9.6 Using an Oracle Data Guard Standby Database as the Test Master

If the test master is a complete database that needs to be refreshed regularly, Oracle recommends creating the test master database as an Oracle Data Guard physical standby dedicated to this purpose.

There are multiple benefits when using this approach:

• Easier refresh

  Oracle Data Guard is a proven solution for synchronizing multiple physical replicas of a production database used for disaster recovery, read-only offload from production, backup offload, and test. This same functionality can be used to maintain a copy of the production database dedicated to serving as a test master database that is more easily refreshed on a periodic basis. The benefit of using an Oracle Data Guard physical standby increases as the size of the test master database and the number of times it must be refreshed increases. These benefits far outweigh the small incremental effort required to create an Oracle Data Guard replica compared to simply cloning a database from an Oracle Recovery Manager (RMAN) backup.

• Minimal impact to primary

  During the time the Oracle Data Guard replica is being used as the test master database, Oracle Data Guard redo transport and apply are disabled. There is zero impact to the production database. When it is time to refresh, only the deltas generated since the Oracle Data Guard replica was converted to a test master database are taken from the production database and used to resynchronize the test master database.

  Note:

  Since transport and apply for this Oracle Data Guard replica will be stopped while it functions as a test master, it should not be used for disaster recovery or for any purpose other than as test master. If you are already using Oracle Data Guard for high availability or disaster protection, Oracle recommends creating an Oracle Data Guard replica(s) to use as test master databases for Exadata Snapshot databases.

• Easy to scrub prior to creating snapshot clones

  Oracle Data Guard makes it easy to modify the test master database before making it available to create Exadata Snapshots. For example, an Oracle Data Guard replica can be opened read-write and data can be masked or scrubbed prior to creating Exadata Snapshots. Later, when testing is complete, the test master database can be converted back into an Oracle Data Guard replica discarding any modifications made to the original copy and refreshing it using only the deltas from the production database. Note that after refreshing the Oracle Data Guard replica, you need to re-scrub the database before you can use it as a test master again.

  If you are using an RMAN backup database, and you mask or scrub the data, when you need to refresh the test master, you have to create another backup as the test master and rescrub it to make it current.