Category: Backup

This content discusses simulating tape backups using RMAN and a dummy SBT library (oracle.disksbt) to troubleshoot backup failures. The article details how to perform fake tape backups with Oracle’s disk-based SBT library, effectively isolating issues within the Oracle layer or the vendor’s Media Management Library (MML). It also introduces the sbttest tool for assessing media manager installation and its usage with Oracle Test Disk API.

Oracle recommends adopting a merged incremental disk backup strategy to ensure efficient database protection and faster recovery times. This includes keeping an up-to-date image copy as the base while applying incremental backups. Key practices involve setting a REDUNDANCY 1 retention policy, utilizing the Fast Recovery Area, and employing Block Change Tracking for efficiency. DBAs must manage leftover datafiles after tablespace deletion to ensure that the base image copy remains in sync with the database, as detailed throughout the blog post.