SQL server database (on Microsoft azure) migration to GCP (Big query or PostgreSQL)

Question

We have a an application whose database is on MS sql server hosted on Azure. We have been asked to look into steps to migrate it to GCP (either in Big query or PostgreSQL)

After having done some research I have found that migrating from an open source database like MySQL to GCP cloud SQL is possible. As well is the process of migrating from on-prem database to any other cloud.

However I am not able figure out

1. if its possible to migrate the database from one cloud to another (in this case Azure (MS sql server) to GCP (Big query/PostGRE sql)
2. What steps would be involved.

I understand that we have technically not tried anything yet so by standards of stackoverflow this may not be a great question however just need some guidance as this is the first time we are trying to migrate a database from one cloud to another

Answer 1

• As the original database is MS SQL Server and we are migrating to Google Cloud, we can use Cloud SQL for SQL Server (a managed service). A managed service will do many tasks by itself, such as backups.
• If the MS SQL Server version we need is not available on Cloud SQL for SQL Server, we can use Compute Engine and choose the operating system to be SQL Server on Windows Server, then choose from a lot of versions. But it is not a managed service.
• If the data size will be in the range of PetaBytes (PB) (or a lot of TeraBytes (TB)), we can think in Cloud Spanner.
• Big Query is data warehousing and is not suitable to be a backend for an app, as it is slow in updating.
• If you think of using PostgreSQL, there will be a separate task of moving from one DB vendor to another DB vendor.