Migrating Databases from Microsoft SQL Server to Snowflake

In today’s business environment that is mostly data-driven, organizations are continually looking for ways that optimize their data storage and computing capabilities. Those on Microsoft-based databases can do so too, one reason why the preference is migrating databases from Microsoft SQLServer to Snowflake.

Snowflake is a data warehousing solution with all the benefits of the cloud. It offers unlimited storage capabilities and users can scale up and down paying only for the resources used. Snowflake also provides unmatched computing powers and does not have any drop in performance or speed lag even when multiple users are simultaneously executing intricate queries. It is for all these factors and more that database migration from SQL Server to Snowflake is such an attractive proposition today.

Database migration from SQL Server to Snowflake

There are four steps in database migration from SQL Server to Snowflake.

In the first, data is extracted from the SQL Server using queries for extraction. The built-in SQL Server Management Studio tool is used for extracting bulk data in CSV, SQL queries, or text format.

The second step is formatting and processing the extracted data so that the structure matches one that is compatible with the Snowflake architecture. However, this formatting is not required for loading JSON or XML data into Snowflake.

At this stage too, the data cannot be migrated to Snowflake but has to be kept in an internal or external staging area. An internal stage has to be created with SQL statements or an external staging area like Amazon S3 or Microsoft Azure used.

Now, the data can be loaded into Snowflake.

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