Redgate is upgrading its pioneering database provisioning tool, SQL Clone, to enable it to clone databases up to 64TB in size, allowing companies to provision copies for development, testing, and diagnostics quicker and easier.
SQL Clone creates full copies of SQL Server databases and backups in seconds and uses only a tiny fraction of disk space.
The copies, or clones, which are only around 40MB in size for a 1TB database, work just like normal databases and can be connected to and edited using any program.
By saving time and disk space, it enables teams to work locally on up-to-date, isolated copies of the database and speed up development, accurately test code using realistic data, and fix issues faster.
When SQL Clone was originally developed, it was built around Microsoft’s proven virtual hard disk (VHD) technology, which has a 2TB storage limit. An increasing number of customers, however, particularly in the healthcare and finance sectors, have asked for a higher storage limit.
SQL Clone v2 was therefore developed to work with VHDX, the Hyper-V virtual hard disk format used in Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 upwards that has an increased storage capacity of 64TB.
“This was the next natural step for SQL Clone,” says Richard Macaskill, Redgate Product Manager. “VHDX has proved to be stable and resilient and the big jump in capacity is more than enough for the foreseeable future. Most of the companies asking for a higher limit have databases of three to five terabytes.”
The release of SQL Clone v2 further enhances the suite of Redgate tools that enable true Database DevOps, from development through to deployment.
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