Migrating from Sybase ASE

Sybase ASE (more recently known as SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise), announced its end of mainstream maintenance, winding down support and halting further releases. Customers whose daily operations depend on Sybase ASE should consider migrating to another database platform to ensure support is available and security issues are addressed. SymmetricDS is a powerful tool for data migration because of its flexible capabilities, wide compatibility, and the ability to operate across wide area networks. Here are some ways SymmetricDS can help with migration from Sybase ASE.

Database Compatibility

SymmetricDS can migrate data from Sybase ASE to any of 30+ supported databases. Table schema is converted into compatible data types and data is populated into the new database. Transforms can convert, map, and enhance data, using supplemental data from either the source or target. Databases can be local or separated across a wide area network.

Automation Features

The migration is configured upfront, making it a consistent and repeatable automation. Customization can be included in the configuration as scripts and plugins that perform operations before and after the load for each table.

Data Volume and Performance

Parallel threads and native bulk copy (bcp) are used for fast export and import of data. To minimize the impact to business, both systems can be kept in sync using bi-directional change data capture, which is performed on live systems and requires no application downtime. Applications can migrate to the new database when they are ready.

Security

Users are authenticated to access the data replication console, with options for OAuth2, SAML, and Active Directory. Each user belongs to a role given a group of privileges that control access to screens, fields, and operations. Encryption is used for credentials, data at rest, and data in transfer. Audit logs track actions taken by users along with any changes made to the system.

Validation and Auditing

After data migration, the data can be compared to verify its integrity. Differences can be detected quickly with row counts or more accurately with checksums. For a system that is undergoing changes, in-flight data can be used so it’s not miscounted as differences.

Monitoring

During the load, a panel displays the overall progress and estimates completion of the load, along with each table’s progress for extract, transfer, and load.

Choosing a Migration Target

Some databases are a better match with Sybase ASE for compatibility with features, data types, and procedure language. The most popular databases for a migration target are Microsoft’s SQL Server and the open source PostgreSQL.

Migrate Sybase ASE to SQL Server

SQL Server and Sybase ASE have a shared past, which results in similarities that make SQL Server an ideal database to target for migration. In 1994, Microsoft purchased the source code to Sybase ASE and began innovating independently under the name SQL Server. Sybase was later acquired by SAP in 2010. Many core features remain the same, such as SQL syntax, system tables, and Transact-SQL procedure language. SQL Server can be deployed on-premise or as a SaaS solution in the cloud with Azure SQL.

Migrate Sybase ASE to PostgreSQL

PostgreSQL is an advanced relational database that is a suitable target for migration because it is feature rich, widely supported, and freely available. PostgresSQL provides a procedural language called PL/pgSQL, which is equivalent in functionality to Sybase’s Transact-SQL, but still requires a porting effort to convert functions and procedures. SymmetricDS easily converts data types between these databases, including some of Sybase’s lesser used types like unichar.

Data Migration

While Sybase ASE support is ending, data migration to either SQL Server or PostgreSQL ensures data will be available under a supported and secure database. SymmetricDS is a powerful tool that can make data migration fast, easy, and automatic. Whether connecting to databases on-premise or in the cloud, SymmetricDS has capabilities to move and transport data.

 

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