Starting in Oracle 10g release 2 we see the new RMAN transportable
database feature.
Transportable Database allows for a 50% time reduction when migrating
entire Oracle databases from one server to another (note: Transportable
database requires that both the source and target database possess the
same endian format.
The RMAN convert database
command (Oracle transportable database) is used to automate the movement
of an entire database from one platform (the source platform) to another
(the destination platform), and transportable database promises to cut
the database migration time by 50%.
In a nutshell, the transportable database features
uses these steps to migrate a whole database to a new environment:
-
Explore - The transportable
database feature checks the external filesystems and directories.
-
Verify - The transportable
database feature ensure that all space management prerequisites are
in-place (using dbms_tdb.check_db).
-
Transport the data files - The
transportable database features runs the RMAN "convert database"
command and copies the data files to their new location.
-
Transport environment - The
transportable database then copies all initialization parms (pfile
or spfile), listener.ora and tnsnames.ora onto the target server.
-
Start the new database - The
final step of the transportable database starts the new database on
the target system.
For complete details and steps in using Oracle
Transportable Database in 10gr2 and beyond, see these notes on using the
Oracle transportable database feature.
