Tales From A Lazy Fat DBA

What is Oracle Secure backup ?
Oracle Secure Backup is centralized tape backup management software providing secure data protection for heterogeneous file systems and the Oracle Database. Oracle has its own media management software solution, Oracle Secure Backup (OSB). OSB is a fully integrated, RMAN-to-tape solution that does not require any third-party vendor software plug-in, and OSB has come a long way since its introduction in 10gR2.

In Oracle 10gR2 and Oracle 11g, you can utilize OSB to provide free backup to tape functionality, provided that you have a single tape head and it is attached directly to the server that contains the Oracle database that you want to back up. In addition to tape backup, OSB delivers an integrated Oracle database backup to third-party cloud (Internet) storage, through the Oracle Secure Backup Cloud Module. Oracle Secure Backup offers two tape management editions: OSB and OSB Express.

Oracle Secure Backup Interfaces:
You can interact with Oracle Secure Backup by means of the following tools:
– Oracle Secure Backup Web tool
– Oracle Secure Backup command-line interface
– Oracle Enterprise Manager

OSB Roles and Admin Domains:
Administrative server:
Each administrative domain must have exactly one administrative server. This server stores data pertinent to the operation of the administrative domain in a set of configuration files. Metadata relating to backup and restore operations is also stored on the administrative server in a backup catalog.
The administrative server runs the scheduler, which starts and monitors jobs within the administrative domain.

Media Server
A media server has one or more secondary storage devices, such as a library and tape drives, connected to it. At a minimum, a media server must have one standalone tape drive. Many media servers utilize robotic tape libraries.

Client
A client host is a host that has locally-accessed data that is backed up or restored by Oracle Secure Backup. Any host where Oracle Secure Backup is installed, or that contains data that Oracle Secure Backup accesses through Network Data Management Protocol (NDMP), can act as a client. Each client host is associated with one administrative server.