Re: Testing an rman backup

On 6/11/07, Hallas, John (EXP N-ARM) <john.hallas_at_lmco.com> wrote:
>
> I have never understood why you have to connect to the source database
> and what happens when you do.

Rman reads the controlfile from the source(production) database. In the case of a 'set until time' duplication I'd have thought that in principle Oracle could read a backup controlfile, but for duplicate more generally you will want the current controlfile information.

One issue I have had to battle with is change control. Even though you
> are building a copy database on a test/development node you still have
> to make a connection to the production system , which requires a CC.

I don't know if your organisation operates ITIL change management practices, but if they do then this sort of activity would exactly fall under the guise of a standard (i.e routine) change. I'm quite agressive with change control myself - meaning if in doubt record it, but it does seem to me that making a copy of a production system absolutely is something that should be recorded and approved (maybe that's the ex auditor trying to get out).

I raised a metalink call with Oracle on this matter several years ago
> (probably v8) but I IIRC the answer was waffle and there was no good
> reason.
>
> And why oh why is the source database called 'target'

well the why is because that is what RMAN always calls the primary database, but I agree it's an awful name, as is auxiliary. I quite like the idea of calling the primary database the source and any auxiliary the target - even for backups - since in my head we backup sources and copy to targets and never backup targets. Still as Dave Ensor famously pointed out if you can have a product called multi-threaded server that is neither multi threaded nor a server what hope is there for naming.

-- 


> Niall Litchfield

> Oracle DBA

> http://www.orawin.info


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