VERITAS Storage Foundation 4.1 Oracle Administrator's Guide

Chapter 10, Using Database FlashSnap for Backup and Off-Host Processing
Prerelease 8 September 2005, 8:55am How VERITAS Database FlashSnap Works
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Database FlashSnap Applications
The following are typical applications of VERITAS Database FlashSnap:
◆ Database Backup and Restore: Enterprises require 24/7 online data availability. They cannot
afford the downtime involved in backing up critical data offline. By creating a clone database
or a duplicate volume snapshot of data, and then using it to back up your data, your
business-critical applications can continue to run without extended down time or impacted
performance. After a clone database or snapshot volume is created, it can be used as a source to
back up the original database.
◆ Decision-Support Analysis and Reporting: Operations such as decision-support analysis and
business reporting may not require access to real-time information. You can direct such
operations to use a clone database that you have created from snapshots using VERITAS
Database FlashSnap, rather than allowing them to compete for access to the primary volume or
database. When required, you can quickly resynchronize the clone database with the primary
database to get up-to-date information.
◆ Application Development and Testing: Development or service groups can use a clone
database created with Database FlashSnap as a test database for new applications. A clone
database provides developers, system testers, and quality assurance groups with a realistic
basis for testing the robustness, integrity, and performance of new applications.
◆ Logical Error Recovery: Logical errors caused by an administrator or an application program
can compromise the integrity of a database. You can recover a database by restoring the
database files from a volume snapshot or by recovering logical objects (such as tables, for
example) from a clone database created from volume snapshots using Database FlashSnap.
These solutions are faster than fully restoring database files from tape or other backup media.
Using Database FlashSnap
The system administrator needs to configure storage according to the requirements specified in the
snapplan. For information on configuring storage, see “Preparing Hosts and Storage for Database
FlashSnap” on page 204.
Database FlashSnap allows you to check the storage setup against requirements set forth in the
snapplan. Depending on the results, the database administrator may need to modify the snapplan or
the system administrator may need to adjust the storage configuration. Properly configuring storage
is the only aspect of using Database FlashSnap that requires the system administrator’s
participation.
To use Database FlashSnap, a database administrator must first define their snapshot requirements.
For example, they need to determine whether off-host processing is required and, if it is, which host
should be used for it. In addition, it is also important to consider how much database downtime can
be tolerated. Database snapshot requirements are defined in a file called a snapplan. The snapplan