Re: DB file not updated in ARCHIVELOG mode?

Sybrand Bakker wrote:
>
> "Ortwin Glück" <glueck_at_freesurf.ch> wrote in message
> news:39B941D3.3E0B9B77_at_freesurf.ch...
> > I have Oracle running in ARCHIVELOG mode (for backup reasons).
> > I recognized that the modified date of the database file does not change
> > unless i shutdown/startup the instance. In NOARHCIVE mode the modified
> > date is changed on logfile switch. Archived Logfiles are created though.
> > Is the data actually written to the DB file on logfile switch? Can I
> > safely delete old archived logfiles without losing data?
> >
> > Ortwin Glueck
>
> The data is actually written to the database as soon as a certain amount of
> blocks in the cache is 'dirty'. Usually this amount is 4 blocks.
> You can delete archive log files provided
> a) you have a backup of them

Wait a minute. Surely we can't be expected to keep tapes of all archive logs from the time the database was last down!!?!!?
Can't archives created prior to last hotbackup simply be deleted? Otherwise for exactly how long must archives be retained?

> or
> b) they are older than your last consistent backup (a consistent backup is
> created with the database *down*).
Received on Tue Sep 12 2000 - 06:32:40 CDT