# SQL Server database migration methods
<a name="methods"></a>

There are various methods to migrate your SQL Server databases to AWS. You can choose from AWS services and SQL Server native features based on your assessment and requirements. This section describes some of the most common methods, which are summarized in the following two tables. Detailed discussions of some of these methods are included in the sections on Amazon EC2 and Amazon RDS later in this guide.

**AWS services**


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| Migration method | Target | Features and limitations | More information | 
| --- | --- | --- | --- | 
| **AWS DMS** | Amazon EC2<br />Amazon RDS<br />Amazon RDS Custom<br />Amazon Aurora | [See the AWS documentation website for more details](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/prescriptive-guidance/latest/migration-sql-server/methods.html) | [AWS DMS](heterogeneous-migration-tools.md#aws-dms) section | 
| **AWS Migration Hub Orchestrator** | Amazon EC2<br />Amazon RDS | [See the AWS documentation website for more details](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/prescriptive-guidance/latest/migration-sql-server/methods.html) | [AWS Migration Hub Orchestrator](mho.md) section | 
| **AWS Application Migration Service** | Amazon EC2 | [See the AWS documentation website for more details](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/prescriptive-guidance/latest/migration-sql-server/methods.html) | Not covered in this guide (see [Application Migration Service documentation](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/mgn/index.html)) | 
| **AWS Snowball Edge** | Amazon EC2<br />Amazon RDS<br />Amazon RDS Custom | [See the AWS documentation website for more details](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/prescriptive-guidance/latest/migration-sql-server/methods.html) | [Snowball Edge](snowball-edge.md) section | 

**SQL Server native methods**


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| Migration method | Target | Features and limitations | More information | 
| --- | --- | --- | --- | 
| **Native backup and restore** | Amazon EC2<br />Amazon RDS<br />Amazon RDS Custom | [See the AWS documentation website for more details](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/prescriptive-guidance/latest/migration-sql-server/methods.html) | [Native SQL Server backup/restore](native-backup-restore.md) section (you can use [AWS Migration Hub Orchestrator](mho.md) to automate native backup and restore) | 
| **Log shipping** | Amazon EC2<br />Amazon RDS<br />Amazon RDS Custom | [See the AWS documentation website for more details](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/prescriptive-guidance/latest/migration-sql-server/methods.html) | [Log shipping](log-shipping.md) section | 
| **Custom log shipping** | Amazon RDS<br />Amazon RDS Custom | [See the AWS documentation website for more details](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/prescriptive-guidance/latest/migration-sql-server/methods.html) | [Automate on-premises or Amazon EC2 SQL Server to Amazon RDS for SQL Server migration using custom log shipping](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/database/automate-on-premises-or-amazon-ec2-sql-server-to-amazon-rds-for-sql-server-migration-using-custom-log-shipping/) (AWS blog post) | 
| **Database mirroring** | Amazon EC2 | [See the AWS documentation website for more details](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/prescriptive-guidance/latest/migration-sql-server/methods.html) | [Database mirroring](db-mirroring.md) section | 
| **Always On availability groups** | Amazon EC2<br />Amazon RDS Custom | [See the AWS documentation website for more details](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/prescriptive-guidance/latest/migration-sql-server/methods.html) | [Always On availability groups](always-on.md) section | 
| **Basic Always On availability groups** | Amazon EC2 | [See the AWS documentation website for more details](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/prescriptive-guidance/latest/migration-sql-server/methods.html) | Not covered in this guide (see [Basic Always On availability groups for a single database](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/database-engine/availability-groups/windows/basic-availability-groups-always-on-availability-groups) in the Microsoft documentation) | 
| **Distributed availability groups** | Amazon EC2<br />Amazon RDS Custom (migration only) | [See the AWS documentation website for more details](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/prescriptive-guidance/latest/migration-sql-server/methods.html) | [Distributed availability groups](distributed-groups.md) section | 
| **Transactional replication** | Amazon EC2<br />Amazon RDS<br />Amazon RDS Custom | [See the AWS documentation website for more details](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/prescriptive-guidance/latest/migration-sql-server/methods.html) | [Transactional replication](trans-rep.md) section | 
| **Bulk copy program (bcp)** | Amazon EC2<br />Amazon RDS Custom | [See the AWS documentation website for more details](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/prescriptive-guidance/latest/migration-sql-server/methods.html) | Not covered in this guide (see [Importing and exporting SQL Server data using other methods](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/SQLServer.Procedural.Importing.Snapshots.html), *Bulk copy* section in the Amazon RDS documentation) | 
| **Detach and attach** | Amazon EC2<br />Amazon RDS Custom | [See the AWS documentation website for more details](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/prescriptive-guidance/latest/migration-sql-server/methods.html) | Not covered in this guide (see [Database Detach and Attach](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/relational-databases/databases/database-detach-and-attach-sql-server) in the Microsoft documentation) | 
| **Import/export** | Amazon EC2<br />Amazon RDS<br />Amazon RDS Custom | [See the AWS documentation website for more details](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/prescriptive-guidance/latest/migration-sql-server/methods.html) | Not covered in this guide (see [Importing and exporting SQL Server data using other methods](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/SQLServer.Procedural.Importing.Snapshots.html#SQLServer.Procedural.Exporting.SSIEW) in the Amazon RDS documentation) |