HELP! How to organize backups/exports/archiving?

Hi !
I'm in progress to organize the physical security for our Oracle database. We have 3 small databases, with a total of about 200Mb of data in the $ORACLE_HOME/dbs directory. I also have log_archive_start=true (enabled).

The oracle server is normally always running (24h/24, 7days/week). Users are about 10-20. They all works in the same time (8am-8pm), from monday to friday. Wery nice, and simple.

The network server (ie the system administrator) do a tar copy every night of all the oracle software and oracle data, but not (at the moment) of the arc files.

Now, on the oracle server I dispose a dat driver, and would like to do some (redundant) backups and exports. Here is my idea, please give me your opinion on how to improve it:

• HOT BACKUP (weekly, manually or using cron)

  cd $ORACLE_HOME
  tar cvf /dev/dat ./dbs/init* ./dbs/sga* ./dbs/*/*.ctl ./dbs/*/*.dbf

  (note that in ./dbs I have one directory for every database)

• EXPORT + ARCHIVING (monthly, manually or using cron)

  cd $ORACLE_HOME
  for every database:
  . exp system/<passwd> inctype=COMPLETE full=Y file=<file.exp> log=<file.log>   shutdown all databases
  tar cvf /dev/dat <all_files.log> <all_arch_files>   rm <all_arch_files>
  startup all databases   

As you can see, I never do 'cold' backups.

Then, surprise surprise, I would like to test my backup and export files...

Is someone out there so crazy like me to think to abort the database in some brutal way (which brutal ways do you knows ?) and restore it using the files on the dat ???????

I will appreciate any suggestion and opinion, thank you!
Stefano

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  Stefano Unternaehrer                                           Mecasoft SA
  Oracle DBA                                                    6600 Muralto
  PL/SQL, Pro*C, C, XWindow & Motif                       Switzerland Europe
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