The HDX Demo Server is a copy of HDX that can be used to training and testing.  It is public and accessible to anyone. For purposes of this document, we will refer to the "real" HDX as the HDX Production Server.

Anything done on the HDX Demo Server will be deleted on Sunday morning (00:00 UTC) when the database is refreshed with the latest copy from the HDX Production Server.  There are two kinds of refresh of the HDX Demo Server

1. Every week on Sunday at 00:00 UTC, the database is deleted and replaced with a fresh copy from the HDX Production Server. Downtime for the HDX Demo Server is usually less than one hour. This will copy all datasets, users, and organizations from the HDX Production Server to the HDX Demo Server and delete anything that was created on the Demo Server.

2. The first Sunday of every month, in addition to the database refresh described above, the codebase of the HDX Demo Server is updated to match the latest version of the code on the HDX Production Server.  This brings in any new features, bug fixes, etc.  This update is more extensive and downtime is normally less than 5 hours.

Much of HDX's functionality requires a user account, and for the user to be part of an organization on HDX.  If you have one, you can use your user account and organization from the HDX Production server.  If you don't have one, there is a list of demo users, organizations, and locations available below.   

Rules of the Road

1. Remember that the HDX Demo Server, although not indexed by most search engines, is still public on the internet.  Be thoughtful about content you create there. It's always best to clearly indicate that a user/dataset/organization you create is not "real". 

2. Remember that you will lose your work every Sunday at 00:00 UTC.   If that presents a problem for your planned demo or training, please contact hdx@un.org and we can suspend the refresh. 

3. If you are using the demo server extensively, it is recommended to let your planned use times be known in our Slack channel where any irregular updates/refreshes to the HDX Demo Server are announced.  Contact hdx@un.org to get added to the Slack channel. Use the following procedure to manage your reserved time:

   1. Post a message in the above mentioned Slack channel, mentioning the purpose of the reservation (e.g. X training) and estimated duration (e.g. 3 weeks).

   2. Use the reminder feature of Slack to set a remainder on the above mentioned channel like this: /remind #demo-feature-servers "X training" Apr 25 (where "Apr 25 is the estimated finish date)

   3. When the training is

      actually

      over, please post a reply on your initial post, checking the "Also sent to #demo-feature-servers" option, stating that the training is over and that the automatic refresh can be enabled once again.

Test Users, Organizations, and Locations available on the Demo Server

Location

Foolandia (FOO)

https://demo-data.humdata.org/group/foo

Organizations and their members

Demo Organization Alpha

Demo Organization Bravo

Demo Organization Charlie

Demo Organization Delta

Demo Organization Echo

Demo Organization Foxtrot