Re: Recovery Question

On Jul 23, 2:25 pm, Paul <paulwragg2..._at_hotmail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I am using Oracle 10.2.0.2.0 on Windows Server 2003.
> We had a machine die on us whilst the Oracle instance was not running.
> We have no backups (the data isn't really critical, and it is customer
> data so we cannot back it up anyway).
>
> Anyway, the machine died. It has been rebuilt with different drive
> letters. We have all of the data files, control files etc and so I
> think it is probably possible to sort this out. I tried recreating the
> instance, backing up control file to trace, starting it in NOMOUNT
> mode, then editing the create control file statement to include the
> data files etc.
> I kept getting errors about sizes not being correct, and it appeared
> that for a particular size of 7GB, it just would not work!
>
> What I want to know is how people would approach this problem in order
> to recover. The instance was not running, I have all the files, so it
> should be relatively easy. But I have never done this before, and I
> cannot really find any info out about it.If anybody can suggest
> anything or point me to an article on how to do this then that would
> be appreciated.
>
> Please don't remind me of the importance of backups - the data is a
> customer database with confidential data so we cannot back it up.
>
> Many Thanks in advance!
>
> Paul

Seems we are entering another prize draw, as your request calls for clairvoyance and crystal balls, none of which are usually available. Maybe Catweazle could do something about it (just saw a fragment on Dutch Television yesterday: very funny: Catweazle went completely bonkers when the boy switched the light on). That said one would usually indeed recreate instance and the controlfile, making sure the original controlfiles are there, and *they are identical* (just overwriting them with the most recent one is usually OK).
As you don't specify what happened, I can not provide an explanation.

As to the 7 Gb oddity: without exact specifications about whether Oracle and O/S are both 32-bit, or are both 64-bit, or you are running the wrong edition of Oracle (very easy as each 64-bit CPU has it's own port): who can tell?

As to the person who decided not to back up a database because the data is confidential, I would recommend an appearance in Tom Kyte's upcoming 'Oracle worst practices' web seminar. What use is maintaining the database by a 3rd party, if the 3rd party isn't allowed to make a back up? Doesn't signing up an SLA implies something tiny as *confidence*?

--
Sybrand Bakker
Senior Oracle DBA