GIAS Data Stores Catalogue
Scope: Production data stores. Non-production environments (Dev, Test, Pre-Prod) follow the same pattern with equivalent resources in their respective subscriptions and resource groups.
Related resources: production deployment architecture, S158 Data Factory setup, data architecture overview, GIAS DDL script, entity-relationship diagram portfolio, SQL Server database component, Flyway migrations, Azure Blob Storage component.
Summary — Production Data Stores
| Store | Azure resource name | Type | Subscription | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary application database |
ea-edubase-prod
|
Azure SQL Database | DFE T1 Production | Authoritative data store for all GIAS application data |
| Read replica database |
ea-edubase-prod (replica)
|
Azure SQL Database (replica) | DFE T1 Production | Read replica of the primary application database |
| Archive database |
ea-edubase-prod-archive
|
Azure SQL Database | DFE T1 Production | Archived / historic data (paused at time of investigation) |
| Front-end Redis cache |
ea-edubase-prod
|
Azure Cache for Redis (Premium) | DFE T1 Production | Session and read cache for the C# web front end |
| API Redis cache |
rg-t1pr-edubase-redis-api
|
Azure Cache for Redis (Premium) | DFE T1 Production | Java API and backend application read cache |
| Application storage |
edubasepr
|
Azure Storage Account (RA-GRS) | DFE T1 Production | Front-end content, table storage, WebJobs, application logging |
| Extract file store |
strgt1predubase
|
Azure Storage Account (LRS) | DFE T1 Production | Scheduled CSV extract output files |
| Diagnostics storage |
strgt1prgiasdiagnostics
|
Azure Storage Account (LRS, Cool) | DFE T1 Production | Infrastructure and application diagnostics |
| ADF staging / pipeline |
s158p01-df-gias-01
|
Azure Data Factory | s158 Production | Batch data integration: Companies House, DSI sync, archive pipeline |
SQL Databases
GIAS uses Azure SQL Database (PaaS) hosted on two SQL logical servers in the rg-t1pr-edubase resource group in the DFE T1 Production subscription.
Primary Application Database
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Database name |
ea-edubase-prod
|
| SQL logical server |
ea-edubase-prod-srv
|
| Hostname |
ea-edubase-prod-srv.database.windows.net
|
| Subscription | DFE T1 Production |
| Resource group |
rg-t1pr-edubase
|
| Access |
Private endpoints only. SQL databases are not directly reachable from the public internet. The S158 Data Factory connects via a managed private endpoint (GiasConnection-Managedvnetprod).
|
Contents. This is the single authoritative data store for the GIAS application. It holds all domains described in the data architecture overview:
- Establishment and group registry data (
dboschema) - Change history, audit and workflow tables (
dboschema) - Users, user groups and permissions
- Reference and classification data (establishment types, LA codes, geography, code lists)
- Import and staging tables (
DataOpsJobsschema) - Sharing and publication cache (
gias_sharingschema) - Front-end content and operational tables (
FrontEndschema) - Provider extract projection (
MasterProviderschema) - Scheduler runtime tables (Quartz
QRTZ_*, Spring BatchBATCH_*)
See the GIAS DDL script for the published schema extract and the entity-relationship diagram portfolio for the published model views.
Read Replica Database
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Database name |
ea-edubase-prod (replica)
|
| SQL logical server |
ea-edubase-prod-rep-srv
|
| Hostname |
ea-edubase-prod-rep-srv.database.windows.net
|
| Subscription | DFE T1 Production |
| Resource group |
rg-t1pr-edubase
|
The same database name appears under both the primary and replica SQL logical servers in the Resource Graph export. The replica server (ea-edubase-prod-rep-srv) is a secondary logical server, likely supporting geo-replication or read scale-out. Full replication and failover configuration is not yet captured.
Archive Database
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Database name |
ea-edubase-prod-archive
|
| SQL logical server |
ea-edubase-prod-srv
|
| Hostname |
ea-edubase-prod-srv.database.windows.net
|
| Subscription | DFE T1 Production |
| Resource group |
rg-t1pr-edubase
|
| Status at investigation | Paused |
The archive database is a separate Azure SQL database on the same logical server as the primary. It receives data via an ADF pipeline (s158p01-df-gias-01), which connects to it via a second linked service (GIAS_ArchiveSQL_AsAzureDB). The archive database was in a paused state at the time of investigation; its paused status may affect whether archive-linked ADF pipelines can run successfully in production.
The archive database is covered in the S158 Data Factory setup and the production deployment architecture.
Redis Cache
Two Azure Cache for Redis instances are in production, both Premium tier in rg-t1pr-edubase. They serve as read caches for the Java application tier, reducing database load for frequently accessed establishment and group data.
Front-End Redis Cache
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Resource name |
ea-edubase-prod
|
| Hostname |
ea-edubase-prod.redis.cache.windows.net
|
| Tier | Premium |
| Subscription | DFE T1 Production |
| Resource group |
rg-t1pr-edubase
|
| Confirmed usage | Assumed C# front-end cache (inferred from name and separation from the API cache) |
The C# front-end codebase references a Redis connection string, but the checked-in configuration value is blank. ea-edubase-prod is recorded as the likely front-end Redis instance by naming convention and its separation from the Java API Redis cache below. This should be confirmed against deployed application configuration.
API Redis Cache
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Resource name |
rg-t1pr-edubase-redis-api
|
| Hostname |
rg-t1pr-edubase-redis-api.redis.cache.windows.net
|
| Tier | Premium |
| Subscription | DFE T1 Production |
| Resource group |
rg-t1pr-edubase
|
| Confirmed usage | Java API application and Java admin/backend application cache (confirmed from Java application configuration) |
The Java API application explicitly references rg-t1pr-edubase-redis-api.redis.cache.windows.net in its production configuration. This instance caches establishment and group data read by the API tier, supporting search results and frequently accessed establishment details. See the production deployment architecture for the wider production hosting view.
The gias_sharing schema in the SQL database provides denormalised read projections; the Redis cache provides a faster in-memory layer above this.
Storage Accounts
Three storage accounts are in the rg-t1pr-edubase production resource group. They serve distinct purposes.
Application Storage
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Resource name |
edubasepr
|
| Subscription | DFE T1 Production |
| Resource group |
rg-t1pr-edubase
|
| Replication | Read-access geo-redundant storage (RA-GRS) |
| Access tier | Standard |
| Public network access |
Enabled from selected virtual networks and IP addresses (vnet2-t1pr plus six 208.127.* IP ranges). No private endpoint connections.
|
Contents.
| Storage type | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Blob containers (8, all private) |
content, guidance — application content (documents, reports); Azure WebJobs containers; logging containers
|
| Table storage | API recorder sessions, front-end log messages, FAQ items, glossary items, local authority sets, news articles, notification banners, notification templates, user preference tokens |
| File shares | None |
| Queues | None |
This storage account is the runtime data store for the FrontEnd.* schema equivalents served to the C# application: content management, notifications, FAQs and user preferences. Its RA-GRS replication provides geographic redundancy for this application data. See the Azure Blob Storage component for how blob-backed files are used by the application.
Data protection. Blob soft delete: 7 days. Container soft delete: 7 days. No point-in-time restore, blob versioning, or blob change feed enabled.
Extract File Store
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Resource name |
strgt1predubase
|
| Subscription | DFE T1 Production |
| Resource group |
rg-t1pr-edubase
|
| Replication | Locally-redundant storage (LRS) |
| Access tier | Standard / Hot |
| Public network access |
Enabled from selected virtual networks and IP addresses (vnet2-t1pr plus IP rules). No private endpoint connections.
|
| Defender for Storage | Classic plan enabled. Recommendations outstanding: private link, stricter VNet access, disallow public access, prevent shared key access. |
Contents.
| Storage type | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Blob containers (2) |
extracts — scheduled CSV extract output files; $logs — storage operation logs
|
| File shares | None |
| Queues | None |
| Tables | None |
This storage account holds the scheduled extract output files. Scheduled extract jobs write CSV files to the extracts container; these are then available for download by public users and downstream consumers. The extract files include establishment extracts (edubaseall*), group data (allgroupsdata), governance data (governance*), links (alllinksdata) and group links (allgroupslinksdata).
Data protection. Blob soft delete: 7 days. Container soft delete: 7 days. No point-in-time restore or blob versioning.
Diagnostics Storage
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Resource name |
strgt1prgiasdiagnostics
|
| Subscription | DFE T1 Production |
| Resource group |
rg-t1pr-edubase
|
| Replication | Locally-redundant storage (LRS) |
| Access tier | Standard / Cool |
Diagnostics storage for infrastructure and application diagnostics. Not an application data store.
Azure Data Factory
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Resource name |
s158p01-df-gias-01
|
| Subscription | s158-getinformationaboutschools-production |
| Resource group |
s158p01-rg-dd-adf
|
| Tenant | DfE Platform Identity |
| Connectivity | Managed Virtual Network with private endpoints to the DFE T1 SQL server |
Purpose. ADF provides the batch data integration layer for GIAS. It does not hold application data itself; it reads from and writes to the SQL databases.
Confirmed pipelines. Five pipelines were visible at the time of investigation. See the S158 Data Factory setup for the published ADF detail.
| Pipeline | Direction | What it processes |
|---|---|---|
| Archive pipeline | Primary DB → Archive DB |
Moves aged data from ea-edubase-prod to ea-edubase-prod-archive
|
| DSI disabled-account sync | DfE Sign-in → Primary DB | Synchronises disabled user account status from DfE Sign-in into GIAS system user records |
| Companies House | Companies House → Primary DB | Imports Companies House company data for group/trust matching |
| (Further pipelines) | Inbound | See the S158 Data Factory setup for the full pipeline inventory |
Connectivity. ADF connects to the SQL databases via a single managed private endpoint (GiasConnection-Managedvnetprod) using two linked services: GIAS_ProdSQL_AsAzureDB (primary database) and GIAS_ArchiveSQL_AsAzureDB (archive database). It does not use public internet connectivity for SQL access.
Non-Production Environments
Each non-production environment has equivalent data stores following the same pattern. The table below shows the production Azure resource name and its non-production equivalents.
| Store type | Production | Pre-Prod | Test | Dev |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SQL primary DB |
ea-edubase-prod on ea-edubase-prod-srv
|
ea-edubase-pp on ea-edubase-pp-sqlsrv
|
t1te-edubase on sqlsrv-t1te-edubase
|
t1dv-edubase on sqlsrv-t1dv-edubase
|
| Redis cache (FE) |
ea-edubase-prod
|
ea-edubase-pp
|
gias-stage
|
gias-dev
|
| Redis cache (API) |
rg-t1pr-edubase-redis-api
|
rg-t1pp-edubase-redis-api
|
rc-t1te-edubase
|
rc-t1dv-edubase
|
S158 subscription resources (Dev and Test) also have equivalent SQL databases and Redis caches in the DfE Platform Identity tenant. See the production deployment architecture for the published infrastructure view.