Prerequisites for deploying in IBM Cloud

Overview

This article outlines the prerequisites for deployment of the Delphix Engine on IBM Cloud. The setup user should have experience launching and configuring instances in the IBM Cloud environment. Review and complete the tasks in the next section before deployment.

Prerequisites

1. A Delphix software license is required. New users should contact Delphix to get started.

2. Review the Checklist of information required for installation and configuration

3. Review IBM’s cloud documentation for IBM Cloud-specific information.

4. Determine which virtual private cloud (VPC) is being used when launching the virtualization instance. To maximize performance, deploy the Delphix Engine instance in the same VCN/subnet in which the virtual databases (VDBs) will be created. Note: Provisioning a VDB requires a compute instance running the same database engine as the source. Please note, however, that the target instance only needs storage to accommodate the OS, database platform binaries, etc., because Delphix delivers all of the data files.

5. Make sure that the necessary ports are open. Note: Using the Delphix Engine for GCP will require connections to source and target database servers. Such connections require various ports to be open, enabling communications. For a detailed list of the network and port requirements, click the link that corresponds with the relevant database platform.

   • Network and connectivity requirements for Oracle environments

   • Network access requirements for SQL server

   • Network and connectivity requirements for SAP ASE environments

   • Network and connectivity requirements for Db2 environments

6. Update Security Group settings to accommodate the necessary connections.

7. Select the same Network Security Group that your current (or future) non-production Azure virtual machines utilize.

8. Modify the Security Group to allow access to all of the networking ports used by the Delphix Engine and the various source and target platforms. See the links above for information about specific port configurations.

9. Allocate storage.

It is helpful to first create a list of the data sources from which you intend to make dSources. A data source is typically a production database that you link to the Delphix Engine, enabling you to create virtual, full, read-write copies of the source within minutes. The list should include the database's name, platform (for example, Oracle or SQL Server), current size (in GB), the estimated number of virtual copies, and retention period (in days) of snapshots (backup copies).

a. All data storage disks must be comprised of Premium Storage devices.

b. Delphix recommends using a minimum total of four disks to run the Delphix Engine. One disk is used for the boot device. The other four equally sized disks will be used for data storage. This also enables the Delphix Engine to achieve higher I/O rates by queueing more I/O operations to its storage.

c. Premium storage devices have different levels of guaranteed IOPs that vary from 120 IOPs to 7500 IOPs. Please refer to IBM Cloud documentation to ensure that the selected devices will meet the requirements for your deployment.

d. Use the guidelines outlined in Procedure for Deploying in IBM Cloud.