9.6.3 Snapshot Databases for Test and Development

Space-efficient database snapshots can now be quickly created for test and development purposes. Snapshots start with a shared read-only copy of the production database (or pluggable database (PDB)) that has been cleansed of any sensitive information. As changes are made, each snapshot writes the changed blocks to a sparse disk group.

Multiple users can create independent snapshots from the same base database. Therefore multiple test and development environments can share space while maintaining independent databases for each task. Snapshots on Exadata Storage Servers allow testing and development with Oracle Exadata Storage Server Software features such as Smart Scan.

Exadata database snapshots are integrated with the Multi-tenant Database Option to provide an extremely simple interface for creating new PDB snapshots.

Minimum hardware: Storage nodes must be X3 or later

Minimum software: Oracle Database 12c Release 1 (12.1) release 12.1.0.2 BP5 or later.