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Overview - AWS Prescriptive Guidance

Overview

The most basic way to move large amounts of data to AWS is by using database backup. However, a Db2 for LUW database backup from one platform family can be restored only to a system within the same platform family. Db2 LUW supports the following three platform families:

  • Big-endian Linux and UNIX

  • Little-endian Linux and UNIX

  • Windows

When migrating Db2 from on premises to Amazon EC2, you have the following options:

  • Rehosting an on-premises Db2 database running on the little-endian Linux or Windows platforms is relatively easy because you can use regular backup and restore to move data. If you need a minimum-outage migration, you can use IBM Db2 HADR (high availability and disaster recovery) or backup and recovery with log shipping.

  • Rehosting an on-premises Db2 database running on the big-endian platform is much more challenging because the database backup and logs can't be used. Because IBM doesn't provide a native tool to convert data between platform families, a full unload and reload is required. These operations can be time-consuming, and they usually require a longer outage window. 

  • If you have Db2 workloads on the big-endian platform but can't afford a long outage window, we recommend a logical replication solution.

This guide provides information about the following options:

  • Offline backup and restore

  • High availability disaster recovery (HADR) failover

  • Online backup and restore with log shipping

  • IBM Q Replication

  • IBM SQL Replication

  • AWS Database Migration Service (AWS DMS)

  • Other third-party replication tools, including IBM InfoSphere Change Data Capture (CDC)

  • IBM InfoSphere Optim High Performance Unload and load

  • LOAD FROM CURSOR

  • db2move utility