AWS Data Pipeline is a data movement and data processing service provided by Amazon. Using Data Pipeline you can perform data movement and processing as per your requirement. Data pipeline also supports scheduling of Pipeline processing. You can also perform data movement residing on on-prem.

Data Pipeline provides you various options to customize your resources, activities, scripts, failure handling, etc. In the Pipeline you just need to define the sequence of data sources, destinations along data processing activities depending on your business logic and the data pipeline will take care of data processing activities.

Similarly, you can perform Aurora to Redshift Replication using AWS Data Pipeline. This article introduces you to Aurora and Amazon Redshift. It also provides you the steps to perform Aurora to Redshift Replication using AWS Data Pipeline.

Introduction to Aurora

Amazon Aurora logo
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Aurora is a Commercial Database Engine from Amazon. It provides exemplary performance and speed at an affordable rate. The key feature of Aurora is that it backs up data to AWS S3 in real-time without degrading the performance. This saves Database Administrators (DBAs) time as they do not require to backup their data manually.

For more information on Aurora, click here.

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Introduction to Amazon Redshift

Amazon Redshift logo
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Amazon Redshift is a Cloud-based Data Warehousing Solution from Amazon Web Services (AWS). It provides you a centralized and secure location that you can use to store your historical data for easy access and use. It also allows you to work with Business Intelligence Tools on the data stored in Amazon Redshift. This helps you extract meaningful insights and make informed business decisions.

For more information on Amazon Redshift, click here.

Steps to Perform Aurora to Redshift Replication using AWS Data Pipeline

This is a method that demands technical proficiency and experience in working with Aurora and Redshift. This is a Manual Integration using AWS Data Pipeline.

Aurora to Redshift Replication using AWS Data Pipeline image

Follow the steps below to perform Aurora to Redshift Replication using AWS Data Pipeline:

Step 1: Select the Data from Aurora

Select the data that you want for Aurora to Redshift Replication as shown in the image below.

select data image

Step 2: Create an AWS Data Pipeline to Perform Aurora to Redshift Replication

For MySQL/Aurora MySQL to Redshift, AWS Data Pipeline provides an inbuilt template to build the Data Pipeline. You will reuse the template and provide the details as shown in the image below.

Creating a Pipeline
Adding Tags

Note: Check all the pre and post conditions in the Data Pipeline before activating the Pipeline for performing Aurora to Redshift Replication.

Step 3: Activate the Data Pipeline to Perform Aurora to Redshift Replication

Data Pipeline internally generates the following activities automatically:

  • RDS to S3 Copy Activity (to stage data from Amazon Aurora)
  • Redshift Table Create Activity (create Redshift Table if not present)
  • Move data from S3 to Redshift
  • Perform the cleanup from S3 (Staging)
Editing Pipelines
Creating New Pipeline

Step 4: Check the Data in Redshift

Writing SQL command to retrieve data

Pros of Performing Aurora to Redshift Replication using AWS Data Pipeline

  • AWS Data Pipeline is quite flexible as it provides a lot of built-in options for data handling.
  • You can control the instance and cluster types while managing the Data Pipeline hence you have complete control.
  • Data pipeline has already provided inbuilt templates in AWS Console which can be reused for similar pipeline operations.
  • Depending upon your business logic, condition check and job logic are user-friendly.
  • While triggering the EMR cluster you can leverage other engines other than Apache Spark i.e. Pig, Hive, etc.

Cons of Performing Aurora to Redshift Replication using AWS Data Pipeline

  • The biggest disadvantage with the approach is that it is not serverless and the pipeline internally triggers other instance/clusters which runs behind the scene. In case, they are not handled properly, it may not be cost-effective.
  • Another disadvantage with this approach is similar to the case of copying Aurora to Redshift using Glue, data pipeline is available in limited regions. For the list of supported regions, refer AWS website.
  • Job handling for complex pipelines sometimes may become very tricky in handling unless. This still requires proper development/pipeline preparation skills.
  • AWS Data Pipeline sometimes gives non-meaningful exception errors, which makes it difficult for a developer to troubleshoot. Requires a lot of improvement on this front.
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Conclusion

The article introduced you to Amazon Aurora and Amazon Redshift. It provided you a step-by-step guide to replicate data from Aurora to Redshift using AWS Data Pipeline. Furthermore, it also provided you the pros and cons to go with AWS Data Pipeline.

Amazon Aurora to Redshift Replication using AWS Data Pipeline is convenient during the cases where you want to have full control over your resources and environment. It is a good service for the people who are competent at implementing ETL solution logic. However, in our opinion, this service has not been effective and not that much success as compared to other data movement services.

This service has been launched quite a long back and is still available in a few regions. However, having said that since AWS data pipeline support multi-region data movement, you can Select Pipeline in the nearest region and perform the data movement operation using resources of the region for you movement (be careful about security and compliance).

With the complexity involves in Manual Integration, businesses are leaning more towards Automated and Continous Integration. This is not only hassle-free but also easy to operate and does not require any technical proficiency. In such a case, Hevo Data is the right choice for you! It will help simplify the Marketing Analysis. Hevo Data supports platforms like Aurora, etc.

While you rest, Hevo will take responsibility for fetching the data and moving it to your destination warehouse. Unlike AWS Data pipeline, Hevo provides you with an error-free, completely controlled setup to transfer data in minutes.

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Share your experience of setting up Aurora to Redshift Integration in the comments section below!

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