This book is virtually indispensable. It's easy to read, the examples work, and it covers just about everything you'd need to know. The worked examples in Chapter 19 are great, too.

The authors are to be commended for going the extra mile, with full explanations given every step of the way, as well as highlighting the potential pitfalls one might encounter.

As well as the usual backup & recovery techniques, it covers creating a duplicate database and creating a Standby database using RMAN.

This really is an extremely useful book and I strongly recommend it.

A full study about RMAN.
This study is embedded in save and back up approach.
Recommendation for specialists , DBA Oracle

A full study about RMAN.
This study is embedded in save and back up approach.
Recommendation for specialists , DBA Oracle

As a production DBA this is the best book so far since Velpuri wrote the original Oracle 8i backup and recovery book a decade ago. I like this a lot and together with the Oracle documentation, setting up and using RMAN is a snap compared to the pain it used to be to stumble with RMAN before. Throw away logical backups and hassle of SQL backups and use the power of RMAN. I was able to get cooking in a few hours with a good RMAN setup for our test and production database environments. Together with the Oracle 10g RAC book you have the complete knowledge to be a true HA Oracle DBA.

I read this book when I was working on my OCP 9i track in 2004. At that time I needed more information about Backup and Recovery and especially Recovery Manager (RMAN)and I ended up borrowing this book from the library. I then put my exam study guide aside and finish this book. The book is really good. The part that I like the most is the book gives you scenarios that are easy to understand and it shows RMAN in different environment interacting with other storage media. I will definitely recommend this book. A book like this one does not come along very often. I am planning to buy my own copy soon. Great Job RG I give 4 stars.

Update: November 5, 2006
This the best book on oracle B & R. Since I had my own copy I really enjoy the book especially the RMAN workshop. I am looking forward to the upcoming 10g version of this book.

I read this book when I was working on my OCP 9i track in 2004. At that time I needed more information about Backup and Recovery and especially Recovery Manager (RMAN)and I ended up borrowing this book from the library. I then put my exam study guide aside and finish this book. The book is really good. The part that I like the most is the book gives you scenarios that are easy to understand and it shows RMAN in different environment interacting with other storage media. I will definitely recommend this book. A book like this one does not come along very often. I am planning to buy my own copy soon. Great Job RG I give 4 stars.

RMAN is proof positive that Oracle corporation doesn't give a rat's ass about making their products easier to manage. RMAN thing is hard to love and even harder to learn. No wonder most Oracle DBA are not proficient with RMAN, at least not enough to troubleshoot it when the basic "backup database" and "restore database" statements go awry. The stinker is that RMAN isn't that much more sophisticated than SQL Backups. For example, the online tablespace restore is not really a feature, but really a bug. It is so convoluted it is a miracle when someone can pull it off. One advantage RMAN has is its ability to restore OFFLINE tablespaces while the rest of the database is online. But SQL backup/restore is about 10x easier.

This book, unfortunately, is a must for the Oracle DBAs. Do not believe you know RMAN unless you read this book. Actually, do not believe you know RMAN unless you RMAD.

There are 12 disaster case scenarios and their solutions in the book, which are quite helpful. Plus, there are around 12 workouts which explains the basic intricacies of RMAND commands.

RMAN is proof positive that Oracle corporation doesn't give a rat's ass about making their products easier to manage. RMAN thing is hard to love and even harder to learn. No wonder most Oracle DBA are not proficient with RMAN, at least not enough to troubleshoot it when the basic "backup database" and "restore database" statements go awry. The stinker is that RMAN isn't that much more sophisticated than SQL Backups. For example, the online tablespace restore is not really a feature, but really a bug. It is so convoluted it is a miracle when someone can pull it off. One advantage RMAN has is its ability to restore OFFLINE tablespaces while the rest of the database is online. But SQL backup/restore is about 10x easier.

This book, unfortunately, is a must for the Oracle DBAs. Do not believe you know RMAN unless you read this book. Actually, do not believe you know RMAN unless you RMAD.

There are 12 disaster case scenarios and their solutions in the book, which are quite helpful. Plus, there are around 12 workouts which explains the basic intricacies of RMAND commands.

Both authors apparently have considerable experience in oracle and rman. The book appears to have been put together very quickly perhaps too quickly. Much of the serious work done with oracle is done on unix platforms but almost all of the examples shown are done on windows.

The rman in the workplace chapter is perhaps one of the most contrived. While the authors probably have real workplace experience the case studies do not seem to demonstrate more than "possible scenarios".

There are not a lot of rman books out there so this book may be useful to many people but it seems like this is a very unfinished piece of work to me. It does provide a different set of words than the oracle manuals.

I have used this book over and over again. The examples in the book are straight forward and easy to follow.

Im only on page 56 so far, yet I have no doubt that this book tells me everything that I want to know about RMAN. All I can say is that if you have any doubts about RMAN, read this book.

Ive come back to continue my review: Ive now finished the book.
OK, my opinion has not changed since page 56, this book has absolutely everything, Robert/Mathew have got you covered.... completely!

You can also get replies to your emails, the address is in the book and your emails are answered.

Yes, I agree with other reviewers, what a gem this book is.

Really good intro to RMAN. Works well read in sequence, but if you aren't convinced, I recommend checking out pg. 232 which puts everything together (titled "RMAN Workshop: Get Your Database Backed Up"). I also like the little jokes here and there that keep you awake and smiling...

I was trying to learn Rman from manuals and metalink articles from long time. But I could never learn enough and felt confident from these bits and bytes of info. I was skeptical about this book. But to my surprise, this is one of those rare gems. In two words - very practical.

Dump your shell scripts on hot backups and start implementing Rman. I also saw the other book from the same author on oracle 9i new features - an excellent piece.

This book is one of the most usefull Oracle book I had opportunity to read (for the past 11 years, since I started working with Oracle 5, I collected over seventy Oracle books - more or less everything usefull published on the subject). It offers in-depth overview of Oracle architecture, RMAN utility, configuration of various third party tools and number of real-life case studies with detail step-by-step explanations (these case studies resembles 'labs' in super-expensive Oracle courses). It is usefull book for every level and deffinitely one of the best-written Oracle books on the market.

I've been avoiding learning RMAN till now. When RMAN first came out, I thought that it's another way to sell more server licenses. After reading this at the local coffee shop, I've determined that this is the preferred B&R method. This is a good primer for the Oracle9i RMAN Backup & Recovery (ISBN: 0072226625), which is my next purchase.