VERITAS Storage Foundation 4.1 Oracle Administrator's Guide

Cloning a Database (dbed_vmclonedb) Prerelease 8 September 2005, 8:55am
242 VERITAS Storage Foundation for Oracle Administrator’s Guide
Cloning a Database (dbed_vmclonedb)
This section explains how to create a clone database using the snapshot volumes. You can use
snapshots of a primary database to create a clone of the database at a given point in time. You can
then implement decision-support analysis and report generation operations that take their data from
the database clone rather than from the primary database to avoid introducing additional burdens on
the production database.
A clone database can also serve as a valid backup of the primary database. See “Backing Up the
Database from Snapshot Volumes (dbed_vmclonedb)” on page 238 for more information. You can
backup the primary database to tape using snapshot volumes.
The resynchronization functionality of Database FlashSnap allows you to quickly refresh the clone
database with up-to-date information from the primary database. Reducing the time taken to update
decision-support data also lets you generate analysis reports more frequently.
Using Database FlashSnap to Clone a Database
In a single-host configuration, the dbed_vmclonedb command creates a clone database on the
same host. The command can also be used to shut down the clone database and unmount its file
systems. When creating or unmounting the clone database in a single-host configuration, -r
relocate_path is required so that the clone database’s file systems use different mount points
than those used by the primary database.
When used in a two-host configuration, the dbed_vmclonedb command imports the snapshot
disk group SNAP_dg, mounts the file systems on the snapshot volumes, and starts a clone
database. It can also reverse the process by shutting down the clone database, unmounting the file
systems, and deporting the snapshot disk group. When creating the clone off host, -o
vxdbavol=vol_name is required.
Caution When creating a clone database, all Storage Checkpoints in the original database are
discarded.
Prerequisites
◆ You must be logged in as the Oracle database administrator.
◆ Before you can use the dbed_vmclonedb command, you must complete the steps in
“Summary of Database Snapshot Steps” on page 216, “Validating a Snapplan
(dbed_vmchecksnap)” on page 229, and “Creating a Snapshot (dbed_vmsnap)” on page 235.
◆ The volume snapshot must contain the entire database.
◆ The system administrator must provide the database administrator with access to the necessary
volumes and mount points.