NoCOUG 2005 Winter Conference

Oracle 10g Backup and Recovery

New Features
Daniel T. Liu
Senior Technical Consultant
First American Real Estate Solutions

Date: Tuesday, February 8, 2005 @ 2:15 PM - 3:15 PM

Venue: Room 103, Oracle Conference Center, Redwood Shores, CA
 Agenda
• Introduction
– Oracle Database 10g
– Challenges for
Backup and Recovery
– Types of Database
Errors
– Backup and Recovery
Solutions

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 2

 Agenda
• Extended Flashback
Features
• Enhanced RMAN
Features
• Summary
• Q&A

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 3

 Introduction to Oracle 10g
• Grid Computing Concept
– Utilizing computing resource as utility
– Software level
– Hardware level
• Grid Computing Challenges
– Standardization
– Security
– Reliability

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 4

 Introduction to Oracle 10g
• Oracle Database 10g New Features
– Real Application Clusters
– Oracle Streams
– Cross-platform transportable tablespaces
– Automatic Storage Management (ASM)
– Self-Managing Database
– New Backup and Recovery Features

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 5

Challenges for Backup and Recovery
• Database size is getting bigger and bigger
• Database Backup Time
– A DLT tape writes 6 MB/Second, or 21
GB/hour
– A 2 TB database with one tape driver will
take 97 hours to backup
• Database Recovery Time
• Is the backup good?
• Trouble shooting time
NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 6
 Types of Database Errors
• Corruptions
– Logical corruptions
– Physical corruptions
• Human Errors
– Accidentally drop, or truncate a table
– Accidentally delete, update rows in a table
– Accidentally delete a data file or drop a tablespace
• Disasters
– War, terrorism
– Earthquake, flood, fire or hurricane
– No power for a long period of time
– Server crash, malfunction of hardware
NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 7
Backup and Recovery Solutions
• Logical Methods
– Export and Import
– Data Pump
– Flashback Functions
• Physical Methods
– O/S Backup and Restore
– RMAN Backup and Restore
• High Availability Methods
– Data Guard
– RAC
– Oracle Streams

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 8

Extended Flashback Functions
• Flashback Database
• Flashback Drop
• Flashback Table
• Flashback Versions Query
• Flashback Transaction Query

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 9

 Flashback Database
• Traditional recovery method uses backups
and redo log files; Flashback Database is
implemented using a new type of log file
called Flashback Database logs.
• The Oracle database server periodically
logs before images of data blocks in the
Flashback Database logs.
• The data block images are used to quickly
back out changes to the database during
Flashback Database.
NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 10
 Flashback Database
• Flashback Database reduces the time
required to recover the database to a point
in time.
• The time to restore a database is
proportional to the number of changes that
need to be backed out, not the size of the
database.
• Flashback Database is faster than
traditional point-in-time recovery.
NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 11
 Flashback Database

DATABASE

LGWR RVWR

Redo Flashback
Log Database
Files Logs

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 12

 Flashback Database
• The list below shows all the background
processes for ‘grid’ instance.
$ ps -ef | grep grid
oracle 25124 1 0 16:32:05 ? 0:00 ora_s000_grid
oracle 25116 1 0 16:32:04 ? 0:00 ora_reco_grid
oracle 25169 1 0 16:32:22 ? 0:00 ora_rvwr_grid
oracle 25112 1 0 16:32:04 ? 0:00 ora_ckpt_grid
oracle 25110 1 0 16:32:04 ? 0:00 ora_lgwr_grid
oracle 25108 1 0 16:32:04 ? 0:00 ora_dbw0_grid
oracle 25114 1 0 16:32:04 ? 0:00 ora_smon_grid
oracle 25118 1 0 16:32:04 ? 0:00 ora_cjq0_grid
oracle 25120 1 0 16:32:04 ? 0:00 ora_rbal_grid
oracle 25122 1 0 16:32:04 ? 0:00 ora_d000_grid
oracle 25106 1 0 16:32:04 ? 0:00 ora_pmon_grid

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 13

 Enabling Flashback Database
• Make sure the database is in archive mode.
• Configure the recovery area by setting the two
parameters:
– DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST
– DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST_SIZE
• Open the database in MOUNT EXCLUSIVE
mode and turn on the flashback feature:
SQL> STARTUP MOUNT EXCLUSIVE;
SQL> ALTER DATABASE FLASHBACK ON;
• Set the Flashback Database retention target:
– DB_FLASHBACK_RETENTION_TARGET
NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 14
Disabling Flashback Database
• Disabling Flashback Database
SQL> ALTER DATABASE FLASHBACK OFF;
• Determine if Flashback Database is enabled
SQL> select flashback_on
2 from v$database;
FLASHBACK_ON
------------
YES
NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 15
Monitoring Flashback Database
• Monitoring Flashback Database
SQL> select begin_time, flashback_data,
2 db_data, redo_data, ESTIMATED_FLASHBACK_SIZE
3 from v$flashback_database_stat;
 
BEGIN_TIME FLASHBACK_DATA DB_DATA REDO_DATA ESTIMATED_FLASHBACK_SIZE
-------------------- -------------- ---------- ---------- ------------------------
Feb 22 2004 01:05:14 147456 2719744 92160 0
Feb 22 2004 00:05:09 3891200 5857280 2537984 252788736
Feb 21 2004 23:05:04 7979008 13615104 3385344 254877696
Feb 21 2004 22:05:00 14893056 19857408 17463296 255737856
Feb 21 2004 21:04:55 4210688 6422528 2598912 254361600
Feb 21 2004 20:04:51 4333568 8962048 2775552 256475136
Feb 21 2004 19:04:46 4431872 7028736 2804736 258588672
Feb 21 2004 18:04:41 4202496 8511488 2635264 260726784
Feb 21 2004 17:04:37 4030464 6938624 2546688 263012352
Feb 21 2004 16:04:32 4005888 7479296 2512384 265420800
Feb 21 2004 15:04:27 3874816 6864896 2471936 267927552
Feb 21 2004 14:04:23 4153344 7028736 2578944 270532608
Feb 21 2004 13:04:18 3825664 7675904 2497536 273113088
 
13 rows selected.

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 16

Flashback Database Retention
• Monitor the Flashback Database retention
target
SQL> select *
2 from v$flashback_database_log;
 
OLDEST_FLASHBACK_SCN OLDEST_FLASHBACK_TIME RETENTION_TARGET
FLASHBACK_SIZE ESTIMATED_FLASHBACK_SIZE
-------------------- --------------------- ----------------
-------------- ------------------------
2.2029E+12 Oct 06 2003 09:44:42 1440
48316416

• The default value for flashback retention

time is 1440 minutes.
NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 17
 Flashback Database
• Example 1: Flashback a Database using RMAN
RMAN> FLASHBACK DATABASE
2> TO TIME = TO_DATE
3> (‘06/25/03 12:00:00’,’MM/DD/YY
HH:MI:SS’);
• Example 2: Flashback a database using SQL
command
SQL> FLASHBACK DATABASE TO TIMESTAMP
(SYSDATE – 5/24);
SQL> FLASHBACK DATABASE TO SCN 76239;
SQL> ALTER DATABASE RESETLOGS;
NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 18
 Flashback Drop
• Prior to Oracle 10g, a DROP command
permanently removed objects from the
database.
SQL> DROP TABLE CUSTOMERS;
• In Oracle 10g, a DROP command places the
object in the recycle bin.
• The extents allocated to the segment are not
reallocated until you purge the object.
• You can restore the object from the recycle
bin at any time.
NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 19
 Recycle Bin
• A recycle bin contains all the dropped
database objects until,
– You permanently drop them with the PURGE
command.
– Recover the dropped objects with the
FLASHBACK TABLE command.
– There is no room in the tablespace for new rows
or updates to existing rows.
– The tablespace needs to be extended.

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 20

 Recycle Bin
• You can view the dropped objects in the
recycle bin from two dictionary views:
– USER_RECYCLEBIN: list all dropped user
objects
– DBA_RECYCLEBIN: list all dropped system-
wide objects

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 21

 Example 1: Dropping an Object
SQL> create table test (col_a varchar(4));
Table created.
 
SQL> select object_name, original_name,
2 type, createtime, droptime
3 from user_recyclebin;
no rows selected
 
SQL> drop table test;
Table dropped.

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 22

 Example 1: Dropping an Object
SQL> select object_name, original_name,
2 type, createtime, droptime
3 from user_recyclebin;
 
OBJECT_NAME ORIGINAL_NAME
TYPE CREATETIME DROPTIME
------------------------------ ----------------
------ ------------------- -------------------
BIN$0+ktoVCgEmXgNAAADiUEHQ==$0 TEST
TABLE 2004-02-21:19:04:03 2004-02-21:19:04:41 

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 23

 Example 1: Dropping an Object
SQL> create table test (col_b varchar(4));
Table created.
 
SQL> select object_name, original_name,
2 type, createtime, droptime
3 from user_recyclebin;
 
OBJECT_NAME ORIGINAL_NAME TYPE
CREATETIME DROPTIME
------------------------------ ---------------- ------
------------------- -------------------
BIN$0+ktoVCgEmXgNAAADiUEHQ==$0 TEST TABLE
2004-02-21:19:04:03 2004-02-21:19:04:41 
 
SQL> drop table test;
Table dropped.
NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 24
 Example 1: Dropping an Object
SQL> select object_name, original_name,
2 type, createtime, droptime
3 from user_recyclebin;
OBJECT_NAME ORIGINAL_NAME
TYPE CREATETIME DROPTIME
------------------------------
---------------- ------
------------------- -------------------
BIN$0+ktoVChEmXgNAAADiUEHQ==$0 TEST
TABLE 2004-02-21:19:07:33 2004-02-
21:19:08:17
BIN$0+ktoVCgEmXgNAAADiUEHQ==$0 TEST
TABLE 2004-02-21:19:04:03 2004-02-
21:19:04:41
NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 25
 Example 1: Dropping an Object
SQL> show recyclebin
ORIGINAL NAME RECYCLEBIN NAME
OBJECT TYPE DROP TIME
----------------
------------------------------
------------ -------------------
TEST
BIN$0+ktoVChEmXgNAAADiUEHQ==$0 TABLE
2004-02-21:19:08:17
TEST
BIN$0+ktoVCgEmXgNAAADiUEHQ==$0 TABLE
2004-02-21:19:04:41
NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 26
 Example 2: Restoring a Dropped Object

• This example will restore a dropped table

test. 
SQL> flashback table
“BIN$0+ktoVChEmXgNAAADiUEHQ==$0
” to before drop;

Flashback complete.

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 27

Example 3: Dropping a Table Permanently
• This statement removes the table
permanently:
SQL> drop table test purge;

  Table dropped.
• This statement removes the table in the
recycle bin:
SQL> purge table "BIN$0+ktoVChEmXgNAAADiUEHQ==$0";

Table purged.

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 28

 Example 4: Dropping a Tablespace
• You can only issue this command when the
tablespace users is empty. Object in the recycle bin
of tablespace users will be purged:
SQL> drop tablespace users;
• When you issue this command, objects in the
tablespace users are dropped. They are not placed
in the recycle bin. Any objects in the recycle bin
belonging to the tablespace users are purged.
SQL> drop tablespace users including
contents;
NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 29
 Example 5: Purging the Recycle Bin
• This statement purges the user recycle bin:
SQL> purge recyclebin;
  Recyclebin purged.
• This statement removes all objects from the recycle
bin:
SQL> purge dba_recyclebin;
  DBA Recyclebin purged.
• This statement purges all objects from tablespace
users in the recycle bin:
SQL> purge tablespace users;
Tablespace purged.
NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 30
 Flashback Table
• Flashback Table allows you to recover a
table or tables to a specific point in time
without restoring a backup.
• When you use the Flashback Table feature
to restore a table to a specific point in time,
all associated objects, such as, indexes,
constraints, and triggers will be restored.

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 31

 Flashback Table
• Flashback Table operations are not valid
for the following object types:
– Tables that are part of a cluster
– Materialized views
– Advanced Queuing tables
– Static data dictionary tables
– System tables
– Partitions of a table
– Remote tables (via database link)
NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 32
 UNDO_RETENTION Parameter
• Data used to recover a table is stored in the
undo tablespace. You can use the
parameter UNDO_RETENTION to set the
amount of time you want undo information
retained in the database.
• The default value for UNDO_RETENTION
is 900 seconds (15 minutes).

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 33

 Guaranteed Retention
• When an active transaction uses all the undo
tablespace, the system will start reusing undo
space that would have been retained unless you
have specified RETENTION GUARANTEE for
the tablespace.
• To create an undo tablespace with the
RETENTION GUARANTEE option, issue the
following command:
SQL> CREATE UNDO TABLEAPCE undo_tbs
DATAFIEL ‘/u02/oradata/grid/undo_tbs01.dbf’ SIZE 1 G
RETENTION GUARANTEE;

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 34

 Flashback Table Privileges
• You must have the FLASHBACK TABLE
or FLASHBACK ANY TABLE system
privilege to use the Flashback Table feature.

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 35

Example 1: Flashback Table using SCN
• Table row movement must be enabled to
flashback a table:
SQL> ALTER TABLE billing ENABLE
ROW MOVEMENT;
• This statement brings a table ‘billing’ back
to a certain SCN number;
SQL> FLASHBACK TABLE billing TO
SCN 76230;

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 36

Example 2: Flashback Table using TIMESTAMP

• This statement brings a table ‘billing’ back

to a certain timestamp:
SQL> FLASHBACK TABLE billing
TO TIMESTAMP
TO_TIMESTAMP(‘06/25/03
12:00:00’,’MM/DD/YY HH:MI:SS’);

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 37

 Flashback Versions Query
• Flashback Query was first introduced in
Oracle9i, to provide a way for you to view
historical data.
• In Oracle 10g, this feature has been
extended.
• You can now retrieve all versions of the
rows that exist or ever existed between the
time the query was issued and a point back
in time.
NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 38
 Flashback Versions Query
• You can use the VERSIONS BETWEEN
clauses to retrieve all historical data related
to a row.
• The Flashback Versions Query feature
retrieves all committed occurrences of the
row.
• The row history data is stored in the undo
tablespace.

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 39

 Flashback Versions Query
• The undo_retention initialization parameter
specifies how long the database will keep the
amount of committed undo information.
• If a new transaction needs to use undo space
and there is not enough free space left, any
undo information older than the specified
undo retention period will be overwritten.
• You can set the undo tablespace option to
RETENTION GUARANTEE to retain all
row histories.
NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 40
 Example 1
• To verify the retention value for the
tablespace, you can issue the following
statement:
SQL> select tablespace_name, retention
2 From dba_tablespaces; 
TABLESPACE_NAME RETENTION
------------------------------ -----------
SYSTEM NOT APPLY
UNDOTBS1 NOGUARANTEE
SYSAUX NOT APPLY
TEMP NOT APPLY
NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 41
 Example 2
SQL> create table emp (name varchar2(10),
salary number(8,2));
Table created.
 
SQL> insert into emp
values ('DANIEL',2000);
1 row created.
 
SQL> commit;
Commit complete.
 

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 42

 Example 2
SQL> update emp set salary = 3000
where name = 'DANIEL';

1 row updated.
 
SQL> commit;

Commit complete.
 

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 43

 Example 2
SQL> select * from emp;
NAME SALARY
---------- ----------
DANIEL 3000
 
SQL> select * from emp
versions between scn minvalue and maxvalue;
NAME SALARY
---------- ----------
DANIEL 3000
DANIEL 2000
NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 44
 Flashback Transaction Query
• It provides a way for you to view changes
made to the database at the transaction
level.
• It allows you to diagnose problems in
your database and perform analysis and
audit transactions.
• You can use this feature in conjunction
with the Flash Versions Query feature to
roll back the changes made by a
transaction.
NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 45
 Flashback Transaction Query
• You can retrieve the transaction history from
flashback_transaction_query view:
Name Null? Type
------------------------------------ -------- --------------
XID RAW(8)
START_SCN NUMBER
START_TIMESTAMP DATE
COMMIT_SCN NUMBER
COMMIT_TIMESTAMP DATE
LOGON_USER VARCHAR2(30)
UNDO_CHANGE# NUMBER
OPERATION VARCHAR2(32)
TABLE_NAME VARCHAR2(256)
TABLE_OWNER VARCHAR2(32)
ROW_ID VARCHAR2(19)
UNDO_SQL VARCHAR2(4000)
NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 46
 Example
SQL> select versions_xid, name, salary
2 from emp
3 versions between scn minvalue and maxvalue;
 
VERSIONS_XID NAME SALARY
---------------- ---------- ----------
0003000E00000FE2 DANIEL 3000
DANIEL 2000

SQL> select *
2 from flashback_transaction_query
3      where xid = '0003000E00000FE2';

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 47

 Example
SQL> select xid, start_scn, start_timestamp,
2 table_name, undo_sql
3 from flashback_transaction_query
4 where xid = '0009001F000000B2‘;
 
XID START_SCN START_TIMESTAMP
TABLE_NAME
UNDO_SQL
---------------- ---------- --------------------
----------
---------------------------------------------------------
----------------------
0009001F000000B2 714980 Feb 21 2004 23:30:31 EMP
update "ORACLE"."EMP" set "SALARY" = ‘2000' where ROWID =
'AAAMWJAAEAAAAFsAAA';
NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 48
 Summary - Flashback
• Flashback Database
• Flashback Drop
• Flashback Table
• Flashback Versions Query
• Flashback Transaction Query

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 49

 Enhanced RMAN Features

• Automated File Creation During

Recovery
• Simplified Recovery Through Resetlogs
• Change-Aware Incremental Backups
• Automated Disk-Based Backup and
Recovery
• RMAN Database Dropping and
Deregistration
NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 50
Automated File Creation During Recovery

• This feature enhances RMAN recovery

by automatically creating and recovering
datafiles that have never been backed up.
• In order to recover a data file that has
never been backed up, you need the
archive log files from the time of the data
file creation until the time at which you
want to stop the recovery process and a
copy of the control file with the
information regarding the data file.
NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 51
Automated File Creation During Recovery

Missing
data file data file
data file
#1 #2
#3

RMAN

Control fle Archive log files

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 52

 Simplified Recovery Through Resetlogs

• After performing an incomplete (Point-in-

time) recovery, you need to open the
database with RESETLOGS option:
SQL> alter database open resetlogs; 

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 53

 Simplified Recovery Through Resetlogs

• This RESETLOGS operation creates a new

incarnation of the database and resets the logs.
• Prior to Oracle 10g, the newly generated redo
log files could not be used with the backups
taken in the past. Therefore, it was important
to take an immediate backup since all previous
backups became invalid.
• In addition, if you used RMAN catalog for
future backups, you needed to issue the
following command to make the RMAN catalog
aware of the new incarnation of the database. 
RMAN> reset database;
NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 54
 Simplified Recovery Through Resetlogs

• In Oracle 10g, you no longer have to

back up your database following an
incomplete recovery and OPEN
RESETLOGS operations.
• This new feature is also applicable to the
following two scenarios:
– When you perform a recovery using a
backup control file and open the database
with the RESETLOGS operation.
– When you need to reinstantiate the old
primary database following a failover.
NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 55
 Simplified Recovery Through Resetlogs

• Benefits of Simplified Recovery Through

Resetlogs
– There is no need to perform a full backup
after an incomplete recovery.
– There is no need to recreate a new standby
database after a failover operation.
– There is no need to change any backup
scripts as there are no changes to the
recovery commands to take advantage of
this functionality.
NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 56
 Simplified Recovery Through Resetlogs

• Benefits of Simplified Recovery Through

Resetlogs
– You can take incremental backups based on
full backups of a previous incarnation when
you use RMAN.
– Block media recovery can restore backups
from parent incarnation backups and
recover the corrupted blocks through a
RESETLOGS operation.

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 57

 Simplified Recovery Through Resetlogs

• How does it work?

– Oracle 10g introduces a new format
specification for archived log files.
– This new format avoids overwriting archived
redo log files with the same sequence
number across incarnations.
SQL> show parameter log_archive_format
NAME TYPE VALUE
---------------------------- ----------- ------------
log_archive_format string %t_%s_%r.dbf

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 58

 Simplified Recovery Through Resetlogs

• The format specification is %r and

represents the resetlogs id. It is included
in the default format for the
LOG_ARCHIVE_FORMAT
initialization parameter.
• It will ensure that a unique name is
constructed for the archived redo log file
during RMAN restore and SQL*plus
auto recovery mode.
NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 59
 Simplified Recovery Through Resetlogs

• During the RESETLOGS operation, the

information in V$LOG_HISTORY and
V$OFFLINE_RANGE records are no
longer cleared.
• In addition, two new columns have been
added to indicate the incarnation the
records belong to:
– RESETLOGS_CHANGE#
– RESETLOGS_TIME.
NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 60
 Simplified Recovery Through Resetlogs
SQL> select recid, thread#, sequence#, resetlogs_change#,resetlogs_time
2 from v$log_history
3 where rownum < 20;
 
RECID THREAD# SEQUENCE# RESETLOGS_CHANGE# RESETLOGS_TIME
---------- ---------- ---------- ----------------- --------------------
1 1 1 1 Aug 12 2003 18:48:54
2 1 2 1 Aug 12 2003 18:48:54
3 1 3 1 Aug 12 2003 18:48:54
4 1 4 1 Aug 12 2003 18:48:54
5 1 5 1 Aug 12 2003 18:48:54
6 1 6 1 Aug 12 2003 18:48:54
7 1 7 1 Aug 12 2003 18:48:54
8 1 8 1 Aug 12 2003 18:48:54
9 1 9 1 Aug 12 2003 18:48:54
10 1 10 1 Aug 12 2003 18:48:54
11 1 11 1 Aug 12 2003 18:48:54
12 1 12 1 Aug 12 2003 18:48:54
13 1 13 1 Aug 12 2003 18:48:54
14 1 14 1 Aug 12 2003 18:48:54
15 1 15 1 Aug 12 2003 18:48:54

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 61

 Change-Aware Incremental Backups
• In previous releases of the Oracle database,
when you perform an incremental backup,
RMAN has to examine every block in the data
file to determine which blocks have been
changed.
• The time to perform an incremental backup is
proportional to the size of the data files.
Therefore, to perform an incremental backup
on a very large database can take some time
even if you have just changed a few blocks.

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 62

 Change-Aware Incremental Backups
• In Oracle 10g, you can create a block change
tracking file that records the blocks modified
since the last backup.
• RMAN uses the tracking file to determine
which blocks to include in the incremental
backup.
• RMAN no longer needs to examine the entire
data file. The time to perform an incremental
backup is now proportional to the amount of
content modified since the last backup.

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 63

Change-Aware Incremental Backups
• Here are the steps RMAN will perform to
do an incremental backup:
– Read the Block Change Tracking File to
determine which blocks in the data file need
to be read.
– Only scan the changed blocks in the data file
and then back them up.

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 64

Change-Aware Incremental Backups

RMAN Step 1

Step 2
Block Change Tracking File

Data File

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 65

 Change-Aware Incremental Backups
• How big is the Block Change Tracking File?
– The database size in bytes: the block change tracking
file contains data representing every data file block
in the database. The data is approximately 1/250000
of the total size of the database.
– The number of enabled threads: In a Real
Application Cluster (RAC) environment, the
instances update different areas of the tracking file
without any locking or inter-node block swapping.
You enable block change tracking for the entire
database and not for individual instances.

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 66

Change-Aware Incremental Backups
• How big is the Block Change Tracking
File?
– The number of old backups: The block
change tracking file keeps a record of all
changes between previous backups, in
addition to the modification since the last
backup. It retains the change history for a
maximum of eight backups.

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 67

Change-Aware Incremental Backups
• The size of the file is calculated by the
following formula:
Size of the Block Change
Tracking File =
( ( (Threads*2) + number of old
backups ) * database size in
bytes ) / 250,000

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 68

 Change-Aware Incremental Backups
• The minimum size for the block change
tracking file is 10 MB.
• By using this formula, a 2 TB database
with only one thread, and having five
backups in the RMAN repository will
require a block change tracking file of 59
MB.

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 69

Change-Aware Incremental Backups
• Enabling Block Change Tracking
– By default, Oracle will not record block
change information.
– To enable this feature, you need to issue the
following command:
SQL> alter database enable block
change tracking;

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 70

Change-Aware Incremental Backups
• Disabling Block Change Tracking
SQL> alter database disable block
change tracking;
• Monitoring the status of Block Change
Tracking:
SQL> select file, status, bytes
2 from v$block_change_tracking;
 
STATUS FILE BYTES
----------- ---------------------------- ---------------
ENABLED /dba/backup/01_mf_yzmrr7.chg 10,000,000

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 71

 Automated Disk-Based Backup and
Recovery
• Prior to Oracle 10g, disk files that were created
by RMAN utility or ARCH process had no
knowledge of one another.
• Furthermore, they were not aware of the sizes
of the file system on which they created files.
Database administrators need to routinely
clean up the old archive logs or old RMAN
files.
• It is nice to have a unified disk storage location
where you can manage all recovery related
files. Now you can achieve this in Oracle 10g
by specifying a Recovery Area
NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 72
 Automated Disk-Based Backup and
Recovery
• The recovery area is a unified disk storage
location for all recovery related files and
activities in an Oracle Database. Those files
include:
– Control file
– Online redo log files
– Archived log files
– Flashback logs
– Control file autobackups
– Data file copies
– RMAN files
NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 73
 Automated Disk-Based Backup and
Recovery
• The recovery area is defined by setting
two initialization parameters. These two
parameters can be dynamically altered
or disabled.
– The db_recovery_file_dest_size sets the disk
limit, expressed in bytes
– The db_recovery_file_dest sets the location
for the recovery area

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 74

 Automated Disk-Based Backup and
Recovery
• Set the disk limit for recovery area to 100
GB:
SQL> ALTER SYSTEM SET
DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST_SIZE = 100G;
• Set the recovery area destination:
SQL> ALTER SYSTEM SET
DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST = ‘/dba/backup/’;

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 75

 Automated Disk-Based Backup and
Recovery
• Alter a Recovery Area
SQL> ALTER SYSTEM SET
DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST_SIZE =
200G;
• Disabling a Recovery Area
SQL> ALTER SYSTEM SET
DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST = ‘ ’;

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 76

 Automated Disk-Based Backup and
Recovery
• Recovery Area Space Management
– When the recovery area is less than 90% full, Oracle
does not delete eligible files immediately, to
minimize the need to restore recent files from tape
during recovery. The recovery area can thus serve
as a kind of cache for tape.
– Once the recovery area is 90% full, Oracle will issue
a warning to users.
– The Oracle database server and RMAN will
continue to create files in the recovery area until
100% of the disk limit is reached.

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 77

 Automated Disk-Based Backup and
Recovery
• Recovery Area Space Management
– Once the recovery area is 100% full, the RMAN
retention policy is used to indicate what files will be
deleted in order to make space for newer files.
– The db_flashback_retention_target parameter
specifies how long Oracle will keep the flashback
logs in the flashback recovery area. However,
flashback logs won't be deleted even if it exceeds the
duration specified by the flashback retention period
unless more space is needed in the recovery area for
other files.

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 78

 Automated Disk-Based Backup and
Recovery
• New RMAN command for Recovery
Area
RMAN> BACKUP RECOVERY AREA;
RMAN> BACKUP RECOVERY FILES;

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 79

 Automated Disk-Based Backup and
Recovery
• Oracle 10g has a new dynamic performance
view for monitoring the recovery area:
 
SQL> desc v$recovery_file_dest

Name Null? Type

------------------------------- -------- -----------
NAME VARCHAR2(513)
SPACE_LIMIT NUMBER
SPACE_USED NUMBER
SPACE_RECLAIMABLE NUMBER
NUMBER_OF_FILES NUMBER

 
NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 80
 Automated Disk-Based Backup and
Recovery
• Example:
SQL> select * from v$recovery_file_dest;
 
NAME SPACE_LIMIT SPACE_USED
SPACE_RECLAIMABLE NUMBER_OF_FILES
------------ ------------- ------------
----------------- ----------------
/dba/backup 2147483648 458219520
0 49

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 81

 RMAN Database Dropping and
Deregistration
• In Oracle 10g, you can drop a database and
remove its entry from the RMAN catalog.
• The following statement drops the entire
database and removes the database files:
RMAN> drop database;
• The following statement drops the entire
database, removes the database files, and deletes
all backup copies of the database and the archive
log files:
RMAN> drop database including backups;

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 82

 RMAN Database Dropping and
Deregistration
• The above two statements drop the
database and delete the database files.
However, they do not unregister the
database from the RMAN catalog. The
following statement will remove the
database information from the RMAN
catalog:

RMAN> unregister database grid;

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 83
 Summary - RMAN Features

• Automated File Creation During

Recovery
• Simplified Recovery Through Resetlogs
• Change-Aware Incremental Backups
• Automated Disk-Based Backup and
Recovery
• RMAN Database Dropping and
Deregistration
NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 84
 Summary
• Oracle Database 10g
• Grid Computing
• Challenges For Backup and Recovery
• Different Types of Database Errors
• Solutions for Backup and Recovery
• Oracle 10g Extended Flashback Features
• Oracle 10g Enhanced RMAN Features

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 85

Questions
&
Answers
NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 86
 References
Oracle Database 10g New Features, Ault, Liu and Tumma;
Rampant Techpress;
Recovery Manager Reference, 10g Release;
Backup and Recovery Advanced Users Guide, 10g Release;
 
I would also like to acknowledge the assistance of Larry
Bailey of FARES, Tammy Bednar, Larry Carpenter, Roger
Peterson, Schwinn Ulrike of Oracle Corporation.

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 87

Thanks For Coming !!
Daniel Liu Contact Information
Phone: (714) 701-3346
Email: dliu@firstam.com
Email: daniel_t_liu@yahoo.com

Company Web Site:

http://www.firstam.com

NoCOUG 2005, Daniel T. Liu 88