Preface

Welcome to the world of Oracle backup and recovery! This new book in the Oracle Server documentation library includes all of the conceptual and task-oriented information you will need to perform backup, restore, and recovery procedures whether you use the new Recovery Manager utility or existing operating system backups.

This book includes the following chapters and appendixes:

PART 1: Getting Started

Chapter 1: Why Perform Backups? describes the fundamental data structures you need to understand before moving on to the following chapters. The structures described here are the fundamental building blocks for Oracle backup, restore and recovery procedures.

Chapter 2: What Are You Backing Up? describes in detail all of the fundamental concepts necessary to understand Oracle backup and recovery. These concepts also apply to the Recovery Manager utility.

Chapter 3: When to Perform Backups, is a comprehensive description of the guidelines and strategies to follow for performing backups.

Chapter 4: Choosing Recovery Strategies, is an overview of the guidelines and strategies to follow when performing database recovery. Here you will find descriptions of recovery situations along with recommendations for appropriate recovery procedures.

Chapter 5: Choosing a Backup Method, describes different ways to implement the guidelines and strategies described in Chapter 3.

PART 2: Backup and Recovery-Recovery Manager

Chapter 6: Getting Started with Recovery Manager, describes issues to consider before using Recovery Manager, as well as some tips for getting a "quick start" with Recovery Manager.

Chapter 7: Recovery Manager Concepts, is a comprehensive description of the Recover Manager utility, and includes fundamental Recovery Manager concepts.

Chapter 8: Performing Backup and Recovery with Recovery Manager, provides instructions for using the Oracle Recovery Manager utility to manage your enterprise's backup, restore and recovery operations.

Chapter 9: Recovery Manager Scenarios, provides examples of specific situations in which you would use Recovery Manager and also includes appropriate Recovery Manager commands

PART 3: Backup and Recovery-Operating System

Chapter 10: Performing Operating System Backups, provides step-by-step instructions for performing operating system backups. The information in this appendix previously appeared in the Oracle7 Server Administrator's Guide.

Chapter 11: Performing Operating System Recovery, provides step-by-step instructions for performing operating system recovery. The information in this appendix previously appeared in the Oracle7 Server Administrator's Guide.

Appendix A, Recovery Manager Command Syntax, includes the basic Recovery Manager commands.

Audience

This guide is for people who administer the backup, restore, and recovery operations of an Oracle database system.

Knowledge Assumed of the Reader

Readers of this guide are assumed to be familiar with relational database concepts. They are also assumed to be familiar with the operating system environment under which they are running Oracle.

How to Use This Guide

Every reader of this guide should read Chapter 1 of the Oracle Server Concepts manual, "Introduction to the Oracle Server." This overview of the concepts and terminology related to Oracle provides a foundation for the more detailed information in this guide. The rest of the Oracle Server Concepts manual explains the Oracle architecture and features, and how they operate in more detail.

Conventions Used in This Guide

The following sections explain the conventions used in this guide.

Text of the Guide

The following section explains the conventions used within the text of this guide:

boldface words

Boldface text is used to call attention to Recovery Manager command keywords, and operands, as in the following example:

Use the backup command to create one or more backup sets.

UPPERCASE

Uppercase text is used to call attention to SQL command keywords, object names, parameters, filenames, and so on. For example:
If you create a private rollback segment, the name of the rollback segment must be included in the ROLLBACK_SEGMENTS parameter of the parameter file.

Italicized Words

Italicized words within text are used to indicate the first occurrence and definition of a term, as in the following example:

A database is a collection of data to be treated as a unit. The general purpose of a database is to store and retrieve related information, as needed.

Italicized words are also used to indicate emphasis, book titles, and to highlight names of performance statistics.

Your Comments Are Welcome

We value and appreciate your comments as an Oracle user and reader of the manuals. As we write, revise, and evaluate our documentation, your opinions are the most important input we receive. At the back of our printed manuals is a Reader's Comment Form, which we encourage you to use to tell us what you like and dislike about this manual or other Oracle manuals. If the form is not available, please use the following address or FAX number.

Oracle Server Documentation Group
Oracle Corporation
500 Oracle Parkway
Redwood City, CA 94065
U.S.A.

email: infodev@us.oracle.com
FAX: 415-506-7228

The following section explains the conventions used within the text of this guide:
boldface words	Boldface text is used to call attention to Recovery Manager command keywords, and operands, as in the following example:
	Use the backup command to create one or more backup sets.
UPPERCASE	Uppercase text is used to call attention to SQL command keywords, object names, parameters, filenames, and so on. For example: If you create a private rollback segment, the name of the rollback segment must be included in the ROLLBACK_SEGMENTS parameter of the parameter file.
Italicized Words	Italicized words within text are used to indicate the first occurrence and definition of a term, as in the following example:
	A database is a collection of data to be treated as a unit. The general purpose of a database is to store and retrieve related information, as needed.
	Italicized words are also used to indicate emphasis, book titles, and to highlight names of performance statistics.