Cold backup

[VIRENDER SINGH_1]

Hi,

HP-UX 11i.
Oracle 10g(10.2.0.1)
RAC is implemented.

I am oracle dba.
Our database is created on raw devices(using san storage).

I want to know is it possible to tar datafiles,controlfiles,cluster files directly to tape or first to copy these files to another location (after shutting down the database).

Thanks.

[VK2COT · Accepted solution]

Hello,

The simplest and Oracle-recommended method
for your version is dd(1) command.
One of the references for you (Oracle
Database Backup and Recovery Advanced
User's Guide 10g Release 2 (10.2)).

http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B19306_01/backup.102/b14191/osbackup008.htm

Quote from Oracle:

When backing up to or from raw devices, the
UNIX dd command is the most common backup
utility.

Using dd effectively requires specifying
the correct options, based on your database.
Details about your database that affect the
options you use for dd are listed in the
following table:

Block size
You can specify the size of the
buffer that dd uses to copy data.
For example, you can specify
that dd should copy data in
units of 8 KB or 64 KB. Note
that the block size for dd need
not correspond to either the
Oracle block size or the
operating system block size:
it is merely the size of the
buffer used by dd when making the copy.

Raw offset
On some systems, the beginning
of the file on the raw device
is reserved for use by the
operating system. This storage
space is called the raw offset.
Oracle should not back up or
restore these bytes.

Size of Oracle block 0
At the beginning of every Oracle file, the operating system-specific code places an Oracle block called block 0. The generic Oracle code does not recognize this block, but the block is included in the size of the file on the operating system. Typically, this block is the same size as the other Oracle blocks in the file.

Lot of examples of dd(1) usage are
at the above URL.

Cheers,

VK2COT