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Anonymization

Anonymization is the process of protecting your customer's privacy by hiding PII in your database before distributing the data out as test data.

You can apply anonymization in the Redgate Test Data Manager GUI by choosing "Replace sensitive data" when Creating images.

Anonymization in Redgate Test Data Manager is done in three steps:

1. Classify. The Anonymizer scans the database to identify pieces of data that are potentially PII, and outputs a JSON file that describes which tables and columns contain such data.
2. Map. The Anonymizer takes the classification output and translates it into masking rules that define how the sensitive data are to be anonymized. The masking rules are also outputted as a JSON file.
3. Mask. The Anonymizer takes the mapping output and applies them to the database, altering sensitive data into harmless, anonymized data ready to be used in a test environment.

Anonymizer

CLI tool to perform Anonymization of a database.

Please check our reference usage guide and sample scripts for more details.

Clones

A clone is a live clone (i.e. perfect replica) of a full database instance defined by the information stored in an image. There is no limit to the amount of clones that can be created from the same image.

Clones are shallow copies of the image, where only the file differences to the image are stored on disk. A clone cannot exist without its source image.

In Redgate Test Data Manager, you can create clones from images, and use the clones as test database instances for testing and/or developing purposes.

Follow our guide to learn more about creating and managing clones.

The equivalent in Redgate Clone nomenclature is data containers.

Images

An image is a complete, point-in-time copy of the database files of a database instance, which can be empty or created from a backup file.

In Redgate Test Data Manager, you can create images, monitor them, and create clones from them for easy provisioning of test data. An image can only be deleted if all associated clones are deleted first.

You can't connect to a data-image as it's a read-only representation of database files. Instead, you will create data containers from data images and those will be live databases you can connect to.

Follow our guide to learn more about creating and managing images.

The equivalent in Redgate Clone nomenclature is data images.

Image Owners

An image owner is the person who created an image. Each image has one and only one owner, which is determined on its creation and cannot be changed.

In addition to viewing image, creating clones, and using clones for testing, the image owner can add and remove users for an image, giving them access as well.

Image owners can also delete the images they created, but they cannot leave the image as each image must have one owner. They also cannot pass ownership to another user.

Image Users

An image user is a person who has been given permission by the image owner to access an image. Each image can have any number of users, or none at all (excluding the owner).

The image user has access to viewing the image, creating clones, and using clones for testing.

Image users can leave an image, which revokes their own access to the image.

Image users cannot add or remove other users, nor delete the image itself.

Personally Identifiable Information (PII)

Personally identifiable information (PII) is any data that could potentially identify a specific individual. Examples include name, address, social security number or other identifying number or code, telephone number, email address, etc. Such data about the customers are commonly found in production databases, and, if handled incorrectly, can cause serious privacy and security issues.

Our Anonymizer ensures that PII is hidden before going from production to test environments by identifying them and masking them.

Redgate Test Data Manager Command Line Interface (CLI) Tools

Redgate Test Data Manager provides each individual capability as standalone CLI tools for integration with automated processes and integration with existing CI/CD pipelines.

Each CLI Tool has its own dedicated documentation pages, including installation steps, command-line references, worked examples and troubleshooting guides.

Redgate Test Data Manager Graphical User Interface (GUI)

Redgate Test Data Manager provides a simple centralized GUI for management and end-to-end provisioning of test data. The tool allows for easy permission controls and developer self-service.

Please check our Installation guide and walkthrough of common functionalities for more details.

Referential integrity

Referential integrity is the logical dependency of a foreign key on a primary key.

The integrity of a row that contains a foreign key depends on the integrity of the row that it references—the row that contains the matching primary key.

In the context of relational databases, it requires that if a value of one attribute (column) of a relation (table) references a value of another attribute (either in the same or a different relation), then the referenced value must exist.

Our Subsetter and Anonymizer ensure this requirement is preserved in all outcomes. 

Subset

A subset is an operation that extracts a smaller sized – referential intact – set of data from a source database into a target one using a given configuration criteria (e.g. a starting table and a filter clause).

It can also refer to the result of the above operation, where a database subset is a portion of tables in the source database that were copied into a separate target database.

You might want to create a database subset for a number of reasons:

• Creating an environment that matches your current production environment for testing or training, but on a smaller scope.
  • Example use case: Adding a smaller amount of real data from a production environment lets you test changes to the database, or train users in as close to the production environment as possible.
• Working with a set of data that relates to a specific department or organization, or that only covers a specific time period.
  • Example use case: By creating an environment that only contains specified data allows sanctioned data to be shared and by having time-based data you can ignore legacy data in your test suites.

Subsetter

CLI tool to perform Subsetting of a source database into a target one.

Please check our reference usage guide for more details.

Subsetting

One of the capabilities of Redgate Test Data Manager to subset large databases into smaller ones.

This is typically done from a source production database to a non-production target environment, but this is not a hard requirement.

The CLI tool to accomplish this is the Subsetter.

Test Data Management (TDM)

Test data management is the process of providing DevOps teams with controlled access to data for the purpose of testing and evaluating the performance and functionality of applications.

Redgate Test Data Manager helps spinning up safe and easy-to-use test data through techniques such as subsetting and copying production data, anonymization, synthetic data generation and virtualization.

For more detailed information, please check our documentation pages on What is Redgate Test Data Manager?.