developer)
User SQL Developer

Oracle Golden Gate

Zero or near-zero downtime migrations when an Oracle Data Guard solution is not applicable
Bi-directional replication can be configured from the migrated database back to the production database for use as a fallback solution

ZDM (Zero Downtime Migration)

Oracle automated tools make it seamless to move your on-premises database to the Oracle Cloud with virtually no downtime.
Note: this utility will be available probably from December 2o19

MV2OCI

M2OCI is a utility by Oracle to move data to Oracle Cloud Database in “one-click”.
To know about MV2OCI check DOCI-ID: 2514026.1

MV2ADB

MV2ADB is a utility by Oracle to move data to Oracle Autonomous Database in “1-click”
To know more about MV2ADB check DOC-ID: 2463574.1

Hybrid DataGuard

Used when you required Zero Downtime
Primary database instances on-premise that need a standby in the Oracle Cloud
Once Migration Done successfully make Standby Database to primary using switchover

Now it’s your turn to post your doubts in the comment section and let us know where you are facing challenges while doing the migration to the Oracle cloud. If you like the post don’t forget to share this with your colleague or friends.

Related/Further Readings

Oracle Cloud Database Options (VMDB, BMDB, ExaCS, ExaCS & Autonomous (ADW, ATP)
3 Ways to Connect to Oracle Cloud(
ADB) MV2ADB: move data to Autonomous Database in “one-click” (Doc ID 2463574.1)
OCI) MV2OCI: move data to Oracle Cloud Database in “one-click” (Doc ID 2514026.1
Migrating Databases to the Cloud
Using Oracle GoldenGate for an Efficient & Flexible Oracle Cloud Migration
Migration to Exadata Best Practices
Migration to Exadata Cloud Using Advanced Data Guard Approach with Minimal Downtime (2326901.1)
Oracle EBS (R12) On-Premise to OCI Migration (Lift & Shift): 10 Things You Must Consider

How Can I Learn More

We cover Data Gaurd on Oracle Cloud in detail in our DBA to Oracle Cloud DBA Training program. To Know, what to expect in our training, Register for our FREE Masterclass on “Upgrade From DBA To Oracle Cloud DBA Including Certification & Earn More In 2020″