What is Data Migration?

The process of transferring data between various types of storage formats or amongst computer systems is called Data Migration. It is a an important element for system upgrades or consolidation. Data migration in most cases is performed through programmed means to achieve automated migration, freeing up human intervention. Data migration is required for a variety of reasons, including server or storage equipment replacements, maintenance or upgrades, application migration, website consolidation and data center relocation. To achieve an effective data migration procedure, data on the old system is mapped to the new system with a design for data extraction and data loading. The design relates old data formats to the new system’s formats and requirements. Programmatic data migration may involve many phases but it minimally includes data extraction where data is read from the old system and data loading where data is written to the new system. After loading into the new system, results are subjected to data verification to determine whether data was accurately translated, is complete, and supports processes in the new system.