There are all sorts of issues trying to get the right data to the correct people, in a timely manner. For different tests during the different phases, there is a new solution that could help you with that.
Delphix is a tool which virtualizes databases and files, keeps track of the changes, and lets you create snapshots. This makes it simple to use as starting points later for new implementations for the different testing groups.
Delphix works as a three-part solution. You have your sources (databases implemented in production), the Delphix engine (with enough storage to handle the golden copies of the sources and an extra storage space for the Virtual Data Bases (vDB)) and finally, the target where the vDBs and DB will be deployed.
Delphix can create two types of databases: physical ones and virtual ones. What is the difference between them? A physical database is a complete copy of your source environment while a virtual database will create pointers to different file blocks which then will be mounted as a network file system (NFS) on the target environment.
Creating a vDB with Delphix is pretty easy once you have all the connections. It can be created at any point in time since the tool keeps a time lapse of all changes happening on the source database. For best results, you need to have an excellent network latency between the Delphix Engine and the target environment since, as previously stated, you need to mount a NFS.
As you can see both screens look similar, but there are some differences. First, on the left pane, the icon next to the database name is different for our sources (it will be “dS” for a real database and it will be “vDB” for a virtual database). There is going to be a database icon with a “V” inside to know that it is a virtual database. Another difference is that in the vDB you will have the option to restore it to a previous point. If you create snapshots of your vDB and doing some changes somehow the database gets corrupted, you would have the ability to go back in time to somewhere before the changes in the database occurred. You can also provision real or virtual databases from a vDB. With this, you will have a lot of flexibility.
If you would like to learn more about the tool, please contact the TDM Team from Orasi at tdm@orasi.com . There is also a demo environment available which can be requested at Delphix webpage. Please click on this link to go there.
Please be aware that you will need VMWare Workstation or Fusion, more than 8 Gb of RAM memory, and at least 50 Gb of free space to run the three example environments (Target, source, and engine).
Have a great day and a lot of fun running this new tool.