Lao Yu Interview (Part 2) | How Chinese Databases Deliver Seamless, Near-Zero-Downtime Migration

Introduction

In the wave of Chinese database substitution, "smooth and imperceptible migration" is often seen as an ideal goal. The case of Jilin Mobile's residential broadband system migrating from Oracle to GBase 8s, which was publicly announced as achieving a zero-failure smooth transition, sparked widespread discussion and even skepticism from technical peers. How did this migration turn "near-imperceptible" into reality? Recently, well-known self-media "Lao Yu's Notes" interviewed Cui Zhiwei, General Manager of the GBase 8s Product Department at General Data Technology Co., Ltd. (GBASE), unveiling how Chinese databases overcome technical bottlenecks to achieve low-impact migration, and the actual value brought to customers in terms of operational costs, business efficiency, and more after migration.

Lao Yu: When I was researching the GBase 8s case, I noticed that Jilin Mobile's residential broadband system migrated from Oracle to GBase 8s, publicly claiming a "zero-failure smooth transition." At the time, some users in the comments challenged this, saying that tech professionals would never believe in absolute smoothness and that true imperceptible migration does not exist. How did you achieve "near-imperceptible" for users? After migration, what changes occurred in the customer's operational costs and business performance?

Cui Zhiwei of GBase 8s: Regarding "near-imperceptible," we actually mean two things. The first, and most fundamental, is that GBase 8s achieves high compatibility with Oracle. Simply put, for any database object that Oracle has, we must have an equivalent to take over. If compatibility falls short, migration is simply impossible—this is the foundation.

The second meaning is that we provide a set of migration tools. One is MTK for full migration, handling the bulk transfer of metadata, database objects, and historical data. The other is RTK for incremental synchronization, which continuously appends data during the cut-over phase and even supports reverse synchronization, acting as a "double insurance." With compatibility as the base, combined with these tools, we can execute a "full migration + incremental sync" process.

The biggest benefit of this approach is that the business downtime window can be squeezed to a minimum. In the Jilin Mobile project, we conducted two full rehearsals before go-live, so the actual cutover went extremely smoothly. We first completed the full migration, then performed multiple rounds of incremental appends, and finally applied for a short business isolation window at night to switch the business over in one shot. The entire process was almost imperceptible to end users—they felt virtually no disruption. As a result, the customer not only reduced operational costs but also saw their business run faster than before.

Lao Yu: So after the migration, what actual changes did the project bring to the customer? How were operational costs reduced? Was there any change in business running speed?

Cui Zhiwei of GBase 8s: From customer feedback, the effects are clear. First, operational costs did drop. GBase 8s has made many optimizations for ease of operations, reducing subsequent manpower and resource investment. Second, business running speed improved. The migrated system has higher efficiency in data processing and query response, making business operations smoother for the customer. This is the core goal of promoting Chinese database substitution—not only to make the migration process "imperceptible," but also to let customers experience tangible value improvement in subsequent use.