As it takes only a few seconds to establish the FlashCopy relationships for tens to hundreds or more volume pairs. The copy is then immediately available for both read and write access. In a 24×7 environment, the quickness of the FlashCopy operation allows us to use FlashCopy in very large environments and to take multiple FlashCopies of the same volume for use with different applications. Some of the different uses of FlashCopy are shown in Figure 1-2.

Figure 1-2 FlashCopy different uses

FlashCopy is suitable for the following:

_ Production backup system:

A FlashCopy of the production data allows data recovery from an older level of data. This might be necessary due to a user error or a logical application error. Let us assume that a user deleted accidentally a customer record. The production backup system could work with a FlashCopy of the data. The necessary part of the customer data can be exported and then be imported into the production environment. Thus, the production continues, and while a specific problem is being fixed, the majority of the users can work with the application without recognizing any problems.The FlashCopy of the data could also be used by system operations to re-establish production in case of any server errors.

_ Data backup system:

A FlashCopy of the production data allows the client to create backups with the shortest possible application outage. The main reason for data backup is to provide protection in case of source data loss due to disaster, hardware failure, software failure, or user errors. As FlashCopy restore or revert operation can usually be achieved into seconds, it can reduce the recovery time dramatically.

_ Data mining system:

A FlashCopy of the data can be used for data analysis, thus avoiding performance impacts for the production system due to long running data mining tasks.

_ Test system:

Test environments created by FlashCopy can be used by the development team to test new application functions with real production data – hence, a faster test setup process.

_ Integration system:

New application releases (for example, SAP releases) are likely to be tested prior to putting them onto a production server. By using FlashCopy, a copy of the production data can be established and used for integration tests. With the capability to reverse a FlashCopy, a previously created FlashCopy can be used within seconds to bring production back to the level of data it had at the time when the FlashCopy was taken.

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