Archival and Encrypted Backups

The following types of backups cannot be part of an incremental-forever strategy, or be used to construct virtual full backups:

RMAN archival backups created using the BACKUP ... KEEP command
RMAN encrypted backups created using CONFIGURE or SET ENCRYPTION

The Recovery Appliance manages the preceding backups differently from backups in an incremental-forever strategy. Recovery Appliance retains archival backups regardless of the specified recovery window goal. However, encrypted backups do adhere to recovery window settings.

Archival backups are eligible for deletion by the Recovery Appliance only after the KEEP time expires. If you intend to store archival backups for an extended time, then note the following guidelines:

Adjust the reserved space to account for them. Archival backups reduce the space available for achieving your recovery window goal and must be accounted for.
Because the Recovery Appliance does not automatically copy archival backups to tape, you must manually copy them using the COPY_BACKUP procedure. This procedure also enables you to copy archival backups to disk locations that are outside Recovery Appliance storage locations. The MOVE_BACKUP procedure copies an archival backup to disk or tape and then deletes it from the storage area.