Re: Is this method of offline backup OK?

"Sean M" <smckeownNO_at_BACKSIESearthlink.net> wrote in message news:3C8FACDE.A4616F3B_at_BACKSIESearthlink.net...
> "Howard J. Rogers" wrote:
> >
> > "Sean M" <smckeownNO_at_BACKSIESearthlink.net> wrote in message
> > news:3C8F0E4E.77831FA5_at_BACKSIESearthlink.net...
> >
> > > If you have a more authoritative source for what Oracle recommends
than
> > > the company's own documentation, I'd love to see it.
> >
> > It's in the Oracle Backup and Recovery course material (which I teach
> > regularly):
>
> And you're saying that Oracle course materials trump Oracle standard
> documentation?

No. Read your own quote from Oracle documentation again. Look at the last line. Tell you what, I'll help you out and re-post it here:

If your database is in NOARCHIVELOG mode, then the only type of
> backups that you should perform are closed, consistent, whole database
> backups. The files in this type of backup are all consistent and do not
> need recovery, so the online logs are not needed."

Notice the last word... "online logs are not NEEDED". No, we agree... they are not "needed". But it also does no harm, remembering that paragraph's first proviso that it only applies to noarchivelog. So even the documentation is saying that, though it's not needed, it doesn't do any harm if they are included.

Care to explain what you would do, in noarchivelog mode, when it comes time to restoring a cold backup missing the online logs? How will you get the database open without redo logs? Right: you'll have to sit there in the mount stage issuing 'alter database add logfile' commands. Fine if you know the syntax off the top of your head. Fine if you have the Big Boy's Book of Syntax ready to hand. Personally, I'd just as happily restore *.*, and issue the startup command.

>
> > You've missed the point. The man is in NOARCHIVELOG mode.
>
> Really? Where did he say that? I don't see anything in his post
> indicating his archivelog status. All he said was that he's doing
> offline backups.
>

Yes, and then included a list of v$ which is mysteriously silent on the subject of archived logs.

> > Therefore he
> > loses those transactions anyway, since in that mode, recovery is to the
time
> > of the last backup, not the time of the failure.
>
> *IF* he's in noarchivelog mode, then yes, of course.
>
> > Look at the list of v$ views the original poster was using before taking
his
> > backup. Do you see any mention of v$archive_log there? If you're going
to
> > take a backup, and you are running in archivelog mode, don't you think
you
> > should know what archives you should include in the backup?
>
> No, since it's a COLD backup. Why would he care about v$archived_log
> for a cold backup? Nothing he wrote says he wasn't doing a cold backup
> of a database in archivelog mode.
>

Nothing he said indicates that he was in archivelog mode.

And you *tend* to do cold backups when not.

But if this is degenerating into a discussion about what someone else meant or implied, forget it. End of thread.

HJR
> Regards,
> Sean
Received on Wed Mar 13 2002 - 14:00:46 CST