Heavens!

From: Howard J. Rogers <howardjr2000_at_yahoo.com.au>
Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2003 08:51:29 +1000
Message-ID: <5T%ma.15205$1s1.240230@newsfeeds.bigpond.com>

Thanks to Joakim Treugut, I found this gem of Oracle Myth-making-In-Action:

Online Redo Logs:
· Used only for recovery of committed data not yet written to the
data files.
· Do not need to be backed up, but can be backed up cold to copy
database and avoid having to open new database with RESETLOGS.
· Log switches occur when.
· When online redo log fills.
· When fast start checkpointing is set.
· At the log_checkpoint_interval.
· At the log_checkpoint_timeout.
· At instance shutdown (except ABORT).
· When forced by an ALTER SYSTEM CHECKPOINT
· When a tablespace is taken offline.
· When an online backup is started.

Scary, huh? "Log switches occur when you start a hot backup"????! Or when log_checkpoint_interval is reached??!!!!

It gets better: "Archived Redo Logs...Are critical for recovery in a hot backup scheme" (but presumably, they're dispensible when doing cold backups??

I liked this one, too: "[If Archiving]... After structural changes are made, [issue] alter database backup controlfile to 'file'". No mention of backup to trace, and you only have to use this command if you're in archivelog mode.

Or this one: it describes a hirtherto unknown parameter, called LOG_ARCHIVE_SUCCEED_DEST=n and describes it thus: "number of destinations for successful log switch".

It goes on (and on and on...).

I wouldn't mind, but the organisation that has this for download proudly boasts on its home page that it is an Oracle Approved Training Centre.

Sometimes, I despair. There really seems, sometimes, very little point in trying to learn (or teach) this stuff properly when this nonsense is doing the rounds, or certain well-known authors promote their rubbish ad nauseum.

(Oh, and incidentally, this is all contained in their "helpful" exam-cram for 8i OCP Backup and Recovery exam. I wonder if any of their students ever passed?).

Names withheld to protect the innocent, but I can be persuaded to part with the details!

Regards
HJR Received on Tue Apr 15 2003 - 17:51:29 CDT