Professional Cloud ArchitectDesign and plan a cloud solution architectureMedium
A large retail company is migrating its existing on-premises inventory management system to Google Cloud. The system uses a highly available relational database with complex schema and requires strong transactional consistency across multiple tables. The company needs to minimize downtime during migration and ensure a seamless cutover. They also want to leverage Google Cloud's fully managed database services to reduce operational burden. Which Google Cloud database migration strategy and service should be recommended?
- AMigrate to Cloud SQL with Database Migration Service (DMS) for continuous replication.
- BLift and shift to Compute Engine with a self-managed database and then use Database Migration Service (DMS) for continuous replication.
- CMigrate to Cloud Spanner using a custom ETL process for schema conversion and data transfer.
- DMigrate to BigQuery using batch loading for historical data.
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Migrate to Cloud SQL with Database Migration Service (DMS) for continuous replication.
Cloud SQL is the appropriate fully managed relational database. Database Migration Service (DMS) provides continuous replication (CDC) from on-premises to Cloud SQL, enabling minimal downtime and a seamless cutover, which aligns with the migration requirements.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. Lifting and shifting to a self-managed database on Compute Engine does not leverage 'fully managed database services' and increases operational burden.
- C. While Cloud Spanner offers strong consistency, migrating a complex relational schema to Spanner often requires significant schema re-architecture and custom ETL, which might not be 'minimal downtime' or 'seamless' for a direct migration of an existing relational system without refactoring.
- D. BigQuery is an analytical data warehouse, not a transactional relational database, and is unsuitable for an inventory management system requiring strong transactional consistency.
Cloud SQL + Database Migration Service (DMS)
Cloud SQL is a fully managed relational database service. Database Migration Service (DMS) facilitates continuous, minimal-downtime migrations of relational databases from on-premises or other clouds to Cloud SQL.
- Cloud SQL supports MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server.
- DMS supports online migrations with continuous data replication (CDC).
- Minimizes downtime during database cutover.
- Reduces operational burden through fully managed services.
Memory trick: DMS moves your relational data smoothly to Cloud SQL.