XDM

Fast & reliable Test Data Provision

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DB2/LUW, Oracle, SQL-Server, ..
Corporations maintain large amounts of data in relational databases, and it is normal to find several instances for production, test and development. Refreshing testbeds from production systems is a vital part of the development, testing and quality assurance life cycle. Obtaining relevant test data requires copying from one instance to another. The window of opportunity for copying or migrating production data is constantly decreasing as the demands from 24×7 operations are increasing. Limited resources and shrinking batch windows make data delivery to QA difficult.

XDM quickly and efficiently copies, refreshes and replicates databases, tables, views, etc. XDM copies within the same or to different DBMS systems. A XDM copy task integrates both, the physical data movement and the appropriate DDL treatment. It copies tables and databases and XDM creates the data objects at the target if they are not yet present. XDM always chooses the fastest and most efficient method to move the data. Hence copy jobs are completed in record time. DBAs are no longer forced to wait for weekend time slots. They are able to copy/migrate test data on regular weekday shifts, without preparing and controlling sophisticated processes. The huge check list, which is usually indispensable for such tasks, can eventually be dropped.
Test data on demand is a dream that comes true for QA, development and test staff. XDM offers relief where the need is greatest. It significantly cuts down runtime and cost. It reduces manual efforts by 90%+ and shortens the preparation lead time.

Automation required
XDM provides completely automated copy procedures. Its workstation interface allows the copy process to be easily defined: Identify the objects to be copied by specifying select/exclude patterns. The powerful rename mask facility makes adhering to naming conventions a simple and error free task. A XDM copy process executes either under the control of the product or of an in-house scheduler. Once the copy process is started there is nothing else to do. XDM automatically generates the DDL for the selected objects/databases using the specified target names. It executes the DDL in the target DB2 environment, tailors the respective JCL and generates the required statements for the copy program. What if the target objects already exist? XDM still automates everything. It ensures that the target DB2 objects match the source objects. Structural differences are detected and successful completion of the copy process is guaranteed. Incompatible objects can be dropped and recreated, or skipped completely without any intervention by the user.

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Why is XDM so fast?
XDM uses parallelism as a performance enhancement technique. It operates in a multi-threading mode and copies ten to eighteen tablespaces in parallel. Another performance enhancement feature involves copying indexes. Copying indexes is much faster than rebuilding them.

Making the Copy Process Easy
A fast and efficient cloning tool is only part of the solution. The XDM user interface is intuitive and easily meets the needs of both experienced efficiency-minded experts and less technical application level users. No need of any technical knowledge about the DBMS is required. Users only specify what they want to do in order to copy from here to there.

Who needs XDM?
In short, everyone who wants to improve and accelerate test data provision or data migration. Cost savings are obviously appreciated by those who have budget responsibility. Application development teams, QA groups, technical support staff, auditors and, of course, end users need the data to get their jobs done. XDM reduces the amount of weekend and off-shift time usually required for the copy and refresh process. This allows more quality work to get completed during regular shift hours. Shops running with reduced or less experienced staff are among XDM’s most vocal supporters. Getting the job done is, after all, the true mission of IT. When data is not available, the job does not get accomplished and the whole organization pays the price.

A Quick View of XDM
XDM provides fast, efficient and manageable copying of relational data. It automatically

  • Extracts definitions from the source system
  • Transfers the definitions to the target system, renames the objects as specified and applies them at the target system (CREATE, or DROP and CREATE)
  • Compares the source definitions with existing target objects for compatibility. Uses this information to adapt the target environment. (Drop/Create)
  • Copies pagesets from source to target
  • Makes target objects ready and starts them
  • Provides summary/detailed reports by e-mail after the process finished, which is beneficial for scheduler automated processes
  • Offers a Control Language to import/export task definitions, to define tasks without starting a “FatClient”, to define tasks from batch, and to simplify integration of XDM into present (web) apps

To define a copy task, simply select and define:

  • The involved DBMS instances, source and target
  • The objects: databases or tables to be copied
  • The renaming rules to the copy objects
  • Whether the indexes are to be copied
  • Whether the source objects should be put in ‘read only’ mode during the copy
  • How the data should be transferred between different server instances – either over network transfer or a shared drive

Once a XDM task is defined it may be executed at any time under XDM’s control or under the shop’s scheduler or manually stage by stage.