Dynamic Data Replicator FAQ

Dynamic Data Replicator (DDR) is a comprehensive test data management application designed for SAP landscapes. It simplifies the creation, replication, and management of non-production environments such as QA, DEV, Sandbox, and training systems while maintaining data integrity, reducing costs, and ensuring security.

DDR includes several powerful applications integrated into a single solution:

1. Shell Build:

   • Create new non-production systems sharing the same repository as the production environment without duplicating the entire setup, saving time and resources.
   • System Build: Generate test or training systems replicating production configurations.
   • Client Build: Construct clients in non-production environments with a reduced footprint, saving up to 90% of disk space.

2. Data Deletion:

   • Safely delete transactional and master data from non-production systems, maintaining a clean environment without needing full system rebuilds.

3. Data Replicator:

   • Copy large data sets from production to non-production systems with flexible filtering options, including:
     • Time-based, enterprise slice, or master data filters.
     • Granular-level selection for specific objects such as sales orders or purchase orders.
   • Features include:
     • Delta Copy: Schedule automated updates (daily, weekly, or monthly).
     • Transactional Data Integrity: Automatically include referenced data to ensure consistency.

4. Object Replicator:

   • Copy specific objects such as sales orders, purchase orders, or master data.
   • Advanced filters based on key fields, table levels, or time-based criteria.

5. Data Scrambling (Data Security):

   • Secure sensitive data in target systems by scrambling at the database level.
   • Scrambling Policies: Fixed, random, or custom scrambling options to meet security requirements.

Yes, DDR supports time-slicing. This feature allows users to extract and replicate data for specific time periods, enabling targeted testing scenarios. For instance, you can select a specific date range, such as "from" and "to" dates, to create datasets relevant to that period. Additionally, this date range can be periodic, allowing for efficient extraction of recurring time-based data.

Yes, DDR also supports enterprise-slicing. This capability enables users to partition and replicate data based on enterprise-specific parameters, such as departments, regions, or business units. It helps in isolating relevant data subsets, improving testing precision and supporting compliance with data security requirements.

Yes, DDR allows users to select a date range for time slicing. You can define the start date (specifying day, month, and year) and the end date, enabling precise selection of the required data.

Yes, DDR provides the option to define a start and end date for enterprise time slicing. Users can specify the desired date range, including the start and end points, for enterprise-specific data slicing.

DDR allows users to select from a wide range of business objects and processes, including:

• Business Processes: End-to-end processes encompassing transactional and master data.
• Transactional Data: Data related to specific transactions, ensuring testing relevance.
• Customizing Data: Configuration data to replicate system settings and rules.
• User Master Data: Information about users, roles, and authorizations.
• Master Data: Core data entities such as customers, vendors, materials, and more.

This flexibility ensures that DDR meets diverse requirements for test data preparation and system refreshes.

No, DDR is designed to support all industries. Its flexibility allows businesses from various sectors to replicate and manage data effectively. With over 1,000 predefined business objects and customizable options, DDR can handle diverse industry-specific processes, including manufacturing, retail, finance, healthcare, logistics, and more. This adaptability ensures DDR can cater to any organization's unique data requirements.

Yes, DDR allows you to copy only master data if required. You can select specific master data objects such as customers, vendors, materials, or other core data entities without including transactional or other data types. This feature ensures you can target specific data needs, such as creating a lean client for testing or refreshing master data in a particular system environment.

Yes, DDR enables you to copy only customising data. You can selectively replicate configuration data such as system settings, business rules, workflows, and other customization elements without including master or transactional data. This feature is particularly useful for setting up consistent environments for testing or aligning configurations across systems.

 Yes, when you copy transactional data using DDR, the related master data is automatically included to maintain data consistency. This ensures that all dependencies between transactional data and the corresponding master data (e.g., customer, vendor, or material records) are preserved, providing a functional and coherent dataset for your testing or refresh purposes.

Yes, DDR provides granular filtering options for both the Data Replicator and Object Replicator. These filters allow users to:

• Define precise criteria for data selection, such as specific fields, values, or ranges.
• Apply filters to include or exclude data at a detailed level, ensuring only relevant subsets are replicated.
• Customize filters for individual objects or data replication tasks, supporting complex business scenarios.

This level of granularity ensures maximum flexibility and efficiency in managing data replication while minimizing unnecessary data transfer.

Yes, Dynamic Data Replicator (DDR) is highly beneficial for SAP upgrades. Here's how it supports the process:

1. Streamlined System Preparation:

   • Shell Build: Create clean, non-production systems for testing upgrade scenarios without duplicating the entire production environment, saving time and resources.
   • Data Replicator: Copy only relevant data (e.g., master data, configuration, or specific transactional data) to test environments, ensuring they are lean and focused on the upgrade scope.

2. Efficient Testing:

   • Delta Copy: Keep test environments up-to-date by automatically replicating changes from production to test systems on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
   • Transactional Integrity: Ensure data dependencies are maintained for accurate upgrade testing.

3. Sandbox Testing and Validation:

   • Use Object Replicator to selectively replicate specific data objects (e.g., sales orders, purchase orders) for targeted testing during the upgrade process.
   • Maintain flexibility with granular filtering options for precise testing scenarios.

4. Data Security During Testing:

   • Secure sensitive production data in testing environments with Data Scrambling, ensuring compliance with data protection policies during the upgrade process.

By simplifying system preparation, enabling efficient testing, and ensuring data security, DDR reduces the complexity, time, and resources required for SAP upgrades.

No, Dynamic Data Replicator (DDR) does not add additional files while copying data. It operates directly within the SAP environment using in-memory processing, ensuring efficient replication without creating unnecessary files or consuming extra storage. DDR’s selective replication capabilities allow users to copy only the required data subsets, such as master data, transactional data, or specific objects, avoiding duplication or redundancy. Additionally, DDR maintains transactional data integrity without generating extra artifacts, ensuring clean and consistent data replication with minimal overhead.

Yes, Dynamic Data Replicator (DDR) allows you to control resource utilization, including the number of work processes, both before and during replication.

• Pre-Replication: You can configure the number of work processes allocated for replication tasks, ensuring the workload aligns with your system's capacity and avoids overloading.
• During Replication: DDR provides the flexibility to adjust work process usage dynamically, enabling you to scale resources up or down based on system performance needs or operational priorities.
• Asynchronous Processing: DDR utilizes high-performance, asynchronous parallel processing to ensure efficient execution without disrupting other critical operations.

This capability helps optimize resource usage and maintain system stability throughout the replication process.

Yes, Dynamic Data Replicator (DDR) supports the use of a unified scrambling policy across the SAP system. This allows for consistent data masking and security measures to be applied throughout your non-production environments.

• Centralized Scrambling Policy: DDR enables you to define and apply a single scrambling policy across all relevant SAP modules and systems, ensuring uniformity in how sensitive data is secured.
• Flexible Options: The scrambling policy can be tailored with fixed scrambling, random scrambling, or custom scrambling methods to meet specific business and compliance requirements.
• Granular Control: You can configure scrambling at the database level and apply it to specific data sets, such as user master data, transaction data, or other key fields, maintaining consistency while addressing security needs.

This unified approach ensures that sensitive data remains protected and compliant across the entire SAP landscape, regardless of the replication or system involved.

Delta Copy is a feature within Dynamic Data Replicator (DDR) that enables the replication of only the data changes made since the last replication, rather than copying the entire dataset. This incremental update process helps keep non-production environments, such as QA, DEV, or sandbox systems, synchronized with production while minimizing time, resource usage, and system disruption.

Key Benefits of Delta Copy:

1. Efficiency:

   • Reduces the volume of data transferred by focusing only on changes, saving time and system resources.

2. Scheduling Flexibility:

   • Configure Delta Copy to run on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, depending on your organizational needs.

3. Data Consistency:

   • Maintains integrity by ensuring dependencies and related data are included during replication, providing a reliable system state.

4. Reduced Refresh Frequency:

   • Eliminates the need for frequent full system refreshes, enabling faster updates with minimal downtime.

Delta Copy is ideal for keeping non-production systems up-to-date while optimizing performance and reducing the overhead associated with traditional refresh processes.