CDM - Copy Data Management

Simplify Data Storage.

Data indicates that 80% of the storage capacity in enterprises and organizations is consumed by secondary data. Each enterprise or organization creates multiple copies for various scenarios such as application development, testing, training, reporting, statistics, and data backups. The existence of these copies not only leads to significant storage resource waste but also places immense pressure on data management. In normal workflows, obtaining a necessary data copy often takes days to weeks, severely impacting operational efficiency.

Copy Data Management (CDM) technology was born to address this issue, helping enterprises and organizations manage redundant data copies. Gartner provides a precise definition of CDM: By leveraging snapshot technology to capture consistent data from production environments, a single copy (Golden Image) is created on non-production storage. Through the management of this copy, various data protection needs such as backup, disaster recovery, and data restoration are fulfilled. This approach reduces storage space consumption and optimizes storage system architecture.

CDM technology effectively addresses the management challenges of data copies. What previously required 10 times the storage space can now be achieved with just 2 or 3 times the storage, without impacting business operations. By utilizing virtualization technology to store and manage data, CDM allows customers to create a single copy of production data while maintaining its original changes. This not only helps enterprises better protect their data but also reduces storage costs. CDM can cut storage expenses by up to 80% and significantly shorten data restoration times.

Enhance Data Utilization.

The core focus of CDM technology lies in its indifference or minimal concern about how data is acquired—whether through mainstream backup techniques or CDP (Continuous Data Protection)—and where the data is stored—be it on local disks, SAN, distributed storage, or cloud storage. Instead, CDM emphasizes better management and utilization of the acquired data, as well as its seamless integration with applications.

• Efficient Data Management: With a single data capture, CDM can virtualize the data into multiple copies, simultaneously serving multiple applications. It automates the complex and fragmented processes of data acquisition, storage preparation, data mounting, and data protection, transforming IT infrastructure into DaaS—Data as a Service.

• Shortened Data Copy Delivery Cycle: Data preparation, which previously took days or months, is now reduced to minutes. The delivery and management of data copies based on CDM technology significantly save time, enabling enterprises and organizations to build a more agile data management infrastructure.

• Reduced Human and Time Costs: In traditional approaches, preparing data copies required collaboration among system administrators, database administrators, and other professionals. CDM automates and standardizes these tasks, greatly reducing the workload for relevant personnel.

• Smarter Data Flow: CDM's data services can integrate with other technologies, enabling data masking, data format conversion (ETL), cloud interaction (Cloud-out), and more. This supports application scenarios such as development/testing, big data analysis, and data circulation in hybrid cloud environments.

The Future of CDM.

Gartner's Hype Cycle for Storage and Data Protection Technologies, 2022 report indicates that CDM technology has moved past the early stages of hype and is currently in the "trough of disillusionment." This suggests that some customers are beginning to deploy the technology in non-critical business scenarios. Gartner also predicts that CDM technology will enter the "plateau of productivity" within the next 5-10 years.

Currently, disaster recovery and backup vendors are focusing their CDM technology development efforts on backup and recovery. CDM is being positioned as a supplement to existing backup and recovery solutions, which is a common approach among backup vendors. Leveraging their established market presence and reputation in backup and recovery, these vendors have already secured a foothold in this domain. As a result, their CDM development efforts often revolve around backup and recovery scenarios.

However, given the technical capabilities of CDM, its development focus should shift toward data delivery and management. By addressing the pain points of users who genuinely need efficient data copy delivery and management, CDM can solve critical issues in these areas. This approach would better align with the technology's potential and provide more value to enterprises and organizations.