dSource management

Overview

dSource is the copy of a source database's persistent data layer that Delphix Continuous Data uses to create and update virtual databases (VDBs). Based on the ingestion model and data source type, the dSource could be exposed through a mount point and interacts with a Staging Database Instance, Database, or Files. Consult the data source connector documentation for specific details.

Linking dSources

Once you have discovered your data source environments, you will see a list of data sources on that host. The first step to sync data is to link a dSource from the host.

Linking a dSource will ingest data from the source and create a dSource object on the Delphix Continuous Data engine. As mentioned, the dSource is an object used to create and update virtual copies of your database. As a virtualized representation of your source data, it cannot be managed, manipulated, or examined by database tools. 

Once a dSource has been linked, you can begin to perform dSource operations on it, such as enable, detach, delete, and more.

The dSource timeflow

Both dSources and VDBs have timeflows, which describes the timeline of data of a virtual database or dSource. Virtual databases can be provisioned from any snapshot in a Timeflow. In the UI, a Timeflow is represented vertically with a series of individual snapshots as rows.

The dSource snapshot

Snapshots of dSources preserve specific points in time for use later during the virtual database provisioning workflow. Taking a snapshot will create a new snapshot entry in the dSource’s Timeflow.