Database Backup   «Prev  Next»

Recovery Manager Components

1. Production database This is the database that you want to back up.
2. Server process This server process writes data to disk for RMAN; talks to the Media Management Layer to write tape; and connects to the production database.
3. Recovery catalog database This database maintains information about Recovery Manager backups.
4. Disk(s) The disk(s) holds the backed up data.
5. Media Management Layer This contains the software to manage writing to tape subsystems.
6. Tape This holds the backed up data.

RMAN Synopsis

RMAN is an Oracle client tool that was first introduced with Oracle version 8 to perform a wide range of database backup and recovery operations. With RMAN, DBAs can develop comprehensive and secure database backup and recovery procedures. RMAN ships with Oracle RDBMS software and is automatically installed with the Oracle database software installation at no additional cost. The DBA can later adjust the RMAN configuration according to database needs. RMAN simplifies all Oracle database backup and recovery procedures, and the use of RMAN is highly recommended by Oracle.
RMAN offers the following key benefits:
  1. A wide range of flexible backups: tablespace, datafile, image copy, incremental, fast increment, encrypted, full database, and so on.
  2. Support for various levels of recovery scenarios: block-level, complete, incomplete, point-in-time, tablespace, table, and so on.
  3. Management of cold and hot database backups.
  4. A command-line interface (CLI) and Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM) GUI interfaces.
  5. Fast incremental backups.
  6. Compressed and encrypted backup support.
  7. Ability to detect and repair data block corruptions.
  8. Multisection backups to improve large data file backups.
  9. Undo backup optimization.
  10. Support for backups to disk or tape devices.
  11. Validation of existing backup consistency.
  12. Cross-platform database transportation.
  13. Simplified backup and recovery procedures.
  14. Easy to duplicate a database, construct a standby database, and clone the database.
  15. Close coordination with the Oracle database engine.
  16. Recovery operation can be tested without actually being performed.
  17. Capacity to record 7 days of database backup and recovery operations action in the database control file by default.
  18. Support for backup and various recovery scenarios of 12c new container and pluggable databases.
  19. Storage snapshot optimization for third-party technologies.
  20. With 12c, a table or table partition can be recovered from RMAN backups.