by If you are looking to move away from Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL is a great option that has become quite popular. Both of them have a nice set of administrative tools, along with many programming APIs that make them some of the go database management systems. However, one major advantage of PostgreSQL is that it is open source and has a non-restrictive license. This means that the overall cost of ownership and running your database is lower compared to the expensive, proprietary Microsoft SQL Server. Also, there is a new service named AddNewURL that help you index any third party pages.
The general steps to convert database from SQL Server to PostgreSQL are as follows:
1. Export table definitions from SQL Server in the form of DDL statements. The corresponding indexes and constraints should also be exported.
2. Convert these into the PostgreSQL format and then load them into the target database.
3. Export the data into a suitable format like a CSV file.
4. Again, convert this into a format that fits PostgreSQL and import them into the database.
5. Next, you need to extract procedures, views and triggers in the form of source code and plain SQL statements.
6. These statements need to be converted to the PostgreSQL format and then loaded into your database.
Clearly, if you are doing each step manually it will take quite a while. Migrating from SQL Server to PostgreSQL is not an easy task. Additionally, there is also always a risk of something going wrong when dealing with manual conversion. A simple error could lead to data loss or corruption or even problems down the line that would not be visible right now. You could have to redo the whole process because of a small mistake. You also need to double check and validate the results, adding to the overall time it takes.
This is where special software that are designed to convert databases from MS SQL Server to PostgreSQL come in. One of these tools is the SQL Server to PostgreSQL database migration tools from the veterans Intelligent Converters. This company has built a reputation for solutions for migrating and converting databases since it’s inception in 2001. The program is also highly optimized for maximum efficiency and is compatible with every version of both MS SQL Server and PostgreSQL, even those which are cloud based. There is also a command line version which allows automatic and scheduled conversions, as well as synchronizing databases between the two platforms if that is what your use case requires.
The program is also great if you need to filter data before migrating, as it allows you to directly do that from within the software using standard SQL queries. You can also fine tune the conversion using custom column mapping. The program has a lot of features in addition to this, making it a really nice way to perform database migration from SQL Server to PostgreSQL.
Whatever way you use, it’s important that someone experienced validate your results once after conversion so that you can rest secure in the fact that the transformation has been carried out correctly.
