Solid-state storage hardware and software provider Pure Storage on Nov. 1 released a new Copy Automation Tool (CAT) for SAP systems.
The tool enables users to automate an entire SAP database copy, clone and refresh processes that include database, pre- and post-copy tasks–processes that can take several days.
This is parallel to what Delphix does in terms of virtualizing a database, making clones and enabling fixes and patches before re-inserting the new database version. All this takes place without disrupting a production process.
The Mountain View, Calif.-based storage maker claims that CAT for SAP can reduce database copy from days to hours, thus cutting SAP-related storage and management costs substantially. If run directly on both Pure’s FlashArray//M and FlashArray//X, CAT for SAP is included at no additional charge and allows customers the flexibility to integrate additional tasks, customize and scale.
As enterprises become increasingly digital, automation is helping move time, money and resources away from operational management to innovation opportunities. In fact, to effectively utilize technological infrastructure as an innovation driver, an increased emphasis on automation is pretty much required.
Pure said that because this array-embedded Copy Automation Tool enables significant reductions in SAP database copy time and storage costs, users are able to reassign IT staff to innovation projects, rather than manage time-consuming and complex database infrastructures. That, of course, depends upon the customer and use case.
The solution is easy to use and embedded directly in Purity Run, a safe, dedicated, compute-and-memory-isolated execution environment within FlashArray, the company said. This allows users to run CAT directly on the FlashArray without requiring any additional hardware to procure or manage.
The package includes:
- Instant snapshots: No performance degradation; no reservations or planning required, zero performance overhead and flexible consistency groups, Pure claims.
- Complete copies with all capabilities: Mount, read, write or snapshot again with zero interdependency and full performance.
- Snapshot space savings up to 90 percent: Zero data duplication; data always thin, deduped and compressed.
- Recovery anything, to anywhere: Instantly roll forward or backward and recover any volume from any snapshot.
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