Networker

[Networker] Advice on backup strategy for Oracle RMAN backups?

2007-01-16 18:20:47
Subject: [Networker] Advice on backup strategy for Oracle RMAN backups?
From: George Sinclair <George.Sinclair AT NOAA DOT GOV>
To: NETWORKER AT LISTSERV.TEMPLE DOT EDU
Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2007 18:10:46 -0500
Hi,

I wanted to get some feedback on the following strategy for backing up a production database (could be around 80 GB). We're running Oracle 10g on Linux with NetWorker 7.2.2 Oracle module (NMO 4.2). We have a separate catalog database
which is very small.

<< Proposed strategy >>
o Run a level full on the production database once per week (group: oracle_full) with incrementals (group: oracle_incr) every day. o Run a level full every day for the catalog database (group: oracle_cat_full) o Cloning is enabled for all 3 groups. Figured cloning will validate the originals and offer us a redundant copy in case of disaster.

The problem we see is that while we can recover the production database for any given time, including the control file (the catalog gives us this capability), we can only recover the control file for the catalog database itself from the most recent backup. We are unable to go back to any previous versions. After all, we don't have a catalog of the catalog. If we did, we'd run into the same problem with that one ... ad infinitum. But there could be a situation wherein we needed to recover some previous version of the production database using the catalog, but maybe for whatever reasons, we experience problems with recovering the most recent version of the control file for the catalog. e.g. bad area on tape, maybe the clone wasn't successful, whatever. In this case, we'd be stuck. so we we thinking maybe it would be prudent to also make a cold backup of the catalog database as an additional precaution.

o A script would run on the Oracle server as a cron job wherein it would shut down the catalog database, copy all the files to a separate location and the restart the database. That location would then be a specified saveset for another NSR client resource that would then run daily fulls against that path. This way, we can always recover the catalog database from any point in time if necessary, but under normal circumstances, the most recent copy (using rman) would be used, of course.

Does anyone have any recommendations or advice they could offer us? Should we not use rman for the catalog database and only use
a cold backup?

Thanks in advance.

George

--

George Sinclair - NOAA/NESDIS/National Oceanographic Data Center
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