There are two approaches that I would consider. The first is simply to ask: does your development work absolutely require large test data, or might it be possi

There are two approaches that I would consider. The first is simply to ask: does your development work absolutely require large test data, or might it be possible to reduce the size through more precise selection? And more to the point, if such is possible, is it possible with a reasonable amount of effort? This is such a common problem that my guess is you're not the only one trying to solve it. If the size of the data set is essential to your development, then could you set up a development database server on dedicated machine (could be an old workstation/laptop) on the local network that could act as common infrastructure for the whole team? This would only work if your application supports connection to a remote database, but it would solve the problem of externalizing the need for a database and sharing that resource among your development team rather than having each of you running a big DB locally.