Best practices for Backup Exec 12.5 Agent for Oracle on Windows or LINUX Servers

Best practices include tips and recommendations to help you use Backup Exec 12.5 Agent for Oracle on Windows or Linux Servers (Oracle Agent) effectively. For more information about the Oracle Agent, see the Backup Exec for Windows Servers Administrator’s Guide.

To use these best practices, you must enable the following two Oracle options:

• Archive log mode

• Automatic archival

The following best practices help you use the Oracle Agent effectively:

• Know the DBID and other important configuration details of the database.

• Know the names of the init<SID>.ora and/or the spfiles for the instances on the Oracle server.

• Do not store the RMAN Repository on the same server that holds the database that you want to back up.

• Back up your control file when you run a Database Administrator (DBA) initiated job. If you have a backup of the current control file, then you do not have to search media to find a control file that is available for recovery.

• Test recovery scenarios often so you can be comfortable with the restore procedures. Oracle recovery can be complex and is often time-sensitive due to the nature of the data involved. Symantec recommends that you coordinate test plans and configuration activities with your Oracle DBA to be sure that restore procedures are confirmed.

• Use RMAN scripts to do the following:

  • Delete all archive log copies in a multiplexed archive log configuration.

    Note:
    You can use Backup Exec to delete all non-multiplexed, single location archive logs.

  • Run RMAN optimization.

  • Run RMAN maintenance.

The following best practices should be considered when you back up Oracle databases:

• Make a full backup whenever you make structural changes to a database.

• Do not delete archived log files unless you have two confirmed backups of each log.

• Create Oracle-specific media sets and backup jobs for the following reasons:

  • RMAN can manage media retention and can communicate to the media server that backup sets are expired. RMAN can successfully manage the media's retention period as long as unrelated backup sets are not present. Unrelated backup sets may have retention periods that are longer than the RMAN retention period.

  • Media sets for Oracle backups should have a retention period that is greater than the CONTROL_FILE_RECORD_KEEP_TIME setting. By default, the CONTROL_FILE_RECORD_KEEP_TIME is 7 days. If the media sets for the Oracle backups have a greater retention period, backup sets are not overwritten and RMAN is not updated.

  • When you configure multiple job streams in Oracle, additional resources such as file systems can cause more devices than expected to allocate drives.

• Load balance Oracle jobs between managed media servers in a CASO environment. However, this scenario means that archived log file backups may reside on multiple managed media servers, which makes restores complicated.

• Consider port re-assignments when you use RALUS in a Linux environment. Applications like Webmin that use port 10000 can interfere with RALUS operations.