An export is a logical backup of the database; the other two backup methods are
physical file backups. In the following sections, you will see each of these options described. The
standard (and preferred) tool for physical backups is Oracle??™s Recovery Manager (RMAN) utility;
see Chapter 12 for details on the implementation and usage of RMAN.
A robust backup strategy includes both physical and logical backups. In general, production
databases rely on physical backups as their primary backup method, and logical backups serve as
the secondary method. For development databases and for some small data movement processing,
logical backups offer a viable solution. You should understand the implications and uses of both
physical and logical backups in order to develop the most appropriate solution for your applications.
Logical Backups
A logical backup of a database involves reading a set of database records and writing them to a
file. These records are read independently of their physical location. In Oracle, the Data Pump
Export utility performs this type of database backup. To recover using the file generated from a
Data Pump Export, you use Data Pump Import.
NOTE
Oracle??™s Import and Export utilities, available prior to Oracle Database
10g, are still provided as part of the Oracle 11g installation. Users
of the old Export and Import utilities are encouraged to replace their
usage with Data Pump Export and Data Pump Import.
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