In Spring 2018, we announced the general availability of Azure Database for PostgreSQL – Single Server, our inaugural fully managed open source PostgreSQL database-as-a-service. We focused our efforts to make Single Server a robust open source PostgreSQL deployment that encompassed scalability, resiliency, and built-in security. In November 2021 we announced the general availability of Flexible Server, the next generation deployment of Azure Database for PostgreSQL that offers substantial price-performance improvements with support for burstable tier compute, improved uptime with a hot standby server, and a simplified developer experience.
Since the Flexible Server GA release, our customers have been migrating their databases and applications from Azure Database for PostgreSQL – Single Server to Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Server and enjoying the many benefits associated with the service.
At Microsoft, our mission is to empower every person and organization on the planet to achieve more. It’s this mission that drives our firm commitment to collaborate and contribute to the Postgres community and invest in bringing the best migration experience to everyone using PostgreSQL on Azure. \ If you are an Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Single Server user and want to migrate to Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Server to realize the many improvements mentioned above, we have a migration tool that is simple and easy to use.
Today we are excited to announce the general availability of the Single Server to Flexible Server migration tool that customers can use to trigger a migration with the click of a button or via a single az-cli command. The migration tool sets up the infrastructure and abstracts all the complexities involved in setting up a migration by automating all the steps for you.
This migration tool currently supports offline migrations. In an offline migration, all the applications connected to your Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Single Server are stopped and the database(s) are copied to your Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Server. Offline migrations are simple and easy to execute with low chances of failure and is the recommended way to perform migrations when migrating from Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Single Server to Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Server.
Why migrate to Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Server?
Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Server provides you with the benefits and simplicity of a fully managed database service coupled with maximum flexibility over your database and built-in cost-optimization controls. Additional benefits of Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Server include:
- Infrastructure - Linux-based VMs, premium managed disks, zone-redundant backups
- Cost optimization/Dev friendly - Burstable SKUs, start/stop features, default deployment choices
- Additional Improvements over Single Server - Zone-redundant High Availability (HA), support for newer PG versions, custom maintenance windows, connection pooling with PgBouncer, etc
Learn more about why Flexible Server is the top destination for Azure Database for PostgreSQL:
Why do you need the Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Single Server to Flexible Server migration tool?
Let's go over some of the nuances of migrating data from Single Server to Flexible Server. Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Single Server and Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Server run on different OS platforms (Windows vs Linux) with different physical layouts (Basic/ 4TB/16TB storage Vs Managed disk) and different collation. Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Server supports PostgreSQL DB versions 11 and above. If you are using PG 10 and below on Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Single Server (those are retired, by the way), you must make sure your application is compatible with higher versions. These challenges prohibit us from making a simple physical copy of the data, so the migration is performed with a logical data copy. This tool is a migration service that will perform the logical migration from Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Single Server to Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Server. You can use the Azure portal or Azure CLI to perform offline migrations.
To learn more about the best practices and further guidance to consider when using this tool to perform your database migration, please refer to this documentation.
In closing...
We’re thankful to our many customers who have evaluated the Single Server to Flexible Server -critical applications to Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Server. Customers appreciate the migration tool’s ease of use, features, and seamless experience when migrating their Azure Database for PostgreSQL – Single Server databases.
Please note that if your applications have strict ‘no downtime’ requirements, you should consider an online migration. Please contact your account teams if online migration is needed for migrating your Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Single Server to Flexible server.
If you haven’t explored Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Server yet you may want to start with Flexible Server docs, which is a great place to roll up your sleeves and learn more. Visit our website to learn more about the fully managed Azure Database for PostgreSQL.
We look forward to helping you with a pleasant migration experience to Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Server using the migration tool. Reach out to us at AskAzureDBforPGS2F@microsoft.com for any questions related to migrations or Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Server.
