Re: Real basic archive log question

dblocher_at_ptd.net wrote:
>
> When I run in archive log mode and backup the databse, What should I
> do with old archive transaction logs, when can you get rid of them,
> and do you ever want to reset the numbers?

You need transaction logs (redo logs) to recover the database using a hot backup. If you're doing cold backups, you don't need them. If you're keeping the current and previous backups (always keep more than just one in case of corruption or media failure of the backup) then you need to keep all the transaction logs back to the beginning of the oldest backup. This will allow you to use the oldest backup and still recover all the data up to the most recent archived redo log. These don't have to be online, they can be read in from tape or other archive media as needed. If you can keep them online somewhere, then the recovery may be faster. The more frequent the backups, the fewer redo logs that you have to save. e.g. doing backups every two weeks will require 4 weeks of redo logs to be saved versus backups every week which will only require 2 weeks.

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Allen Kirby			AT&T ITS Production Services
akirby_at_att.com			Alpharetta, GA.