Google LLC today introduced its Database Migration Service, a new serverless offering currently in preview that will make it easier for customers to move their databases to its public cloud.

The tool can import the contents of MySQL deployments running on-premises or on competing clouds such as Amazon Web Services into Google’s Cloud SQL database server. In the future, Google plans to add support for the PostgreSQL and SQL Server databases as well.

Google created the tool because migrating a database from one environment to another can be a tedious task under normal circumstances. Moving a large number of records over the internet requires significant computing power, which means administrators have to spin up servers to process the  information. They also have to configure network connections through which the information can flow to the new environment.

All this involves a great deal of manual work and comes with an associated risk of human error that Google is hoping to reduce through its new Database Migration Service. The search giant says that the tool removes the need for administrators to set up migration-specific servers when moving databases. On the networking front, connections for transferring information can be configured via a relatively simple wizard.

Another pain point Google aims to address is data reliability. When records are moved from one place to another, there are technical factors that can cause data corruption, which is a particularly big concern when it comes to mission-critical information such as financial reports. The Database Migration Service reduces the risk of this happening by transferring records using the built-in, tried-and-tested replication features of the database being migrated.

Andi Gutmans, Google Cloud’s general manager and vice president of engineering for databases wrote in a blog post that DMS is unique in that it uses the database’s native replication capabilities to ensure greater fidelity and reliability. 

Enterprises have already started putting the Database Migration Service to use. According to Gutmans, more than half of the migrations performed by customers thus imported databases previously hosted in competing clouds.

“We think this is going to accelerate a lot of migrations for customers,” Gutmans said in an interview with SiliconANGLE.

Customers can use the Database Migration Service to migrate MySQL databases today. The PostgreSQL support is in private preview and SQL Server support will arrive next year. “We’ve taken a more focused approach” by not trying to provide a generic tool for every database, but Gutmans said Google will gradually add more migration options.

The tool will enable Google to better address disaster protection use cases, notably scenarios where companies create copies of a database on multiple platforms to reduce the risk of outages. The tool will also benefit customers shifting legacy on-premises workloads to the cloud. Moving an application to the cloud requires shifting not just the application itself but also all its data, which makes database migrations a particularly core element of digital transformation initiatives.

With reporting from Robert Hof

Image: Google