Re: ORACLE Backup Methodology

From: Ken Shirey <kshirey_at_spindle.net>
Date: 1996/09/17
Message-ID: <323F2F66.6A0D_at_spindle.net>#1/1

ctkumar wrote:
>
> Hi there,
>
> Is there anybody who can advise me on the backup methodology that I
> should follow while using ORACLE Database?. We will be using 2 Oracle
> Database Servers and I want to do Reliable On-Line backup (I cannot do
> offline backup since my servers will be used 24 hours). We are also
> looking for 3rd party tools that can do On-Line backup - advise me on
> this also. The size of database excepted will be 16GB on each server.
>
> --
> Kumar Chidambaram [ Pacific Internet Pte Ltd
> Database System Analyst 89 Science Park Drive #04-09/12
> The Rutherford, Singapore 118261
> Tel : (65) 771 0860
> Fax : (65) 773 6812 ]

---

Kumar:

Oracle is designed for 24x7 operations, and as such has great online backup features.
To use online backup, you must operate the instance in ARCHIVELOG mode. This will
archive the used online redo logs, and will facilitate the reapplication of transactions
done since the last backup of a datafile.

Basically, all you need to do for an online backup is follow this strategy:

1.)  ARCHIVELOG mode
2.)  select tablespace_name from dba_tablespaces
3.)  for each tablespace:
	alter tablespace <tablespace_name> begin backup
	copy the datafiles (check dba_datafiles where tbspc = current) to
backup directory
	when all datafiles are copied, end the backup of the tablespace:
	alter tablespace <tablespace_name> end backup
	go to the next tablespace, until all are done.
	copy the controlfile to the backup directory
	keep archived redo logs for a couple of weeks, if you have the space,

and
ALWAYS KEEP A COPY ON TAPE, or other media, with your backups.

Remember, the archived redo logs are as valuable as gold. Even if yesterday's datafiles
are bad, the day before (or last week's) will suffice, if you have the archived redo logs.

There is a great book on backing up and recovering Oracle: Oracle Backup & Recovery Handbook,
published by Oracle Press. It will give you many nights of sleepless bliss :-)

(I have tried several 3rd party products for backup & recovery, but they seem to be a waste
of time & money)

p.s. It never hurts to do an export every now and then...

Ken Shirey
Oracle Database Administrator
Commercial Data Systems, Inc.
Dallas, TX
kshirey_at_spindle.net Received on Tue Sep 17 1996 - 00:00:00 CEST