Now you are making nervous!
Gleisson Henrique, December 27, 2005 - 11:16 am UTC
At work, we have a backup routine in which we kill all sessions and then take down the database and backup the system files and then we put it up running again. It is all done trough .cmd files and windows scheduled task manager. We never had a problem for shutting the db down or bringing it up. However I never attempted to recover with those backup.
Babu, if you want to I can either post here or send the files to you. Posting here, we might get Tom's opinion on it.
Tom, is there a recommended way to back up ? recommended meaning effective.
December 27, 2005 - 2:09 pm UTC
shutting down we can "usually do" (shutdown abort *usually works*, doesn't have to - I can make it "not shutdown" easily).
starting up unattended however is something entirely different ;) add an init.ora, change something that doesn't take effect till next restart, change something at the OS level (that "couldn't" possibly affect the database - meaning it almost surely will), anything at all - something a human can fixed in 5 seconds - but the software will just sit there and wait patiently.
It is all about HOT backup and ARCHIVE LOG mode - and then testing your ability to recover every way you want to be able to recover - restore to a new machine, restore just a tablespace, how to recover just a table, just some rows of some table, a schema, some code - etc - all of the things you want to recover from, practice them.
Scheduling Oracle 8i database shutdown in Windows 2000 Server
Tim, December 27, 2005 - 12:56 pm UTC
Gleisson,
You said, "However I never attempted to recover with those backup."
As I see it - that is only a very minor step removed from not backing up at all.
If you are not routinely performing recovery - how do you know you can recover? After all - the point of this is not to "backup" - the point is to "recover". The only reason to backup in the first place is to allow you to recover.
Trusting the results of a script that say you have a "successful" backup - is like believing those internet email chain letters - just hearsay.
Recover for yourself - believe it for yourself.
Unfortunately - the system you are following is not unique to your orgination. Many people operate in production using the same technique.
December 27, 2005 - 2:20 pm UTC
So many people perform a restore.....
for the very first time.....
on the day they need to be able to have the restore actually work....
ouch is all I can say. I would have failed that test miserably myself since I totally messed up what I should have been backing up - and only be testing it out did I realize that.
very fair
Gleisson Henrique, December 27, 2005 - 1:29 pm UTC
Tim, you are right indeed ! I hope I never have to backup. However I should be prepered to do it. I try to stay on the developer side of "the force", backing up and other related admin issues are not my area. I know ignorance is no excuse when the db crashes the whole it department is responsible. I will try to recover sometime and let this forum know.