Backing Up Oracle - Computing at Cornell

Online redo logs are commonly multiplexed at the database level where at
least two copies can be maintained on different disks. Backing up the online
redo logs is only required when the database is not in ARCHIVELOG mode.
2.2.6 Control files
Control files keep information about the physical structure of the database
and log files. They are commonly multiplexed and are defined in the
initialization parameter files. You should keep at least three copies on
separate disks. Just like the data dictionary, it is important to make backups
of your control files regularly. Losing the control files makes recovery much
more complicated.
2.2.7 Initialization parameter files
The initialization parameter files are text files that contain instance
configuration parameters, such as how much memory to use and what to do
with filled online redo logs. You should back up the initialization parameter
files whenever configuration parameters change.
2.2.8 Password file
A database can optionally have a password file. The password file is used
during remote administration of a database server. The password file needs
to be baked up when there changes or additions of administrative users.
2.2.9 Partitioning option
The Enterprise Edition of Oracle has a partitioning option for tables and
indexes. When a table or index is partitioned, the table or index can be
assigned to more than one tablespace. The table or index is distributed
across multiple tablespaces using a partitioning key or a hashing algorithm.
An example can be a history table shown in Figure 6 where current data
which is often queried is placed on a tablespace assigned to a faster data
storage device, and old data placed on tablespaces assigned to slower
devices.
18 Backing Up Oracle using Tivoli Storage Management