Things to Consider for an On-Premises Oracle to Amazon RDS Migration

Are you considering moving your on-premises Oracle databases to Amazon RDS? Before you undertake this transformative change, you’ll want to make sure that it’s the right decision for your organization. Here are the most important factors to keep in mind.

Oracle Database Version and Licenses

Check the list of supported Oracle database versions of Amazon RDS to ensure that the service supports your on-premises deployments. If your Oracle version is older, you may need to upgrade your databases before you can move ahead with the Amazon RDS migration. You also need to look at the Oracle licensing options to see whether you need to change licenses, bring your own license to AWS, or use a solution that includes it.

Control of the Underlying Infrastructure

Moving to Amazon RDS means that your organization is giving up control of the underlying database hardware and much of the software. You may not want to cede that much control to an external partner, especially when you’re used to running Oracle on-premises.

Data Regulations

What data regulations are you subject to? If you have restrictive requirements to work around, you’ll need to ensure that Amazon RDS is compliant with the requested measures. Your sensitive data may have special security requirements or need to stay within a particular region.

AWS Regions

The latency between your systems, your users, and the AWS data centers is another important Oracle to Amazon RDS migration consideration. With on-premises Oracle deployments, your internal systems use your own network to deliver low-latency access to your data. When you move your databases to the cloud, you switch to using internet connectivity, which may change the performance.

Full or Partial Cloud Migration

Do you want, or need, to take a 100% cloud approach for your on-premises Oracle databases? A hybrid model offers greater flexibility and allows you to separate out data that is sensitive or under regulatory requirements.

Pricing Model

Amazon RDS has two pricing models: pay-as-you-go, and reserved instances. The right option for your IT budget depends on how predictable your Oracle database workloads are and how much flexibility you want. Pay-as-you-go is a no-contract option that charges based on your resource usage. Reserved instances offer a year or longer contract that allocates a specific amount of Amazon RDS resources. This option is less expensive than pay-as-you-go, but it’s not always a feasible choice if you have highly variable workloads.

Want to learn more about the pros and cons of migrating to Amazon RDS? Download our white paper: Why You Should Consider an Oracle to Amazon RDS Migration.