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Cloud CDC Labs

Hands-on labs for implementing CDC with cloud-native and commercial platforms like AWS DMS, Snowflake, and Matillion.

Learn how to implement CDC pipelines using cloud-native and commercial platforms. These labs complement the open-source Debezium-focused labs with managed service alternatives.

CDC pipeline architecture showing data flow from source database through connector to stream and finally to sink
The CDC pipeline architecture: Cloud platforms abstract different parts of this flow—AWS DMS handles the full pipeline, Snowflake focuses on the sink, and Matillion provides visual orchestration.

Cloud labs are coming soon

We’re still documenting the managed CDC walkthroughs. Check back soon for AWS DMS, Snowflake, Matillion, GoldenGate, and Fivetran guides.

In the meantime, continue with the Kafka + Debezium lab or explore the database quickstarts to get hands-on with CDC fundamentals.

Choosing the Right Platform

Aspect AWS DMS Snowflake Matillion GoldenGate Fivetran Debezium
Deployment Fully managed Fully managed EC2/VM instance Self-hosted or OCI SaaS (zero infra) Self-hosted
CDC Method Log-based Stream/file ingest Timestamp/hash Log-based + polling Log-based Log-based
Latency Seconds Seconds-minutes Minutes 1-5 minutes Sub-second Sub-second
Targets AWS services Snowflake only DW platforms Heterogeneous DBs 500+ destinations Any (via Kafka)
Setup Time 1-2 hours 1-2 hours 2-4 hours 15-30 minutes 4-8 hours 4-8 hours
Complexity Medium Medium Low Very Low High High
Cost (monthly) $26-500+ $50-1000+ $500-2000+ $365-730+ (OCI) $500-5000+ $100-500
Best For AWS-native stacks Analytics workloads Business users Enterprise Oracle Rapid setup, SaaS-first Event-driven apps

Decision Guide

Choose AWS DMS if you:

  • Already use AWS RDS or Aurora
  • Target is S3, Redshift, or Kinesis
  • Want minimal operational overhead
  • Need built-in retry and error handling
  • Prefer infrastructure-as-code (Terraform)

Choose Snowflake if you:

  • Use Snowflake as primary data warehouse
  • Need near-real-time analytics
  • Have semi-structured data (JSON, Avro)
  • Want separation of compute and storage
  • Already have Kafka infrastructure

Choose Matillion if you:

  • Prefer visual, drag-and-drop tools
  • Have business analysts building pipelines
  • Use Snowflake, Redshift, or BigQuery
  • Need complex transformations beyond CDC
  • Want integrated orchestration/scheduling

Choose GoldenGate if you:

  • Have Oracle Database licenses or OCI subscription
  • Need bidirectional (active-active) replication
  • Require guaranteed delivery and conflict resolution
  • Zero-downtime migrations are critical
  • Heterogeneous replication (Oracle↔MySQL↔PostgreSQL)

    • Choose Fivetran if you:

    • Want zero infrastructure management
    • Need rapid setup (15-30 minutes)
    • Require broad connector library (500+)
    • Prefer SaaS/cloud-first solutions
    • Value automatic schema change handling

Choose Debezium if you:

  • Need sub-second latency
  • Building event-driven microservices
  • Want full control over CDC logic
  • Already have Kafka infrastructure
  • Need custom transformations (SMTs)

Additional Resources

Version Support Matrix

Check current versions and compatibility for all CDC platforms.

View Version Matrix

Open-Source Alternative

Want to try CDC with Kafka and Debezium first?

Kafka + Debezium Lab

Database Quickstarts

Database-specific CDC setup guides for MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, and SQL Server.

View Quickstarts

CDC Fundamentals

New to CDC? Start with the interactive introduction.

Learn CDC Basics