The constant evolution of IT has, among other things, affected the role of a database administrator (DBA). Today the DBA is not merely a Database Administrator anymore, but is morphing more into the Database Architect role. If you want to become a successful DBA and be more competitive in the market, you should have a different skill set than what was normally required in the past. You need to have a wide range of understanding in architectural design, network, storage, licensing, and much more. The more knowledge you have, the better opportunities you will find.
The main idea of this chapter is to introduce you to some basic concepts regarding backup and recovery, giving you a general overview of the most important methods and tools available for you to achieve your backup goals. Therefore, in this chapter, we will cover the following topics:
Understanding the need for creating backups
Getting familiar with the different backup types
An overview of backup strategy
Understanding what is redo and how it affects your database recoverability
Understanding database operational modes and redo generation