Earlier, you learned the basics of how to create a backup set, a topic that will be explored further in the next module.
The other type of backup you can perform is an image copy.

An image copy is essentially a copy of an operating system file. You can create an image copy of a data file, an archived redo log, and the control files for a database. If you need to restore a database from an image copy, you do not need to restore the database explicitly.
Instead, Oracle performs an implicit switch command, which points the database instance at the new data file.

You can use the copy command to make an image copy with RMAN. The syntax for this command is:

copy filetype TO filespec

There are three sets of values you can use for filetype--datafile, archivelog, and

current controlfile

. A path delimited within single quotes follows the first two types. The current controlfile type will simply make an image copy of the most current control file.
The filespec is the pathname to the destination file for the image copy.
You can also make copies of existing image copies with the file types of datafilecopy and controlfilecopy.

Backup Manager is a component of the Oracle Enterprise Manager that is used to handle backups and restores. Oracle Enterprise Manager is a graphical tool;
In the next lesson, you will learn how to create image copies in parallel for improved performance.