Supporting partial database migration to the cloud using Non-intrusive software adaptations: An experience report

Abstract

This paper reports on an early experience of partially migrating a legacy systems’ relational database to a NoSQL database in the Amazon cloud. The migration process involved converting part of the relational database data to the schema-less format supported by the target NoSQL database, and adapting the two software applications that make up the system (developed using Grails and Groovy, respectively) to transparently access both the relational database on-premise and the NoSQL database in the cloud. The required software adaptations were performed using a non-intrusive approach based on aspect-oriented programming (in the case of the Grails application) and meta-programming features (in the case of the Groovy application). This approach allowed the system to be easily adapted and tested, without the need to change its source code directly.