OAC―Knowing Snapshot Basics

Before you terminate your subscription of Oracle Analytics Cloud (OAC), take a snapshot of your system, that is, the latest data model, catalog content, application roles, and so on. If you subscribe to Oracle Analytics Cloud in the future, you can import content from this archive file.^[1]

If you import the snapshot through the Service Administration Console UI, it won't affect the system until you restore that snapshot. When you restore snapshot, you can select "Custom" and choose the content types you want to restore.

If you are concerned, you can always take snapshots of your production system before restore.

See also: Uploading Snapshots and Restoring from a Snapshot.

Video 1. Use Snapshots to Migrate and Restore Data in Oracle Analytics (YouTube link)

About Snapshots

A snapshot captures the state of your environment at a point in time. So, you can restore the environment if something goes wrong.

• When to take a snapshot
• Before people start using the system
• At suitable intervals afterwards
• When you want to migrate your content to another cloud service
• For example, you might want to migrate content you created in a development or test environment to a production environment.
• How to generate (manually vs automatically)
• You can keep up to 40 snapshots online and download as many as you want.
• Snapshots don’t include data that is hosted on external data sources.
• Manually 
• You can download and store snapshots on a local file system and upload them back to your system if they’re required to restore content. 
• The snapshot file that you download is a compressed archive file (BAR file).
• Automatically
• OAC automatically takes a snapshot when someone publishes changes to the data model and keeps the 5 most recent snapshots in case you unexpectedly need to revert to an earlier model version. 
• The minimum interval between these automatically generated snapshots is one hour.

Video 2. Get Started with Data Modeling in Oracle Analytics Cloud (YouTube link)

Figure 1.  Creating fact tables, dimension tables, and joins to be used in data model

Details of Snapshot Content

When you take a snapshot you choose the content you want to include in it. You can take a snapshot of your entire environment (everything) or specify only specific content that you want to back up or migrate (custom).

• Data―Data visualization content that users create (Data tab). 
• Data Sets
• Data sets are file–based storage objects that you can use to analyze data quickly. 
• Data Sync can load your data as a data set that Data Visualization understands.
• When you use Data Sync to load data, you specify the target format as either relational or data set. 
• You can use the Data Sets page to:
• Examine data set properties
• Change column properties such as the aggregation type
• Set permissions
• Delete data sets that you no longer need to free up space. 

• File-based Data
• File-based data that users upload to create data sets. For example, data uploaded from a spreadsheet.

• Connections
• Data connections can be used for DV data sets.
• For example, you can connect Oracle Analytics Cloud to the Autonomous Data Warehouse.^[16]

• Connection Parameters
• Connection parameters, such as host, port, user name, and password.
• If you exclude the parameter information, you must reconfigure the connection details after you restore the snapshot.

• Data Flows
• Enable you to organize and integrate your data to produce a curated set of data that you use in visualizations.
• You can curate data from data sets, subject areas, or database connections.
• You use the data flow editor to apply transformations, add joins and filters, remove unwanted columns, add new derived measures, add derived columns, and add other operations. 

• Sequences
• A sequence is a saved sequential list of specified data flows and is useful when you want to run multiple data flows as a single transaction. 
• If any flow within a sequence fails, then all the changes done in the sequence are rolled back.
• Data Replications
• You can duplicate an uploaded data set that is listed in the Data Sets page to help you further curate (organize and integrate from various sources) data in projects.
• Classic Content―Created using Classic tools in Oracle Analytics Cloud, such as analyses, dashboards, and pixel-perfect reports.

• Data Model and Subject Areas
• You build a model of your business data to enable analysts to structure queries in the same intuitive fashion as they ask business questions (watch video).
• Data Modeler enables you to model the data that is needed to produce reports.
• Data model objects include fact tables, dimension tables, hierarchies, fact columns, and dimension columns.
• For example, you can create your initial data model from relational sources using data modeler (watch video).
• When you create an analysis, you first select a subject area, which contains columns related to a specific business object or area. Then, open folders within the subject area to find the columns to include.

• Catalog Content
• Catalog containing content that users create and save for future use, such as analyses, dashboards, reports, deliveries, agents, and so on.
• You can use the Catalog page to locate objects in the catalog and perform tasks specific to those objects. 
• For example, you can search for analyses, dashboards, or projects by name (full or partial) and by folder location

• Shared Folders and Projects
• Content that is being shared, that is, content that everyone with access to Classic tools can see.
• This includes any data visualization projects saved in the shared folders.
• A project is a work space defines and organizes source files, relational tables, target tables and indices.

• User Folders and Projects
• Content stored in user folders. Content that users create and store for their private use.
• This includes any data visualization projects users saved in their private folders.
• Machine Learning
• Machine learning models that users create from data flows.
• Machine learning analyzes the data in your data set to provide insights that enable you to explain the various aspects of that data.
• Jobs
• Jobs that users schedule for data flows, sequences, data replications, and pixel-perfect reports.
• Plug-ins and Extensions
• Extensions that users upload to implement custom visualizations and custom maps.
• Configuration and Settings
• Service configuration and settings configured through Console. 
• For example, mail settings, database connections, safe domains, and more.
• Application Roles
• Custom application roles administrators create through Console.

References

1. Top FAQs to Manage Oracle Analytics Cloud
2. About Snapshots (OAC)
3. Oracle A-Team Chronicles for BICS
4. Oracle A-Team Chronicles for OAC
5. Configuring and Managing the OAC Catalog.
6. Developer Client Tool for OAC 
7. Oracle Business Intelligence Developer Client Tool
8. Opening an Oracle BI Presentation Catalog
9. Take a Snapshot (OAC)
10. Download Snapshots (OAC)
11. Save Content to a Catalog Archive (OAC)
12. Permission Definitions (OAC)
13. Unarchiving a Folder Using Catalog Manager (OAC)
14. Archiving a Folder Using Catalog Manager (OAC)
15. Upload Content from a Catalog Archive (OAC)
16. Connecting Oracle Analytics Cloud Version 5. x to the Autonomous Data Warehouse
17. Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle Data Visualization
18. Understand Data Modeling (OAC)
19. Oracle® CloudPreparing Data in Oracle Analytics Cloud (PDF) 
20. Subject Areas for Analytics (OAC)
21. Use Data Modeler (OAC)
22. Get Started with Data Modeling in Oracle Analytics Cloud (Youtube)
23. Machine Learning with Oracle Analytics Cloud (Youtube)
24. Learn Modern Data Visualization with Oracle Analytics
25. Add Data Sets (Visualization and Reporting in Oracle Analytics Cloud)
26. Creating Analyses in Oracle BI Cloud Service (Oracle By Example)
27. Migrating Oracle Analytics Cloud - Classic Instances to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure
28. Configuring Oracle Analytics Cloud
29. Give Data Sources Access to Analytics Cloud Instances
30. OAC 10.5.1 : Content Migration Using Manual Utility (Youtube)
31. Oracle Analytics Managing Security for Oracle Analytics Server, 5.9.0 (pdf)
32. Oracle analytics library (good)