Agenda

 RMAN Architecture
 Why Use RMAN?
 Implementation Decisions
 RMAN Oracle9i New Features

PPOUG, 05-OCT-01
RMAN Architecture
 Recovery Manager (RMAN) is a tool that
can be used for Backup, Restore, and
Recovery operations on your target
database
 Standard utility when installing Oracle
binaries
• No extra license required
• Only works on 8.0 or higher
• Some features only implemented if using Enterprise
Edition

PPOUG, 05-OCT-01
RMAN Architecture (continued)

Server
rman
Target Processes
Database
datafiles

Server
Processes Recovery
Server Catalog
controlfiles Processes Database
(optional)

Archived Backup files Media

redo logs Backup
on disk Management
(optional) media

PPOUG, 05-OCT-01
RMAN Architecture (continued)
 Target Database
• Database to be backed up, restored,or recovered
• Datafiles, controlfies, archived redo files are backed
up
 rman executable
• Utility you invoke for backup, restore, and recovery
operations
 Processes and Channels
• RMAN uses processes to communicate with target
and catalog databases
• A process opened for I/O is called a channel

PPOUG, 05-OCT-01
RMAN Architecture (continued)
 Backups, Backup Sets, Backup Pieces
• Backups are made up of Backup Sets
• Backup Sets are made up of Backup Pieces
• Backup pieces are the physical backup files
• rman is only utility that can read/write from physical
files
 Target database control files
• Contain information about RMAN backup operations
• SQL> alter session set events ‘immediate trace name
controlf level 10’;
 Backup sets, pieces, datafiles
 Configuration settings (Oracle9i only)

PPOUG, 05-OCT-01
RMAN Architecture (continued)
 What’s the Catalog Database?
• A separate database usually on a separate host from
target database
• Schema that has objects that store data about
backup, restore, and recovery activities
 Catalog Database (optional)
• Optional because much of same meta data in
catalog is always stored in the target control file
 Catalog does not contain backup files

PPOUG, 05-OCT-01
RMAN Architecture (continued)
 Media Management Layer (MML)
• 3rd party piece of software
• Tracks what files have been written to
what tapes
• MML required if backing up files to tape
• Optional because you can take backup
directly to disk
• Can be frustrating to setup

PPOUG, 05-OCT-01
So Why Use RMAN?
 Incremental backups
• Full will backup only used blocks

• Incremental scheme to back up

changed blocks
• Backup resources correlate to
transaction activity and not the
size of the database

PPOUG, 05-OCT-01
RMAN Advantages (continued)
 Tablespaces not put in backup mode
• No extra logging of full blocks to
online redo logs during backup
• With RMAN a database process is
doing the copy
• RMAN does a head/tail check on
each block

PPOUG, 05-OCT-01
RMAN Advantages (continued)
 Automatic checking for corruption
• Database block
• Archived redo log
 RMAN reads every block and checks
for corruption
 Corrupt blocks information logged
• v$backup_corruption
• v$copy_corruption

PPOUG, 05-OCT-01
RMAN Advantages (continued)
 Configurable I/O characteristics
• Configure multiple I/O channels to
process in parallel backup and restore
commands
• Set max file size
• Set max read rate

PPOUG, 05-OCT-01
RMAN Advantages (continued)
 Logging of all backup operations
• RMAN writes what/when/where to
target controlfile (and catalog if using)
• Listing and reporting commands

PPOUG, 05-OCT-01
Implementation Decisions
 Backup to disk (no MML required)
 Backup to tape (must use MML)
 Use RMAN with catalog
 Use RMAN without catalog

PPOUG, 05-OCT-01
Most Moving Parts
Server
rman
Target Processes
Database
datafiles

Server
Processes Recovery
Server Catalog
controlfiles Processes Database

Archived
Backup
redo logs MML
media

PPOUG, 05-OCT-01
Simplest Implementation

rman
Target
Database
datafiles

Server
Processes
Server
controlfiles Processes

Archived Backup files

redo logs on disk

PPOUG, 05-OCT-01
Disk Based Backup
 Set channel type disk
 Let O/S backup scrape files to tape
 Sometime after O/S backup delete
RMAN backup files from disk
 Advantages of Disk
• Easier to setup (no MML)
• Fewer moving parts
• Disk access faster

PPOUG, 05-OCT-01
Disk Based Backup (continued)
 Disadvantages of Disk
• If RMAN backup file has been deleted
from disk, and if needed during a
restore, DBA has to tell Operator which
file needs to be retrieved and what day
it was backed up

PPOUG, 05-OCT-01
Tape Based Backup
 Configure RMAN to backup to tape
• Implement MML
• Set channel type sbt_tape

 Advantages of Tape
• Tape storage is cheaper than disk
• Might be only option for a large database
• MML keeps track of long history of what file
is on what tape

PPOUG, 05-OCT-01
Tape Based Backup
(continued)
 Disadvantages of Tape
• MML setup can be frustrating
• And MML adds complexity

PPOUG, 05-OCT-01
Why Use a Catalog?
 Gives you more flexibility in certain
situations

 Oracle8i reasons to use a catalog

•Restoring controlfile
•Marking backup sets unavailable
•Listing commands

PPOUG, 05-OCT-01
Why Use a Catalog?
(continued)
 8i and 9i Reasons to Use Catalog
• One centralized repository for all your target
databases
 If not using catalog, finite amount of days of
RMAN backup operations stored
• control_file_record_keep_time has a default of 7
days
• Could be an issue for a database with hundreds
of datafiles
 With catalog you can store data for long
periods of time

PPOUG, 05-OCT-01
Catalog Disadvantages
 Another moving part
 Another database to maintain,
monitor, backup, etc.
 Can get complex if many different
versions of targets
• One catalog, one schema
• One catalog, multiple schemas
• Different catalogs

PPOUG, 05-OCT-01
If Not Using a Catalog
 May need to increase init.ora
control_file_record_keep_time
 In 8i, ensure that you backup your
controlfile outside of RMAN
SQL> alter database backup controlfile to
‘<path>/<filename>’;

PPOUG, 05-OCT-01
RMAN 9i New Features
 RESTORE command optimized
 Block level recovery
 New ways to handle archived redo
 Configurable Persistent Settings
•Autobackup of controlfile
•Optimization
•I/O channel characteristics
 Backup/Restore syntax simplified
PPOUG, 05-OCT-01
Oracle9i New Features
 Can easily give fellow DBA heart attack
• Pick a paranoid one
 Setup
• No Server Manager in Oracle9i
• Create a file $ORACLE_HOME/bin/svrmgrl
• chmod +x

echo “ “
echo “SVRMGR> ORA-99999: deleting all datafiles…”
sleep 2

PPOUG, 05-OCT-01
RMAN 9i New Features
 RESTORE command optimized

 RMAN restore now does:

• Checks if file is on disk
• Checks file header
• If passes checks, does not restore

 Can override w/FORCE option

PPOUG, 05-OCT-01
RMAN 9i New Features
 Block Level Recovery
 Detecting block level corruption
•v$backup_corruption
•trace files
•dbverify

RMAN> blockrecover datafile 2 block 30;

PPOUG, 05-OCT-01
RMAN 9i New Features
 Block Level Recovery (continued)
• Appropriate for small amounts of
corruption
• Could reduce mean time to recovery
• Does not replace datafile
restore/recovery
• Gives DBA another restore/recovery
tool

PPOUG, 05-OCT-01
RMAN 9i Archive Redo Backups
 New BACKUP … PLUS ARCHIVELOG
command

RMAN> backup database plus archivelog;

1. Switches online redo logs
2. Backup archivelog all;
3. Backs up files database datafiles
4. Switches online redo logs
5. Backs up any archived redo logs generated
during backup

PPOUG, 05-OCT-01
9i RMAN Controlfile Restore
 New CONFIGURE command
 Settings stored in target controlfile
 Enable autobackup controlfile

RMAN> configure controlfile autobackup on;

 Controlfile automatically backed up with

BACKUP and COPY commands
 RMAN controlfile restore can then be done
without connecting to catalog

PPOUG, 05-OCT-01
RMAN 9i New Features
(continued)
 Configure optimization

RMAN> configure backup optimization on;

 If a file has been backed up and

hasn’t changed since last backup,
RMAN will skip the file

PPOUG, 05-OCT-01
RMAN 9i New Features
(continued)
 Configure persistent channel I/O
settings
 Persist until you change or clear

RMAN> configure default device type to disk;

RMAN> configure device type disk parallelism 2;
RMAN> configure channel device type disk format
/ora01/brdstn/rman_%U.bus;

RMAN> show all;

PPOUG, 05-OCT-01
RMAN 9i New Features
(continued)
 Syntax simplified for BACKUP and
RESTORE commands
 No longer required to wrap within
RUN{} command
 Syntax now can be as simple as:

RMAN> backup database;

RMAN> restore database;

PPOUG, 05-OCT-01
RMAN Summary
 RMAN has significant advantages
 Many different ways to implement
 Enhancements to RMAN in Oracle9i
 Q&A

PPOUG, 05-OCT-01