Virtual Data Provisioning for Development Environments
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional methods for provisioning development environments are time-consuming and resource-intensive, requiring manual intervention and multiple stakeholders, while also posing risks due to the proliferation of sensitive data copies and increased storage consumption.
Innovation Solution
Automating the provisioning process by creating virtual copies of production data that can be adapted to various target environments, using a data management virtualization engine to provide quick and secure access, reducing storage needs and minimizing manual intervention.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional manual provisioning process is used, then data can be transferred to development environments, but the process is time-consuming and requires multiple manual interventions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses virtualization technology to create virtual copies of production data that can be rapidly provisioned to development environments. Instead of manually copying and restoring data, the system creates virtual representations that can be quickly deployed, reducing provisioning time from days to minutes while maintaining data fidelity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements automated provisioning workflows that eliminate the need for manual intervention by storage administrators, server administrators, and network administrators. The system automatically handles data capture, virtualization, and deployment to target environments, allowing development teams to self-provision environments on demand without waiting for manual approvals and handoffs.
2Ease of operation
If multiple copies of production data are created for each development environment, then each developer gets independent data access, but storage consumption increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses virtualization to create lightweight virtual copies of production data that share underlying storage resources. Instead of creating full physical duplicates for each development environment, the system creates virtual representations that can be rapidly instantiated and destroyed, reducing storage consumption while maintaining the appearance of independent copies for each developer.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a centralized virtual data repository that can serve multiple development environments simultaneously. The virtualized data infrastructure can be dynamically allocated to different developers and teams as needed, allowing the same storage resources to serve multiple functions and users without requiring separate physical copies for each environment.
3Productivity
If production data is copied to development environments, then development activities can proceed, but sensitive information may be exposed to unauthorized personnel
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates virtual copies of production data that can be rapidly provisioned to development environments, enabling development activities to proceed without exposing sensitive information. The virtualization layer acts as a security boundary, allowing developers to work with realistic data structures and formats while the underlying sensitive data remains protected in the production environment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a virtualization platform as an intermediary between production data and development environments. This intermediary layer provides controlled access to virtualized data representations, enabling development work while maintaining security boundaries. The system can selectively mask or remove sensitive information in the virtual copies while preserving the overall data structure and relationships needed for development.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods are provided for automating a provision of applications from a source to a target by providing a virtual copy of application data, wherein the virtual copy can be adapted to a plurality of different target environments. Versions of source application data from an application database at a source production server are maintained at times associated with a schedule. Data associated with a request is received from a user to provision the source application data for a target environment at a target server, the request further comprising application specific parameters that define necessary requirements for the target environment. A virtual copy of the source application data is presented to the target server. Instructions to the target server are transmitted that define how to restore an operational server database from the virtual copy based on the application specific parameters to meet the requirements of the target environment.