Re: Backup Tool Alternative to RMAN and BMC's SQL Backtrack

On Mon, 28 Feb 2005, Sybrand Bakker wrote:

> *Which* infrastructure? You mean *NO* Infrastructure?

Under 8i, you need a separate database server to host the recovery catalog, which means a separate license AFAIK. Not worth my trouble nor the expense.

> I would be suspicious of any DBA who still, after more than 4 years of
> RMAN being operational, rejects RMAN as a viable backup solution, as
> you do.

I run more Oracle 7 than 8. I have ABSOLUTELY NO INTENTION of relying upon Oracle's provided solution for v7 - the "Enterprise Backup Utility."

I'm pretty suspicious of you... you must be a newbie to Oracle. :)

For the few 8i instances that I maintain, RMAN simply isn't worth the trouble; a consistent backup approach is more rational.

> I have seen third party backup sw bringing *ALL* tablespaces in hot
> backup. Oracle advises against this for good reasons. I assume you
> rather want to continue with this type of software?
> Your company is really lucky when they discover you can't restore your
> backup.

Actually, that is a good approach if you are using a SAN for backups. If I were to have my StorageWorks systems configured to "RUN CLONE" then throwing the entire database into backup and using the firmware to copy is viable (and fast, which might result in less overall redo generation). Getting the right LVM configuration would be very tricky, though.

I don't use any 3rd-party backup software (at long last - so long BMC).

RMAN is probably a slightly more appropriate tool in later versions of Oracle. RMAN is nice in that it will skip free blocks, and it brings back the cumulative backups that were stripped from exp/imp.

Every approach and tool has its uses, but to argue that one tool dominates all others is to do a disservice to every tool that you own.

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