First, you will require the Archive Backup Client (ABC) from SSSI.  Our
website has information about that product.

There are a couple of ways of handling Oracle on OpenVMS.  First you can
simply shut down the database and backup all of the tablespaces.  That's
still the best and most reliable way to backup any database as you know.

You may also use the Oracle intrinsic alter tablespace functionality to lock
individual tablespaces and then back them up.  While they are locked,
transactions are logged in transaction logs.  If you are currently backing
up an Oracle db on OpenVMS, this is most likely what you are already doing.
You can take your existing DCL procedures and modify them to use the
appropriate ABC command rather than the backup command you are already
using.

We've discussed creating an agent for Oracle on OpenVMS but don't believe
the market is there to warrant the engineering effort.

Kelly J. Lipp
Storage Solutions Specialists, Inc.
PO Box 51313
Colorado Springs CO 80949-1313
(719) 531-5926
Fax: (240) 539-7175
Email: lipp AT storsol DOT com or lipp AT storserver DOT com
www.storsol.com
www.storserver.com