This section provides the concepts you need to understand the Oracle suggested backup strategy and other backup types provided through Database Control.
Full Backups of Data Files
A full backup of a data file includes all used blocks of the data file. As explained in “About RMAN Backups”, an RMAN backup can be either an image copy or backup set. An image copy is a bit-for-bit copy of the data file, and thus includes unused blocks.
Incremental Backups of Data Files
RMAN incremental backups copy only those blocks in a data file that change between backups. A level 0 incremental backup, which copies all blocks in the data file, is used as a starting point for an incremental backup strategy.
Incremental backups at level 1 copy only images of blocks that have changed since a previous incremental backup. Level 1 backups can be cumulative, in which case all blocks changed since the most recent level 0 backup are included, or differential, in which case only blocks changed since the most recent level 0 or level 1 incremental backup are included. A typical incremental strategy makes level 1 backups at regular intervals such as once each day.
Recovering changed blocks from incremental backups can speed media recovery. Because an incremental level 1 backup copies the final contents of all data file blocks changed during the period covered by the incremental backup strategy, the recovery process can avoid reapplying updates from the archived redo log files of that period, and update each block with its final contents. The archived redo log files are used only for changes from the period not covered by level 1 backups.
Incrementally Updated Backups: Rolling Forward Image Copies of Data Files
RMAN enables you to apply level 1 incremental backups to an older image copy of your data files. You can roll forward the copy to the point in time of the most recent level 1 incremental backup. All blocks changed since the image copy was created are overwritten with their new contents as of the time of the last level 1 incremental backup. The effect is to roll forward the file in time, so that its contents are equivalent, for the purposes of database recovery, to an image copy of the data file made at the time of the last incremental level 1 backup.
Incorporating incrementally updated backups into your backup strategy shortens expected recovery times. Media recovery to the present time or to a point in time in the recent past can begin at the time of the last level 1 backup applied, rather than at the time of the last full database backup.
Backup Tags
A tag is a text string that identifies that backup, either uniquely or as part of a group of backups. All RMAN backups, including incremental backups, are labeled with a tag. For example, if you performed a full database backup every Saturday, then you could use the tag FULL_SAT to identify this backup.
You can use tags to refer to specific backups in RMAN commands. For example, you could issue a command to move the latest FULL_SAT backup to tape. If you do not specify a tag, then RMAN creates a unique tag automatically.
Because you can use tags to refer to different groups of backups, you can create different routines in your backup strategy that do not interfere with each other. When you schedule a backup job and give the job a name, the job name is the tag.
