Before using Recovery Service, familiarize yourself with the following key terms and concepts, including some terms related to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Networking.

Level 0 Incremental Backup

A level 0 incremental backup performs the same function as a full backup in that they both back up all blocks that have ever been used. The difference is that a full backup does not affect blocks backed up by subsequent incremental backups, whereas an incremental backup affects blocks backed up by subsequent incremental backups.

Level 1 Backup or Incremental Backup

Incremental backups at level 1 back up only blocks that have changed since previous incremental backups. Blocks that have not changed are not sent again, because they are represented already in the level 0 or previous level 1 backups.

Protected Database

An Oracle Cloud database that sends backups to Recovery Service.

Protection Policy

A mechanism used by Recovery Service to control backup retention for protected databases. A protection policy defines the length of time, expressed as a window of time extending backward from the present, that backups are retained. Recovery Service retains database backups for a minimum period of 14 days and maximum period of 95 days. Each protected database must be assigned with one protection policy. A protection policy can be a Oracle-defined policy or a custom policy defined by you as per your internal storage requirements. You can associate multiple protected databases to a single protection policy.

Recovery point objective (RPO)

The data-loss tolerance of a business process or an organization. The RPO is often measured in terms of time, for example, five hours or two days worth of data loss.

Real-time Data Protection

The continuous transfer of redo changes from a protected database to Recovery Service. Real-time data protection helps to achieve a recovery point objective (RPO) near the last sub-second.

Recovery Service Catalog

A metadata database containing information about backups. Metadata views are stored in Oracle Cloud and managed by Recovery Service.

Recovery Service subnet

A Recovery Service subnet identifies a private subnet that is dedicated to backup operations within a virtual cloud network (VCN) in your tenancy. The OCI Console provides an easy-to-use interface to register Recovery Service subnets.

Recovery window

The maximum length of time, counting backward from the current time, that a database can be recovered.

Retention Period

The length of time, expressed as a window of time extending backward from the present, that backups are retained by Recovery Service. Recovery Service can retain database backups for a minimum period of 14 days and a maximum period of 95 days.

RMAN

Recovery Manager (RMAN) is the primary utility for backup and recovery of Oracle databases. RMAN enables a protected database to send backups to Recovery Service.

Subnet

A subnet is a networking component and a subdivision in a VCN. You must designate a private subnet for Recovery Service to access OCI databases in a VCN.

Virtual Cloud Network (VCN)

A virtual, private network that you set up in Oracle data centers.

Virtual Level 0

A complete database image as of one distinct point in time, maintained efficiently through the indexing of incremental backups from a protected database. The virtual full backups contain individual blocks from multiple incremental backups.