HP 3PAR Application Software Suite for Oracle - Manual (Page 16)

There are a few ways to enforce the retention time for read-only virtual copies.
•
During configuration, the retention value specified will be the default value for new read-only
virtual copies created via rmora_create, rmora_rsync, and rmora_backup (without
the -t option).
•
Use rmora_create -r or rmora_rsync -r to override the default value specified during
configuration.
•
Use the rmora_set command for the specified virtual copy to extend its retention time.
•
Retention time can be displayed by using rmora_display with the -r option.
The Virtual Copy Repository
HP 3PAR Recovery Manager Software for Oracle records important information for each virtual
copy taken by the Recovery Manager for Oracle utilities. The information is used by Recovery
Manager for Oracle, especially for database restoration. The information is stored in the repository
at:
/etc/3par/solutions/<db_server>.ora.<oracle_sid>/<timestamp>
To avoid unpredictable errors, do not manually modify the directories and files in this repository.
The Virtual Copy Repository Removal Utility
HP 3PAR Recovery Manager Software for Oracle’s virtual copy repository removal utility removes
a virtual copy’s repository that was created using the create utility (
“The Virtual Copy Creation
Utility” (page 10) ). The virtual copy that has been removed must have Removed status in order
for Recovery Manager for Oracle to remove the repository. The status of a virtual copy can be
obtained using the display utility (
“The Virtual Copy Display Utility” (page 11) ).
If a virtual copy has been backed up, the remove repository utility command fails unless the -f
option is used.
Virtual Copy Policy
HP 3PAR Recovery Manager Software for Oracle provides the capability to limit the number of
virtual copies per database at any time. There are two ways to achieve this. One is to use a
time-based policy, which is based on the virtual copy's expiration time (the virtual copy is removed
automatically by an internal scheduler once the expiration time is reached). The second way is to
use a numeric-based policy, which is based on the maximum number of virtual copies specified
in the configuration file (the maximum allowed value is 500).
For a numeric-based policy example, a policy can be set to only allow twelve virtual copies at any
time for a database. Recovery Manager for Oracle always maintains the twelve latest virtual copies
by removing the oldest virtual copy before creating a new copy. If a virtual copy is protected by
retention time, it can only be removed after the retention time ends. The default and maximum
allowed number is 500, meaning that up to 500 read-only virtual copies can be created if you
have sufficient snapshot space.
For a time-based policy example, if the expiration time is one month (specified in the configuration
file), then the virtual copy that reaches the expiration time will be removed from the HP 3PAR
storage system automatically. The system has all the virtual copies for last month. Expiration time
can be changed using the rmora_set command.
Database Rollback from a Virtual Copy
When a database is corrupted, you can restore the database to the most recent database images
from the most recently created virtual copy by using the rollback utility.
16 Overview of Recovery Manager Operations