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Thread: Oracle Database Backup

  1. #1
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    Oracle Database Backup

    Is anyone using anything other than Oracle RMAN to backup their database? I'm looking for different options and opinions on this matter. I am currently using Netbackup 6.0 with an RMAN script... but backing up 5.5 TB is taking way too long. We have discussed options such as datapump, but I don't believe we have the ability for a point in time recovery, if needed.

  2. #2
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    How long is too long to backup 5.5TB???? Are you using Oracle 10g? If you aren't upgrading to 10g should speed up the backup because the way in which RMAN will skip unused blocks, as we as doo compression. Also how many channels do you allocate when you do your backup. not enough and increasing the channels may help, but too many and you will flood system with io.

    you do have a test system for practising this, don't you???

  3. #3
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    We are using 10g and it takes approximately 43 hours. I tried to use 12 channels, but the i/o is terrible. We are rehosting to a new machine and from there I will try 12 over a dedicated gig-e connection... just wondering if anyone was using anything other than rman.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by laotzu
    We are using 10g and it takes approximately 43 hours. I tried to use 12 channels, but the i/o is terrible. We are rehosting to a new machine and from there I will try 12 over a dedicated gig-e connection... just wondering if anyone was using anything other than rman.
    How much of the data is static and how much of the data changes every day. This might be a case where you backup a few tablespaces, system tablespace, and the current controlfile as well as the archive logs every day, so that every tablespace gets backed up once per week.

    If you are using a SAN, you might be able to do something with snapshotting at a SAN level and probably having all of the tablespaces for the current volume in backup mode.

    If you really have 5.5TB, you probably have the money to just have Oracle design a solution for you. But new hardware could help.

  5. #5
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    Thanks Gand, you pretty much hit my hurdles. We want to utilize our snapshots, but the powers to be say they want RMAN or equivelant backups. We are migrating to an E2900 with EMC storage, but until that happens I am limited to V880 resources...

    I truly appreciate your response, atleast I can give them some sort of solution that they will be happy with. RMAN + More Channels + gig-e + Better Server = Less backup time.

  6. #6
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    We currently backup a 9iR2 database 1+ TB in approx. 3 hours using RMAN/Netbackup 6 via 3 channels (LTO 2 drives). The database server is configured as a Netbackup Media Server allowing backup over the SAN as opposed to the LAN. Is this configuration something you have considered? It will cost you extra in terms of NB licences (for a media server) I'm guessing...

  7. #7
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    Don't think we ever considered that at all, but I'll definately look into it, after I get back from skiing

    Thanks a ton for the help guys, I truly appreciate it!

  8. #8
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    Are you backing up to disk or to tape?

    Either way, pumping 5.5TB of data across a Gbps network is going to take some time. The theoretical best time you could ever hope for is about 12.5 hours. When backing up over the network, your limiting factor will most likely be the network itself (unless you have some really slow tape drives). Starting more channels over the same Gbps network is just splitting your bandwidth between multiple channels. You're only going to get Gbps whether it's on 4 channels or 16 channels.

    I have gotten around this problem by utilizing multiple Ethernet NICs over a dedicated backup network. In theory, you could use multiple Ethernet interfaces over multiple networks to crank the bandwidth up.

    You need to find your bottleneck. You can upgrade your server hardware and your backups will stay the same because you are limited by the network. If I knew more about what your setup was, I could recommend alternatives.
    Jeff Hunter

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