Glossary of Major Delphix Concepts

Proprietary RDBMS from SAP. Sometimes known by its former name, Sybase ASE.

For more information on SAP ASE and Delphix, see SAP ASE Environments and Data Sources.

Proprietary RDBMS from IBM.

For more information on DB2 and Delphix, see DB2 on Delphix: An Overview.

Oracle E-Business Suite.

For more information on EBS and Delphix, see Oracle E-Business Suite and Delphix Conceptual Overview.

A method by which you can access a Delphix Engine programmatically.

A set of tools and protocols which enable access to an application via software calls using the API.

A generic name for third party tools which call Delphix APIs based on external events. For example:

• Generation of VDBs from configuration templates and scheduled refreshes
• Time and labor savings along with independent data access

The system, typically an RDBMS, that feeds information to the Delphix Engine, and from which virtual objects are derived. A data source can be a database, an application, or a set of unstructured files; a VDB can also serve as a data source for other Delphix Engines.

Not to be confused with a dSource, which is a virtualized, compressed duplicate of this database. (See below.)

Orchestrates tasks such as synchronization, synthesis and recording of changes, data movement (across copies), replication.

One of the three tiers of the Delphix technology stack, which also includes the Delphix Filesystem (DxFS) and self-service management.

The virtualized representation of a database that is created by the Delphix Engine. As a virtualized representation, it cannot be managed, manipulated, or examined by database tools. Because dSources are simply source data, you must leverage a VDB in order to distribute/clone/test the data being pulled in. VDBs can also later be refreshed from the dSource's data as it is pulled in.

The filesystem used by the Delphix Engine. Stores and manages application data and is responsible for optimization of storage and performance.

One of the three tiers of the Delphix technology stack, along with DataVisor and self-service management.

An umbrella term for a host or a cluster.

In order to mask or provision databases and files within Delphix, you first need to create an Environment in which Delphix will store the connection information and masking and provisioning rules for those data stores. An environment can contain multiple database connections and multiple file connections.

A standalone program which validates that host machines are configured correctly before the Delphix Engine uses them as data sources and provision targets.

HostChecker is a Delphix script that you should run before adding any environment. It is available to download from the HostChecker subfolder at download.delphix.com.

Copies of the source Delphix Engine information on the target Delphix Engine, which can include objects such as dSources, VDBs and vFiles. Replicas preserve object relationships and naming nomenclatures.

You can replicate data objects between Delphix Engines. Replication consists of a profile-replica pair. It is configured on the source Delphix Engine and copies a subset of dSources and VDBs to a target Delphix Engine. The source engine then sends incremental updates manually or according to a schedule. In addition, you can provision VDBs from replicated objects, allowing for geographical distribution of data and remote provisioning.

Snapshots represent the state of a VDB at a specific moment in time. They accumulate over time or are generated by your input. Snapshots appear as cards in the TimeFlow section of a VDB or vFiles, allowing you to choose a point in time from which to provision.

If you have logsync enabled, you can provision from a point in time between the snapshots cards if you also have the archive logs available.

The standard process for importing data from a linked source into the Delphix Engine. An initial SnapSync is performed to create a copy of data on the Delphix Engine. Incremental SnapSyncs are performed to update the copy of data on the Delphix Engine.

The orginal (sometimes physical) database that is usually the production database at a site, although it could be any database that the user designates as a source. Delphix creates a dSource from the Source Database.

Virtual data files. A virtual copy of data files created and managed by Delphix. Virtual data files are fully functional read/write copies of the original data files source. They may be managed by an AppData toolkit. You can mount vFiles across one target environment or many.

Rewinding a VDB rolls it back to a previous point in its TimeFlow and re-provisions the VDB. The VDB will no longer contain changes after the rewind point.

Although the VDB no longer contains changes after the rewind point, the rolled over Snapshots and TimeFlow still remain in Delphix and are accessible through the Command Line Interface (CLI). For instructions on how to use these snapshots to refresh a VDB to one of its later states after it has been rewound, see the topic CLI Cookbook: Rolling Forward a VDB.

Can access statistics on the dSource, VDB, or snapshot such as usage, history, and space consumption

Can access statistics on all dSources, VDBs, or snapshots in the group such as usage, history, and space consumption

• Can access statistics on the dSource, VDB, or snapshot such as usage, history, and space consumption
• Can provision VDBs from owned dSources and VDBs

• Can access statistics on all dSources, VDBs, or snapshots in the group such as usage, history, and space consumption
• Can provision VDBs from all dSources and VDBs in the group

• Can provision VDBs from owned dSources and VDBs
• Can perform Virtual to Physical (V2P) from owned dSources
• Can access the same statistics as an Reader
• Can refresh or rollback VDBs
• Can snapshot dSources and VDBs

• Can provision VDBs from all dSources and VDBs in the group
• Can refresh or rollback all VDBs in the group
• Can snapshot all dSources and VDBs in the group
• Can perform Virtual to Physical (V2P) from owned dSources
• Can apply Custom policies to dSources and VDBs
• Can create Template policies for the group
• Can assign Owner privileges for dSources and VDBs
• Can access the same statistics as an Provisioner, Data Operator, or Reader

• Can access statistics on the dSource, VDB, or snapshot such as usage, history, and space consumption
• Can refresh or rollback VDBs

• Can access statistics on all dSources, VDBs, or snapshots in the group such as usage, history, and space consumption
• Can refresh or rollback all VDBs in the group

Has full access to all report data and can configure Jet Stream. Additionally, can use the Delphix data platform to:

• add/delete Delphix Engines
• add/delete reports
• add/delete users
• change tunable settings
• add/delete tags
• create and assign data templates and containers

A logical reference to a point in time on a branch. You can use it as a point from which to fork new branches. It can also be the target of policies – for example, you can arrange to keep this bookmark for two years.

Bookmarks are a way to mark and name a particular moment of data on a timeline. You can restore the active branch's timeline to the moment of data marked with a bookmark. You can also share bookmarks with other Jet Stream users, which allows them to restore their own active branches to the moment of data in your container. The data represented by a bookmark is protected and will not be deleted until the bookmark is deleted.

A time-ordered collection of timelines. They are task-specific groupings you can create within a data container. A branch is used to track a logical task, and contains a timeline of the historical data for that task. As you work within your data container, you can create more branches over time to run or complete separate tasks.

They represent a logical sequence of activity, separate from the underlying data lineage. This is the main concept introduced in the core platform and forms the basis of many higher level primitives. Branches:
– Can have only one timeline active at any time
– Can be user-visible (e.g. exported to a user target) or implementation (e.g. just a staging source to run a series of transformations)

Consists of one or more data sources, such as databases, application binaries, or other application data. Allows users to:

• Undo any changes to their application data in seconds or minutes

• Have immediate access to any version of their data over the course of their project

• Share their data with other people on their team, without needing to relinquish control of their own container

• Refresh their data from production data without waiting for an overworked DBA

Admin users have full access to all report data and can configure the Mission Control appliance. For example, they can:

• add/delete reports
• add/delete users
• change tunable settings
• add/delete tags

Reports present aggregated data across all connected Delphix Engines.

Interactive reports such as Storage Breakdown and History display interactive graphical representations of historical and current storage usage across all Delphix Engines you are monitoring. These visualizations of storage and disk capacity enable you to analyze and mediate storage across Delphix Engines from multiple perspectives.

This Engine is built into your Delphix 5.0 and above installation. It contains both the Delphix Engine GUI and Masking Engine GUI, and allows tighter integration between Delphix's Data as a Service and Masking features.

Allows you to state what values will replace the original data. There will be no collisions in the masked data, because it always matches the same input to the same output. For example “David” will always become “Ragu,” and “Melissa” will always become “Jasmine.” The algorithm checks whether an input has already been mapped; if so, the algorithm changes the data to its designated output. You can use a mapping algorithm on any set of values, of any length, but you must know how many values you plan to mask.

The only type of algorithm that allows you to reverse its masking. For example, you can use a tokenization algorithm to mask data before you send it to an external vendor for analysis. The vendor can then identify accounts that need attention without having any access to the original, sensitive data. Once you have the vendor’s feedback, you can reverse the masking and take action on the appropriate accounts.

Like mapping, a tokenization algorithm creates a unique token for each input such as “David” or “Melissa.” The Delphix Engine stores both the token and the original so that you can reverse masking later.

Helps you remove sensitive data that appears in free-text columns such as “Notes.” This type of algorithm requires some expertise to use, because you must set it to recognize sensitive data within a block of text.

One challenge is that individual words might not be sensitive on their own, but together they can be. The algorithm uses profiler sets to determine what information it needs to mask. You can decide which expressions the algorithm uses to search for material such as addresses. For example, you can set the algorithm to look for “St,” “Cir,” “Blvd,” and other words that suggest an address. You can also use pattern matching to identify potentially sensitive information. For example, a number that takes the form 123-45-6789 is likely to be a Social Security Number.

You can use a free text redaction algorithm to show or hide information by displaying either a “black list” or a “white list.”