What is the difference between Instance cloning and Instance restore?

[superkvi]

Recently our both the non-production instances (Dev and Teat) were upgraded to Paris Patch 1 Hot Fix 5. Later I realized that Production instance cloning was not done before the non-production instance upgrade. I raised a case with ServiceNow technical support and was asked to request Instance Restore. 

What problems may I face due to this (no cloning) during the production upgrade? Or What will be the effects of this on the Production upgrade?

Thank you!

[sachin_namjoshi]

Cloning is applying most recently backup of your production instance over non production instance.

Instance restore Restores the database schema and data from the latest backup to the newly created database.

In case of upgrades, it's best to clone non prod instances first and then do upgrade.This ensures that you have latest copy of your working code, data on non production instance. Also, When you do regression testing of your features after upgrade, you will be able to resolve bugs introduce due to custom functionality on your instance after upgrade.

Regards,

Sachin

[amurana2]

Hi, Sachin, 

Your comment is valid, but our company does not allow to install the Prod data into the NPE environments.  In this case, what should we do?  

[sachin_namjoshi]

In that case, direct upgrade to non production ( without clone) is better option for you.

But, you have to make sure that your code based on NPE and production is matching so that you can resolve issues after upgrade.

Regards,

Sachin

[superkvi]

Hi Sachin,

Cloning before Upgrade is a MUST or optional? This is my first upgrade activity and so far I have read that it is the best practice to clone your production instance to a non-production instance before you upgrade the Production instance. 

Thank you!