SQL Server and Postgres database management systems can be identified by all professionals as one of the popular DBMS provided with great deal of features and tools. On the other hand, when the two systems are compared, the SQL Server stands out as the DBMS that possesses tight licensing terms and also, the cost of acquiring the license ownership is very high. The Postgres on the other hand goes under generous license rights just like the BSD or MIT which is open source. Because of this, many companies plan to transfer their databases from SQL Server to Postgres.
The process of transferring SQL Server to Postgres database can be separated into the following steps:
- Export SQL Server table information as data definition language (DDL) statements
- Convert DDL statements into Postgres format including correct type mapping, replacing SQL Server embedded functions that are not supported by Postgres, etc
- Load the converted DDLs into the destination Postgres database
- Export SQL Server data from the source database into an intermediate storage in comma separated values (CSV) format
- Convert the data in order to comply with Postgres format providing necessary transformation of binary data, dates and escaping special symbols in text fields when it is required.
- Import the resulting CSV files into the target database
- Export SQL Server views, stored procedures and triggers in form of SQL statements and source code
- Transform these statements and source code according to the target format and load it into the Postgres database
The steps mentioned above indicates that it is a bit difficult to manually transform SQL Server database into Postgres format. This difficult process requires a lot of work also, the human factor can result into loss of data or data corruption. However, to avoid issues when automating database migration, exclusive software can be employed.
Companies that provide solutions in the area of database migration from SQL Server to Postgres are very few. The Intelligent Converters happen to be one of those organizations that provides conversion tools that handles the migration of SQL Server to Postgres, and has since being in business since 2001.
Key features of SQL Server to Postgres converter include:
- The primary database objects such as table definitions, data, constraints, indexes, foreign keys are migrated
- The converter implements direct connection and bulk insert techniques in order to reach high performance of the database conversion process
- It supports all versions of SQL Server and Postgres including “software as a service” (SAAS) variations of these database management systems
- For purpose of automation SQL Server to Postgres converter provides command line support
- The converter allows to merge and to synchronize existing Postgres database with SQL Server data
- Conversion settings are stored into profile
Apart from these primary features, SQL Server to Postgres converter offers this kind of convenient and robust option as filtering data via SELECT-queries. This feature enables administrators to select columns and records for conversion or perhaps to carry out a modification of the data prior to converting it into Postgres format. SELECT-queries can be used to achieve different goals: filtering records, select and rename particular columns, skip NULL values, merge two tables into a single one.
As with other products developed by Intelligent Converters, the SQL Server to Postgres database tool comes with one (1) year subscription for updates and unlimited support. Visit the official product page for more details: https://www.convert-in.com/mss2pgs.htm
