Re: The old raw devices chestnut.

"Data Goob" <datagoob_at_hotmail.com> wrote in message news:tk0fc.52615$F63.39763_at_fe11.usenetserver.com...
> Andrew,

> The real question is, how will you backup, much less restore
> raw device databases? Are you prepared to deal with the
> inflexibility it presents? Have you ever run Informix or
> other vendor database through a complete backup and restore,
> testing all the options with raw-device dbspaces? Most DBAs
> I've run into have never had to restore a database at any
> time in their career much less even test it. Is that amazing
> or what!

Any of Oracle, Informix or DB2 will cope with this equally as well as if on "cooked" disk. Informix will even let you restore a dbspace held on cooked chunks to be restored to a raw disk (or vice versa). The others may do too although I think there is more fannying around needed.

Finally you describe EMC Timefinder: provided you block the database (onmode -b) for the few seconds the Timefinder split takes, you can then spool the BCV copy out to tape and use this as the basis for an external restore.

> Consider too, clustering of systems and disks, and the
> administrative challenges associated with that. Add raw
> devices to multitudes of servers and it becomes more risky ...

If you don't know what you're doing .... :-) Received on Wed Apr 14 2004 - 12:52:46 CDT