What is Copy Data Management?

What is copy data?

Many IT functions depend on data copies beyond standard data protection.

“Copy data” is the collective set of all data not currently used in production. Examples include snapshots, journals and backups.

Copies can also be made for various IT or business functions. Outside of data recovery, this could be for Test & Dev or analytics not run on production systems.

 

Why is CDM needed?

Production data grows at a steady rate whereas copy data grows exponentially – sometimes by as much as 20x.

All that extra storage space isn't cheap. As more data copies take up more space, the business wastes more money on unnecessary storage expenses.

The issue isn’t just limited to cost. Efficiency and productivity can get bogged down by excess copy data too.

Until recently, there have not been central solutions to manage creating and distributing data copies. This has left most IT organisations with a complex web of scripts and vendor tools.

 

How does CDM help?

CDM is a category of IT solutions. They manage the creation, use, distribution, retention, and clean-up of data copies.

Organisations can increase efficiency by eliminating extra copies of data and free up expensive storage. 

Another problem CDM addresses is that it can be difficult to access and use the right copy when needed.  A central catalogue tracks all copies across the environment, including remote sites and cloud environments. It maintains the vital metadata for each copy. This is the lineage, location, ownership and access rights, timestamps of the copy, related copies, completion status, etc.

CDM allows IT to define and create policies to cover the full lifecycle of copy data. This includes the expiration, deletion, and return of resources to the available pool.