ITS Oracle Database Backups

The key to recovery of an Oracle database is the backup strategy.

The following measures are used for every production database:

	The databases are in archivelog mode
	Cold database backups are performed weekly
	Hot database backups are performed daily
	Full database exports are performed at least once a day
	Database creation scripts and database creation control file scripts are generated daily
	All of the above are all backed up to either a NAS or SAN for redundancy and access
	Database initialization, trace, and user files are backed up to either a NAS or SAN

Archiving of production databases

Once a week, for all production databases, the following files are zipped, and then encrypted (using PGP):

• full database export files

• database initialization files

• database creation and creation control file scripts

The encrypted files are written to high quality Taiyo Yuden DVD media. These DVDs are then stored in a vault on campus.

Backups of development and testing databases

Development and testing database backup criteria are subject to each project; however, nearly all are in  archivelog mode, exported, and backed up on a regular basis.