Re: Do you use RMAN?

  I use it with 8i. We backup to disk.

What I like:
- Backups are faster.

• Backup files are smaller.
• "Duplicating" a test database from production is a breeze.

What I don't like:
- I find the report and list commands cumbersome. There have been numerous times that I needed to go into the repository and use SQL statements to find the information that I needed.

• It is easy to corrupt your catalog when duplicating a database (try resyncing the duplicated database with your production catalog instead of registering). Make sure you have separate catalogs for production and test databases. It has been argued on this list that you should have a catalog for each database.
• Can't duplicate a database using a specific cold backup without specifying "SET UNTIL...". This causes RMAN to look for the next redo log after the specified time or scn. Which means that after your cold backup, you need to do a log switch, then backup that redo log. RMAN isn't smart enough to know that it doesn't really need this post-cold-backup redo log. If somebody has a better way of doing this, I'd like to hear it.
• I don't completely trust tools that "think" for me. DBAs who grow up on RMAN will have no idea what to do with database files that have been backed up the old fashioned way (alter tablespace x begin backup, cp file01.dbf file01_backup.dbf, alter tablespace x end backup). Understanding what RMAN is doing in the background is helpful.

Overall, I give it an 8 out of 10.

Jay

>>> wcarle_at_att.com 03/06/02 10:48AM >>>
Hi,

    I'm in the process of upgrading my database to 9i and I was trying to decide whether I wanted to change my backup strategy to use RMAN. Do most of you use it? If you use it, what is your opinion of it? If you don't use it, why did you decide not to?

Bill Carle
AT&T
Database Administrator
816-995-3922
wcarle_at_att.com

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