BCV4 is an automated tool to create ready to use clones of DB2 and IMS on z/OS. It brings up production identical instances that are the ideal solution for provision of preproduction (preprod) systems, or "golden copies", that are the basis for all types of application test beds including SAP Homogeneous System Copies and PeopleSoft test environments. BCV4 is also an essential aid for implementing DB2/IMS version upgrades. It supports “single” and “shared” environments.
With BCV4 subsystem cloning no longer requires tying up valuable DB2 experts with a time consuming, tedious job that takes many hours or even days to complete. BCV4 uses either the inhouse scheduler or its own automatic submit mode and gets the job done in record time.
BCV4 uses ADRDSSU, and, if available, copy services like Flashcopy, Snapshot, ShadowImage, TimeFinder, etc. BCV4 boosts productivity through full automation of the cloning process. Creating or refreshing of a DB2 or IMS clone (or combined systems) simply means to execute an automatically generated job chain. Depending on the size of the systems and the available storage components a cloning process typically lasts less than 60 minutes.