Oracle SQL*Plus: The Definitive Guide

Database Backup and Recovery

Beginning with version 8.1, SQL*Plus implements commands to manage the archiving of redo log files and to perform point-in-time recovery of a database. In order to understand how these commands work, and to place them in their proper context, you need to understand something of how backup and recovery work in an Oracle environment.

This section explains the two fundamental approaches to backing up an Oracle database, and shows you how SQL*Plus may fit into your backup process. Archive logging will be explained, and you will see how SQL*Plus can be used to start, stop, and monitor that process. Finally, you will see how the SQL*Plus RECOVER command can be used to apply archive logs to a restored database in order to get up-to-the-minute recovery.

If you are responsible for backing up an Oracle database, please do not depend on just this one chapter to show you how to do that properly. There are several excellent books on the subject. One you should become very familiar with is the Oracle8 Backup and Recovery Guide — it’s one of the manuals in the Oracle documentation set. Another book worth looking at is the Oracle8 Backup and Recovery Handbook, by Rama Velpuri and Anand Adkoli (Oracle Press, 1998). In addition, Oracle offers the three-day-long Oracle8 Backup and Recovery Workshop.

Tip

Of all the things that a database administrator is responsible for, protecting the data is probably first on the list.

The discussion of backup and recovery in this chapter ...