OCP Backup, Recovery & Data Guard 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which RMAN command is used to validate a backup without actually restoring it?
- RESTORE DATABASE VALIDATE (Correct answer)
- VALIDATE BACKUPSET
- RESTORE VALIDATE
- CHECK BACKUP
Correct answer: RESTORE DATABASE VALIDATE
RESTORE DATABASE VALIDATE checks whether backups exist and are usable without writing any data files.
Question 2: In Data Guard, which log shipping mode guarantees zero data loss in the event of a primary failure?
- ASYNC
- SYNC (Correct answer)
- LGWR ASYNC
- ARCH SYNC
Correct answer: SYNC
SYNC (synchronous) mode ensures every redo is hardened on the standby before the primary commits, guaranteeing zero data loss.
Question 3: What is the purpose of the RMAN CROSSCHECK command?
- Deletes expired backups from disk
- Compares RMAN catalog records against actual backup files (Correct answer)
- Validates backup integrity byte by byte
- Lists all backups in the recovery catalog
Correct answer: Compares RMAN catalog records against actual backup files
CROSSCHECK synchronizes the RMAN repository metadata with the actual state of backup files on disk or tape.
Question 4: A Data Guard standby database is in MOUNTED state. Which command activates it as a primary after a failover?
- ALTER DATABASE ACTIVATE STANDBY DATABASE (Correct answer)
- ALTER DATABASE OPEN RESETLOGS
- ALTER DATABASE FAILOVER TO STANDBY
- ALTER DATABASE ACTIVATE PRIMARY
Correct answer: ALTER DATABASE ACTIVATE STANDBY DATABASE
ALTER DATABASE ACTIVATE STANDBY DATABASE converts the physical standby to a primary and opens it with RESETLOGS.
Question 5: Which RMAN retention policy ensures that backups needed to recover the database to any point in the last 7 days are retained?
- CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO REDUNDANCY 7
- CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO RECOVERY WINDOW OF 7 DAYS (Correct answer)
- CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO KEEP 7 DAYS
- CONFIGURE BACKUP RETENTION WINDOW 7
Correct answer: CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO RECOVERY WINDOW OF 7 DAYS
RECOVERY WINDOW OF n DAYS retains all backups necessary to perform point-in-time recovery within that window.
Question 6: When performing tablespace point-in-time recovery (TSPITR), which object type CANNOT be recovered using this method?
- Heap tables
- Indexes
- Tables with foreign key constraints to other tablespaces (Correct answer)
- Sequences
Correct answer: Tables with foreign key constraints to other tablespaces
TSPITR cannot recover objects that have referential integrity constraints pointing to objects outside the recovered tablespace set.
Question 7: In RMAN, what does the UNTIL SCN clause specify during a point-in-time recovery?
- The number of archive logs to apply
- The exact system change number at which recovery should stop (Correct answer)
- The time in seconds after which recovery stops
- The last applied redo log sequence number
Correct answer: The exact system change number at which recovery should stop
UNTIL SCN tells RMAN to recover the database and apply redo up to but not including the specified System Change Number.
OCP Backup, Recovery & Data Guard 2
Which RMAN command is used to validate a backup without actually restoring it?