Backup & Recovery Flashcards

What is the purpose of the Block Change Tracking file in Oracle?

Answer: It records which blocks have changed since the last backup to speed up incremental backups

The Block Change Tracking file stores a bitmap of changed blocks, allowing RMAN incremental backups to skip unchanged blocks without scanning entire datafiles.

Which command enables block change tracking for faster RMAN incremental backups?

Answer: ALTER DATABASE ENABLE BLOCK CHANGE TRACKING USING FILE '/path/bct.f'

ALTER DATABASE ENABLE BLOCK CHANGE TRACKING creates the change tracking file and activates the CTWR background process.

A database is in NOARCHIVELOG mode. What is the only valid type of consistent backup?

Answer: A cold (offline) backup taken while the database is shut down cleanly

In NOARCHIVELOG mode, the database must be shut down cleanly (NORMAL, IMMEDIATE, or TRANSACTIONAL) before a consistent backup can be taken.

Which RMAN command backs up all archived redo logs and then deletes the ones that have already been backed up?

Answer: BACKUP ARCHIVELOG ALL DELETE INPUT

DELETE INPUT removes the archived log files from disk after they have been successfully included in the current backup set.

What does the RESETLOGS operation do to the incarnation of a database?

Answer: Creates a new database incarnation with a new incarnation number

OPEN RESETLOGS starts a new database incarnation, which RMAN tracks so that backups from prior incarnations can still be referenced if needed.

Which view provides information about the current guaranteed restore points in an Oracle database?

Answer: V$RESTORE_POINT

V$RESTORE_POINT lists all restore points (normal and guaranteed), including their SCN, time, and whether guaranteed mode is active.

When performing RMAN tablespace point-in-time recovery (TSPITR), which objects CANNOT be recovered using this method?

Answer: Tables with foreign key constraints referencing tables in other tablespaces

TSPITR cannot automatically handle referential integrity constraints that span tablespaces; tables with cross-tablespace foreign keys require manual intervention.