ServiceNow RaptorDB Migration Frequently Asked Questions

[Harneet Sital]

Q: How many variants of RaptorDB are currently out there?

A: Currently we have two variants available for customers - Standard and Pro which has different 

Q: Do I need to do sub prod testing?
A: ServiceNow Engineering will recommend sub prod testing if your instance profile meets testing recommendation criteria.

Q: Will ServiceNow do additional testing of my instance/load?
A: ServiceNow testing of the database and application layer compatibility has been ongoing since 2022. Customer specific testing (large, complex and customized sub prod instances and production load testing) has been ongoing since 2023. Additional customer specific testing will be determined by ServiceNow engineering on a case-by-case basis.

Q: Do I need to do anything differently after migrating to RaptorDB?
A: No, everything at the application layer (applications, integrations, customizations, tables, queries) will be the same before and after the migration. The database is transparent to the customer/end users.

Q: Can I/should I start following different platform or database management best practices after migration?
A: No, all guidance on Platform and database best practices are the same.

Q: What happens if there is a failure in the migration process?
A: ServiceNow will cancel or fail the migration before cutting over to the new database, depending on when the failure occurs, and your instance will remain on MariaDB until the issue is resolved and migration cutover is rescheduled.

Q: What if there is a failure after I am on the new database?
A: ServiceNow follows a “fix forward” strategy and will escalate to resolve all RaptorDB issues. If ServiceNow determines your instance needs to be returned to MariaDB, engineering and support will work during the escalation to schedule emergency maintenance to return your instance to MariaDB, then work with your platform team to determine how best to retrieve data from RaptorDB. Note that this scenario requires additional downtime and may involve some data loss, depending on the issue.

Q: When can I schedule my RaptorDB Pro production migration?
A: Once your RaptorDB Pro entitlement is processing, work with your account team and the migration team to plan your subprod testing start dates and/or preferred production migration target cutover dates. Note that lead time is necessary to plan for hardware availability, setup, seeding, and cutover window scheduling.

Q: What if I don’t clone my sub prod instances right away to get them onto RaptorDB?
A: You may have a mix of MariaDB and RaptorDB instances within your account. Update sets continue to work as normal. Only clone from a RaptorDB source over a MariaDB or RaptorDB target. Do not clone a MariaDB source over a RaptorDB target.

[Tsepo Moleleko1]

For on-prem new customers is there any dates when this will be available? I can see the deployment guide has not been updated to include any RaptorDB. Also in preparation for this change is there any RaptorDB training available?

[Simon Hendery]

Hi @Tsepo Moleleko1 

Details of RaptorDB being implemented as part of a new on-prem deployment would be a contract matter between ServiceNow and the customer, so something you would need to discuss directly with ServiceNow.

Re RaptorDB training: What kind of training are you looking for? Because it's very much a ServiceNow backend thing, I'm not sure who within your org would need training?

[Luke46]

Hi , is below Q&A applicable for RaptopDB standard migration? If the customers who upgraded RapDB standard encounter the situation that they need to return to MariaDB, can we support restore work?

Q: What if there is a failure after I am on the new database?
A: ServiceNow follows a “fix forward” strategy and will escalate to resolve all RaptorDB issues. If ServiceNow determines your instance needs to be returned to MariaDB, engineering and support will work during the escalation to schedule emergency maintenance to return your instance to MariaDB, then work with your platform team to determine how best to retrieve data from RaptorDB. Note that this scenario requires additional downtime and may involve some data loss, depending on the issue.

[Aaron_Butell]

While the upgrade is happening on production, what is the impact to users on the platform? Does it go into a read-only state or is there an outage that occurs?

[LorenzVdV]

@Aaron_Butell For our production migration:

18:37:16 PST - Datacenter Automation (NOW)

Additional comments

We have begun repointing your instance traffic. As a reminder, your instance will be briefly unavailable while instance traffic is established.

18:50:37 PST - Datacenter Automation (NOW)

Additional comments

Your instance traffic has been reestablished, and your instance has returned to a fully operational state. There is no further impact to your instance anticipated during this Change. The routine maintenance on the database hosting your instance has resumed, and we will provide another update once completed.

Do note that nowhere in the change do they mention it is concerning RaptorDB migration. They only mention a routine maintenance on the database:

Review • Downtime
We are performing a routine maintenance on the database hosting your instance. This will enable us to continue delivering great features and experiences to you. This activity will only impact the database infrastructure for the sites on which your instance is hosted; we will not be making any changes to the instance itself.