Re: What to do with archived redo-logs ?

In article <34B677B5.7F14_at_bekaert.com>,
MARREEL Chris <MARREEL_CHRIS/BENG_at_bekaert.com> wrote:
>John P. Higgins wrote:
>>
>> > OK, this explains a lot, but I still have the following question :
>> > Is it possible to switch this 'archive'-stuff off for a specific period
>> > of time. E.g. before we start a big batch-job , and switch the
>> > archiving back on after the job is done ?
>>
>> Of course you can do this.
>
>HOW can I do that ?
>Do I have to restart my ORACLE DATABASE to switch it off an back on, or
>can I do this ONLINE (= without restarting the database ?)

Well, the database has to be in exclusive mode to do this:

SVRMGR> alter database noarchivelog;
alter database noarchivelog
*
ORA-01126: database must be mounted EXCLUSIVE and not open for this operation

But, if the database is basically closed to everyone except the batch jobs over the weekend, then this shouldn't be an issue: just shutdown to exclusive mode, turn archive log off, open the database to eeryone, run your batches, shutdown again, turn logging back on, and re-open the database.

>> 1) You need to do a cold backup after you have restarted archivelog
>> mode.
>
>Why ?
>Why shouldn't I do a normal (Online backup) backup ?

Not sure. I was under the impression a hot backup should be sufficient in this case.

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