CloudPoint 2.2: Application-consistent, snapshot-based data protection for Oracle
Veritas CloudPoint 2.2 provides application-consistent, snapshot-based data protection for an Oracle database hosted in the cloud. Snapshots can be performed at either the Disk or Host virtual machine level. When a recovery need arises, application-consistent snapshots can be quickly restored to the original system or redirected to a different system. Using a host-level snapshot, you can easily clone the entire environment.
How does it work?
Your Oracle host needs to be connected with CloudPoint, either using an agentless connection that connects to the Oracle host remotely over SSH using root/password-less user credentials, or by installing an on-host agent that connects to the CloudPoint host using token-based authentication. Once the Oracle agent is configured, it automatically discovers the Oracle instances running on the host. Set up a backup policy for the Oracle instance from the Administration section of the CloudPoint dashboard page. An automated backup workflow quiesces the Oracle database by putting it in ‘Backup mode.' It then performs a snapshot at the associated Disk(s) or the Host level, based on the storage level selected in the policy. The policy determines the schedule and retention of snapshots.
In case recovery is needed, the available snapshots can be restored to bring the database back to the point in time when the snapshot was taken. CloudPoint does not backup archive logs, and therefore recovery is limited to the point in times of the snapshots. A disk-level snapshot can be restored to the original system or redirected to a different system. The CloudPoint automated restore workflow restores the disk from the snapshot and brings the Oracle database online for immediate use. If you want to restore your Oracle database to an alternate system, the only prerequisite is to have Oracle software of the same version installed, and the automated workflow for redirected restore takes care of creating and attaching the disk from the snapshot and orchestrates the Oracle database restore.
A host-level snapshot helps you restore the entire host system; it can also be used to clone the environment.
Additionally, CloudPoint snapshots can be replicated and be available for restore in different regions (limited to AWS currently).
Best practices for Oracle deployment in Cloud
- Snapshot based data protection solution works efficiently and seamlessly if each Oracle database instance is stored on a separate disk. Data files and logs can be stored on separate disks.
- Multiple database instances sharing a disk, even through separate disk partitions, is not recommended. Snapshot-based data protection at disk level backs up and restores the entire disk which would result in restoration of all the partitions on the given disk.
- Disk level snapshot is not supported for the system disk. Therefore, it is recommended to have a separate disk for Oracle data files.
Software compatibility list
Application |
Oracle 12c, Oracle 12c R1, Oracle 18c |
Architecture |
Only Oracle Standalone (No support for RAC and Data Guard) (No support for CDB and PDB databases) |
Storage |
Only file systems (No support for ASM and LVM) |
File Systems |
Linux native file systems: ext3, ext4, and XFS |
Operating System |
RHEL 7.x |
Cloud Providers |
AWS, except for Nitro-based instances Azure, except for Standard SSD |
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