The Zero Data Loss Recovery Appliance receives incremental backups and redo data from multiple protected databases.
Each separate data file that is backed up to a Recovery Appliance has its own separate delta pool. The delta pools reside in the delta store. The delta store is the sum total of all Recovery Appliance storage that is used to store protected database backup data. All data file and archived redo log backups are stored in the delta store. Database Backups are compressed to optimize storage utilization before they are stored in the delta store. Recovery Appliance continuously validates backups at the database block level thus assuring recoverability of data.
The Recovery Appliance receives an initial full backup followed by successive incremental backups for a database, and then constructs a virtual full backup which is a complete database image as of one distinct point in time. The Recovery Appliance indexes incremental backups and stores them in delta pools. Recovery Appliance stores backups in a centralized disk pool.
Real-time redo transport is the continuous transfer of redo changes from the system global area (SGA) of a protected database to a Recovery Appliance. Real-time redo transport enables RMAN to provide a recovery point objective (RPO) near 0. Typically, RMAN can recover to within a second of the time when the failure occurred. Protected databases write redo entries directly from memory to the Recovery Appliance as they are generated.
Recovery Appliance uses a policy-based backup management strategy that helps to achieve recovery window goals. Recovery Appliance supports using a variety of protection policies to suit the data protection requirements of each protected database. The default protection polices are Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze. Each protection policy specifies different values for the disk and tape recovery windows. For example, the bronze policy supports a disk recovery window of 3 days and a 30 day recovery window for tape backups. The Gold policy additionally provides databases with real-time redo transport protection, whereas the Bronze policy does not. You can also associate multiple protected databases to a single protection policy.
The Recovery Appliance metadata database is the Oracle database that runs inside of the Recovery Appliance. It stores configuration data such as definitions, protection policy definitions, and client database definitions. The metadata database also stores backup metadata and contains the Recovery Appliance catalog. Each database protected by a Recovery Appliance must use the recovery catalog in the Recovery Appliance metadata database.
Oracle Secure Backup, the tape management component of Recovery Appliance, is preinstalled on the Recovery Appliance and is used to archive backups to an attached tape library.
Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control (Cloud Control) provides a unified backup management interface for the entire life cycle of backups. You can use Cloud Control to back up, recover, and report on protected databases. As part of the disaster recovery strategy, Recovery Appliance can replicate protected database backups to other Recovery Appliances.
Recovery Service can archive protected database backups to OCI Object Storage Archive buckets for long-term backup retention.
When you configure replication, a Recovery Appliance (called the upstream Recovery Appliance) forwards backups to another Recovery Appliance (called the downstream Recovery Appliance). Recovery Appliance supports a wide variety of replication topologies.