Oracle MaxRep for SAN allows you to create and manage data recovery scenarios for Oracle FS Systems.
You can recover data by creating either physical snapshots or virtual snapshots. This data is restored from backup and rollback recovery scenarios. You can also use the disk, volume, or LUN recovery mechanisms to create or schedule recovery snapshots.
A physical snapshot is a copy of the physical LUN that is created on the primary Oracle FS System. The size of the copy is equal to, or larger than, the target LUN in the replication pair. A physical snapshot creates a LUN on the target Oracle FS System that matches the state of the source LUN at the time interval specified in the recovery procedure.
The benefit of creating a physical snapshot is that you can create a LUN that is separated from the Replication Engine or replication pair. A physical snapshot creates a LUN of the same size as the original source LUN. Therefore, ensure that the target Oracle FS System has sufficient capacity to accommodate the LUN before creating the copy. For large volumes, creating the physical snapshot requires several hours to complete.
A virtual LUN is also known as a virtual snapshot, or Vsnap. You create virtual snapshots from the Replication Engine, not on the target Oracle FS System. Virtual snapshots require minimal system resources and load and unload quickly. Virtual snapshots use the target LUN and the data in the retention logs at a specified point in time when recovering the LUN. You can mount the virtual snapshot to any host that is mapped to the AT port of the Replication Engine.
Creating a virtual snapshot enables the recovery of the replicated LUN at any point in time that is within the protection plan retention window or sparse retention policy. Virtual snapshots are ideal for single file recovery or for verifying data integrity because they are quick to create and occupy no disk space on the target Oracle FS System.