AWS Database Migration

Required Skills  MS SQL DB, AWS, DMS

Microsoft SQL Server

• SQL Server 2014/2016/2017/2019 – Installation, configuration, administration, and migration
• SQL Server High Availability: Always On Availability Groups, Failover Cluster Instances, log shipping
• SQL Server security: Authentication modes, TDE, column-level encryption, auditing
• Performance Tuning: Query optimization, index management, wait statistics, execution plans, DMVs
• T-SQL – Expert-level scripting for database administration, migration validation, and automation
• SSIS, SSRS, SSAS – Compatibility assessment and migration considerations

Amazon RDS for SQL Server

• RDS SQL Server deployment: Instance class selection, storage configuration, parameter/option groups
• RDS Multi-AZ: Synchronous replication, automatic failover, maintenance windows
• RDS cross-region read replicas: Configuration, promotion, replication lag monitoring
• RDS security: VPC security groups, encryption at rest (KMS), SSL/TLS, IAM database authentication
• RDS monitoring: Enhanced Monitoring, Performance Insights, CloudWatch metrics
• RDS backup: Automated backups, snapshots, cross-region snapshot copy, point-in-time restore
• RDS limitations: CLR, linked servers, SQL Agent, FILESTREAM constraints

Database Migration Tools & Techniques

• AWS DMS – Source/target endpoint configuration, replication instances, CDC (Change Data Capture)
• AWS SCT – Assessment reports, schema conversion, code migration
• Native SQL Server methods – Backup/restore to RDS, log shipping, transactional replication
• DMAF – Database Migration Assessment Framework for planning

IaC & Testing

• Terraform or CloudFormation – RDS instance provisioning, parameter group management across two regions
• Database migration testing: Record count validation, data comparison, performance benchmarking
• Cutover planning and rollback procedure development and testing
• Interim architecture planning for workloads migrated on varying schedules

Required Certifications

• AWS Certified Database – Specialty (highly preferred)
• AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (minimum)
• Microsoft certifications in SQL Server administration or development (beneficial)