---
schema_version: "1"
id: 4f62f9ecfea6d7a1f9ac055a3c7016b9ba48ddee3cb971ccaac532d8d5624d5e
title: Instances
collection: admin
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/cc/264-0-0/b2c_demandware_instances.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=cc.b2c_demandware_instances.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: 0329f3a3e0f9be24fce5480012c901d7f74e0f541649f99fbf9e711f2a3bfe12
description: A B2C Commerce instance contains the tools and resources for customizing storefronts. Access an instance through your browser, or use Business Manager.
products:
  - Commerce
  - B2C Commerce
release: "264"
---
# Instances

A B2C Commerce instance contains the tools and resources for customizing storefronts. Access an instance through your browser, or use Business Manager.

## Instance Types

There are four instance types: Sandbox, Staging, Development, and Production. Depending on the type, the instance is either in the realm's primary instance group (PIG) or a secondary instance group (SIG).

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small ">
        <colgroup>
          <col>
          <col>
          <col>
          <col>
          <col>
        </colgroup>
        <thead class="slds-text-title_caps ">
          <tr class="">
            <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d121339e45"> ‌</th>
            <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d121339e48">Sandboxes</th>
            <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d121339e51">Staging</th>
            <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d121339e54">Development</th>
            <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d121339e57">Production</th>
          </tr>
        </thead>
        <tbody>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label=" ‌" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e45 ">Usage</td>

            <td data-label="Sandboxes" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e48 ">
              <p>Used by customer developers to create and update storefront code.</p>
              <div>
                <div class="slds-box slds-box_x-small slds-theme_shade slds-m-top_medium slds-m-bottom_medium">
                  <div class="slds-media slds-media_responsive">
                    <div class="slds-media__figure"><span class="slds-icon_container slds-icon_container_circle slds-icon-note-note"><img style="margin-bottom:0;" src="https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-cc-b2c_merchandiser_administrator-264-0-0-production-enus/ea76f372-6cfa-42a6-8e7c-05c6df7abed8/images/icon_note.png" alt="Note"></span></div>
                    <div class="slds-media__body" style="padding-top:.5rem;padding-bottom:.5rem;" id="b2c_demandware_instances__note_hcf_bcd_fwb"><a name="b2c_demandware_instances__note_hcf_bcd_fwb"><!-- --></a><span class="slds-text-title_caps">Note</span> Sandboxes without login activity for 150 days
                      might be deleted. We notify you before scheduling deletion of a
                      sandbox and its data.</div>
                  </div>
                </div>
              </div>
            </td>

            <td data-label="Staging" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e51 ">Merchandising work is done here.</td>

            <td data-label="Development" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e54 ">Simulates the production environment. Used as the final step in testing
              the intersection of content and code. Goes through the CDN provided by B2C
              Commerce, but doesn't cache.</td>

            <td data-label="Production" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e57 ">Live instance used for storefront transactions. Connected to the CDN
              provided by B2C Commerce. If active merchandising is enabled, collects
              active data. Storefront toolkit is disabled.</td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label=" ‌" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e45 ">Location</td>

            <td data-label="Sandboxes" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e48 ">SIG</td>

            <td data-label="Staging" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e51 ">PIG</td>

            <td data-label="Development" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e54 ">PIG</td>

            <td data-label="Production" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e57 ">PIG</td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label=" ‌" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e45 ">Data I/O</td>

            <td data-label="Sandboxes" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e48 ">Most system jobs are disabled for sandboxes.</td>

            <td data-label="Staging" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e51 ">Upload data and code to Staging, and B2C Commerce replicates them to
              Production or Development.</td>

            <td data-label="Development" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e54 ">B2C Commerce replicates data and code from Staging. Export data from the
              instance as needed.</td>

            <td data-label="Production" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e57 ">B2C Commerce replicates data and code from Staging. B2C Commerce gathers
              active data from Production and imports it into other instance types. Export
              data from the instance and import it into Staging.</td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label=" ‌" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e45 ">Global Release</td>

            <td data-label="Sandboxes" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e48 ">
              <p>Updated for: </p><a name="b2c_demandware_instances__ul_kcf_bcd_fwb"><!-- --></a>
              <ul id="b2c_demandware_instances__ul_kcf_bcd_fwb">
                <li>Preview</li>

                <li>General Availability</li>

              </ul>
            </td>

            <td data-label="Staging" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e51 ">
              <p>Updated for: </p><a name="b2c_demandware_instances__ul_lcf_bcd_fwb"><!-- --></a>
              <ul id="b2c_demandware_instances__ul_lcf_bcd_fwb">
                <li>General Availability</li>

              </ul>
            </td>

            <td data-label="Development" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e54 ">
              <p>Updated for: </p><a name="b2c_demandware_instances__ul_mcf_bcd_fwb"><!-- --></a>
              <ul id="b2c_demandware_instances__ul_mcf_bcd_fwb">
                <li>General Availability</li>

              </ul>
            </td>

            <td data-label="Production" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e57 ">
              <p>Updated for: </p><a name="b2c_demandware_instances__ul_ncf_bcd_fwb"><!-- --></a>
              <ul id="b2c_demandware_instances__ul_ncf_bcd_fwb">
                <li>General Availability</li>

              </ul>
            </td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label=" ‌" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e45 ">Caching</td>

            <td data-label="Sandboxes" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e48 ">Caching is disabled. Full file system checks are performed.</td>

            <td data-label="Staging" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e51 ">Not connected to the CDN provided by B2C Commerce. Caching is disabled.
              Full file system checks are performed.</td>

            <td data-label="Development" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e54 ">Caching is disabled. No file system checks are performed.</td>

            <td data-label="Production" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e57 ">Caching is enabled all the way through to the browser.</td>

          </tr>
        </tbody>
      </table>

## Who Uses Which Instance Type?

Depending on the size of your team, one person can play more than one role.

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small ">
        <colgroup>
          <col>
          <col>
          <col>
        </colgroup>
        <thead class="slds-text-title_caps ">
          <tr class="">
            <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d121339e221">Role</th>
            <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d121339e224">Instance Type</th>
            <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d121339e227">Responsibilities</th>
          </tr>
        </thead>
        <tbody>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Role" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e221 ">Developer</td>

            <td data-label="Instance Type" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e224 ">Sandbox, Staging</td>

            <td data-label="Responsibilities" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e227 ">
              <p>A developer creates or modifies templates, pipelines, and scripts on a
                local machine and uploads them to a Sandbox instance to test. Ultimately,
                the developer is responsible for uploading code to the Staging instance. The
                developer can also export data added by merchandisers on the Staging
                instance to use as test data for the sandboxes.</p>
              <div class="slds-box slds-box_x-small slds-theme_shade slds-m-top_medium slds-m-bottom_medium">
                <div class="slds-media slds-media_responsive">
                  <div class="slds-media__figure"><span class="slds-icon_container slds-icon_container_circle slds-icon-note-note"><img style="margin-bottom:0;" src="https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-cc-b2c_merchandiser_administrator-264-0-0-production-enus/ea76f372-6cfa-42a6-8e7c-05c6df7abed8/images/icon_note.png" alt="Note"></span></div>
                  <div class="slds-media__body" style="padding-top:.5rem;padding-bottom:.5rem;" id="b2c_demandware_instances__note_ucv_bcd_fwb"><a name="b2c_demandware_instances__note_ucv_bcd_fwb"><!-- --></a><span class="slds-text-title_caps">Note</span> Developers never use the Development instance unless they’re involved in
                    the testing process for the production site. </div>
                </div>
              </div>
            </td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Role" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e221 ">Merchandiser</td>

            <td data-label="Instance Type" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e224 ">Staging</td>

            <td data-label="Responsibilities" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e227 ">A merchandiser or online marketer is typically responsible for creating
              campaigns and promotions, managing product information, and configuring
              search behavior.</td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Role" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e221 ">Administrator</td>

            <td data-label="Instance Type" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e224 ">All instances</td>

            <td data-label="Responsibilities" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e227 ">An admin is responsible for granting access to instances and
              functionality on instances. The admin restarts instances, manages data
              feeds, and uploads certificates.</td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Role" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e221 ">Quality Assurance Engineer</td>

            <td data-label="Instance Type" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e224 ">Development</td>

            <td data-label="Responsibilities" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d121339e227 ">This role is responsible for testing the site in conditions as close to
              production as possible. No code development is done on the Development
              instance.</td>

          </tr>
        </tbody>
      </table>