Why does Oracle Recovery Manager matter for backup?

Oracle Recovery Manager (RMAN) matters for Oracle backups because databases cannot be backed up in the same way as files. It is generally safe to assume a database will remain open and in active use throughout the duration of the backup. As such, a backup application cannot simply make a copy of a database because the contents will most likely change before the copy process can be completed, resulting in a corrupt backup.

RMAN handles all of the underlying maintenance tasks that must be performed before or after any database backup or recovery operation. Oracle Recovery Manager can perform parallel backup and recovery operations, set retention policies or compile a detailed history of backup operations. It is also designed to be cross-platform.

Oracle Recovery Manager provides additional levels of backup and recovery granularity when used with Oracle Database 12c. Some of the Oracle Database 12c-specific functionality includes:

• Table and pluggable database-level recovery
• Cross-platform backup and recovery
• Multi-selection image copy and incremental backups
• Some new compression and multi-selection options for Active Duplicate

The multi-selection image copy and incremental backup feature increase the performance of image copy operations and incremental backups by dividing data files into smaller sections that can be backed up parallel to one another by leveraging multiple Oracle RMAN channels.

The new compression and multi-selection options for Active Duplicate are also designed to improve performance. These capabilities enhance the performance of clone operations and standby database creations. This is done by running the clone creation process in parallel while reducing the network bandwidth required.