RMAN 1.4 RMAN Architecture

RMAN Architecture

You can start performing backups with RMAN executable from the $ORACLE_HOME/bin directory.

Recovery Catalog

1. The target database control file will always store the RMAN repository, which is the set of RMAN related backup and recovery information —> RMAN METADATA.
2. It’s smarter to use a dedicated database to store the RAMN repository then create a special schema called the recovery catalog.
3. Thus avoiding the risk of the critical metadata being overwritten when the control files runs out of space.
4. Flash Recovery Area :
5. This is a location on disk where the database will store the backup and recovery related files.
6. MML -Media Management Layer
7. RMAN can directly interact only with disk drives.
8. if you want to use tape drives to store your backups, you’ll need a MML in addition to RMAN.
9. RMAN can’t directly inteact with the tape drives.
10. Oracle also provides Oracle Secure backup , most well integrated media management layer for RMAN backup.

Benefits of using RMAN

1. The powerful Data Recovery Advisor Feature which enables you to easily diagonse and repair data failures and corruption.
2. It automatically manages the backup files without DBA intervention.
3. It automatically deletes unnecessary backup datafiles and archived redo log files both from disk and tape.
4. Reporting of backup actions.
5. Duplicating a database or creating a standby database.
6. Verify available backups are useable for recovery
7. Incremental backup
8. I lets you perform database duplication without backups by using the network enabled database duplication feature also known as active duplication.
9. It automatically detects corrupt data blocks during backups V$DATABASE_BLOCK_CORRUPTION view.
10. when only a few data blocks are corrupted, you can recover at the data block level.
11. Unused block complession feature, wherein RMAN skips unused data blocks during a backup.
12. RMAN provides the ability to perform encrypted backups.
13. You can use a powerful scrpting language which lets you write custom backup and recovery scripts quickly.

 http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B10500_01/server.920/a96566/rcmarchi.htm