Re: Q re command files for Oracle start/stop

"Gerald B. Rosenberg" <No_at_address.net> wrote in message >
>
> In a related thread, these command files were offered as appropriate to
> start/stop an Oracle instance for incidental use.
>
> I am using similar command files to start and stop only the oracle
> service for nightly backups (Oracle8i on WinNT). The command files are
> called automatically by BackupExec as part of the nightly backup run.
>
> Have I been defying the odds or is there no downside to leaving the
> listener service running while the oracle instance is stopped and
> restarted each night? Would you recommend start/stopping the listener
> each time? (Database usage is essentially 12x5, so attempts to use the
> database during backup runs simply don't occur.)
>

You're backing up a database, the definition of which -in Oracle, at leastis  controlfiles+datafiles+online redo logs. And nothing else. You can't back those files up whilst the instance has actually still got hold of them, unless you do a quite different hot backup methodology. So naturally, you have to shut the instance down for a cold backup to succeed.

Is the Listener part of an Oracle database? No, it is not.

Therefore, does it matter if the Listener is left running? No, it does not.

You haven't been running any risks or getting lucky in any way. The Listener is irrelevant, and so the status of the Listener service is irrelevant.

On the other hand, you don't say if you're running in archivelog mode or not (cold backups in archivelog mode are perfectly possible). If you are, make sure BackupExec is NOT backing up the online redo log components of your database. If you aren't, then still make sure it isn't backing them up -although in noarchivelog mode, it is much less serious an error to back them up than in archivelog.

Get it wrong, and you really will be defying the odds.

Regards
HJR Received on Thu Jan 16 2003 - 01:30:42 CST