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.

Attention:
The Oracle8 Backup and Recovery Guide contains information that describes the features and functionality of the Oracle8 and the Oracle8 Enterprise Edition products. Oracle8 and Oracle8 Enterprise Edition have the same basic features. However, several advanced features are available only with the Enterprise Edition, and some of these are optional. For example, to perform automated tablespace point-in-time recovery (using Recovery Manager), you must have the Enterprise Edition.

For information about the differences between Oracle8 and the Oracle8 Enterprise Edition and the features and options that are available to you, please refer to Getting to Know Oracle8 and the Oracle8 Enterprise Edition.

Structure

Part / Chapter	Contents
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	A comprehensive description of the guidelines and strategies to follow for performing backups.
Chapter 4: Choosing Recovery Strategies	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	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
Chapter 10: Recovery Manager Tablespace Point-in-Time Recovery	Describes all the planning and limitations to consider before using the step-by-step directions for using Recovery Manager to perform automated tablespace point-in-time recovery.
PART 3	Backup and Recovery--Operating System
Chapter 11: 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 12: 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.
Chapter 13: Performing Tablespace Point-in-Time Recovery	Provides planning guidelines and step-by-step instructions for manually performing tablespace point-in-time recovery.
Appendix A, Recovery Manager Command Syntax	Includes the basic Recovery Manager command syntax diagrams.

This book contains the following parts and chapters.

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 Oracle8 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 Oracle8 Concepts manual explains the Oracle architecture and features, and how they operate in more detail.