Book Image

Oracle Database 12c Backup and Recovery Survival Guide

Book Image

Oracle Database 12c Backup and Recovery Survival Guide

Overview of this book

The three main responsibilities of a successful DBA are to ensure the availability, recoverability, and performance of any database. To ensure the recoverability of any database, a DBA needs to have a strong backup and recovery skills set. Every DBA is always looking for a reference book that will help them to solve any possible backup and recovery situation that they can come across in their professional life. Oracle Database 12c Backup and Recovery Survival Guide has the unique advantage to be a reference to all Oracle backup and recovery options available, making it essential for any DBA in the world. If you are new to Oracle Database, this book will introduce you to the fantastic world of backup and recovery that is vital to your success. If you are an experienced DBA, this book will become a reference guide and will also help you to learn some possible new skills, or give you some new ideas you were never aware about. It will also help you to easily find the solution to some of the most well known problems you could find during your career as a DBA. This book contains useful screenshots, scripts, and examples that you will find more than useful. Most of the books currently available in the market concentrate only on the RMAN utility to backup and recovery. This book will be an exception to the rule and will become a must-have reference, allowing you to design a real and complete backup and recovery strategy. It covers the most important topics on Oracle database such as backup strategies, Nologging operations, new features in 12c, user managed backups and recoveries, RMAN (including reporting, catalog management, troubleshooting, and performance tuning), advanced data pump, Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c and SQL Developer. "Oracle Database 12c Backup and Recovery Survival Guide" contains everything a DBA needs to know to keep data safe and recoverable, using real-life scenarios.
Table of Contents (22 chapters)
Oracle Database 12c Backup and Recovery Survival Guide
Credits
About the Author
Acknowledgement
About the Author
Acknowledgement
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Configuring the snapshot control file


It is common knowledge that data files can be backed up when the database is open. This option is called the hot backup or open database backup. It is possible because even when the files are being constantly modified and are inconsistent, they can be made consistent by using archived log files in the recovery stage. Creating a consistent file is imperative as otherwise the database can't be opened. Archived logs are self-contained anyway, so taking their backup with an open database is not an issue. However, in the case of the control file that always gets updated, a hot backup of it won't be usable at all. This presents an interesting issue, but fortunately, a solution to tackle it is available with RMAN in the form of a snapshot control file!

A snapshot control file is the point-in-time copy of the current control file when its backup is initiated in the open database mode. This is not really the backup of the control file (though it can be used as...