> But what of exp? A lot of suggestions for backup suggest using a full
> exp, but i am not clear on whether this can do a reliable backup on a
> running db with users.
IMHO exports *can* be used for backup purposes but should really be viewed
as a supplement to a cold/hot backup -- as a way to allow you to recover
from user/developer errors on individual database objects -- e.g., a
developer accidentally DROPs a table, a user inadvertently deletes some rows
that he/she did not mean to. Unlike a backup, an export allows you to
retrieve individual objects or collections of objects (such as a "schema").
A FULL export can be used to recreate a database, but you must first create
an empty database to use as the target of a FULL import & this invariably
takes much longer than restoring/recovering DB files. I would take full
exports & backups every night on a production database, and full exports
every working night on a development database but maybe only backup a
development database once a week.
Received on Thu Aug 16 2001 - 13:44:08 CDT
