Moving RMAN backup from the OCI Standard Bucket to Archive Storage - Oracle Cloud

Storing large volumes of database backups in Object Storage? Is the data seldom accessed or primarily intended for archival purposes? Now, with the introduction of Archive Storage, we have an opportunity to leverage a cost-effective, long-term, and secure storage solution.

The key distinction between data backup and data archiving lies in the duration of data retention and the frequency of access. Archiving offers prolonged storage with infrequent access. Oracle offers Archive Storage as part of its Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Object Storage service, catering precisely to these requirements. By utilizing Archive Storage, we can retain database backups for extended periods without manual intervention, ensuring compliance with retention policies. Not only does this solution offer cost savings, but it also enables organizations to meet regulatory and compliance obligations effectively.

In this blog post, we will explore how to leverage Archive Storage for database backups on DB Systems within Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). 
In Previous post I shared how to take Backup of the database on OCI Standard Bucket.

Refer Below:

In Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), Object Storage offers two storage tiers: Standard Storage and Archive Storage. Each tier is designed to address different storage requirements based on data access patterns, durability, and cost considerations.

Standard Storage:

  1. Use Cases:

    • Frequently accessed data requiring low-latency access times.
    • Data that needs to be readily available for retrieval and processing.
    • Active workloads, application data, backups, and content distribution.
  2. Features:

    • High-performance storage with low-latency access times.
    • Designed for frequent read and write operations.
    • Supports real-time data access and high-throughput workloads.
    • Offers higher availability and durability compared to Archive Storage.
  3. Durability and Availability:

    • Standard Storage is designed for 99.999999999% (11 nines) durability.
    • Provides high availability with redundant storage across multiple fault domains within an OCI region.
  4. Cost:

    • Standard Storage is priced based on usage, including storage capacity and data transfer costs.
    • Typically priced higher than Archive Storage due to its performance and availability features.

Archive Storage:

  1. Use Cases:

    • Data with infrequent access or long-term retention requirements.
    • Compliance archives, backup archives, regulatory data, and historical logs.
    • Data that is accessed less frequently but needs to be retained for compliance or business continuity purposes.
  2. Features:

    • Optimized for data with rare or intermittent access patterns.
    • Lower-cost storage suitable for long-term retention and archival purposes.
    • Provides durable and reliable storage for data preservation over extended periods.
    • Supports standard Object Storage features such as encryption, object versioning, and lifecycle management.
  3. Durability and Availability:

    • Archive Storage offers the same 99.999999999% (11 nines) durability as Standard Storage.
    • Provides slightly lower availability compared to Standard Storage, with retrieval times ranging from minutes to hours.
  4. Cost:

    • Archive Storage is priced significantly lower than Standard Storage, making it cost-effective for storing large volumes of data for long periods.
    • In addition to storage capacity, costs may include data retrieval fees based on the frequency and speed of retrieval.

Choosing Between Standard Storage and Archive Storage:

  1. Access Patterns:

    • Use Standard Storage for frequently accessed data with low-latency access requirements.
    • Use Archive Storage for data with infrequent access patterns or long-term retention needs.
  2. Cost Considerations:

    • Consider the cost-effectiveness of Archive Storage for storing large volumes of data over extended periods.
    • Evaluate the trade-offs between cost and performance when choosing between storage tiers.
  3. Data Retention Requirements:

    • Assess the data retention policies and compliance requirements for your organization.
    • Use Archive Storage for compliant archival and long-term retention needs.

Steps for setting up Archive Storage:


1) I have already my backup taken on the OCI standard Bucket.
2) The pattern of the backup pieces start with PROD.
3) The RMAN backup on the OCI is stored in the below format for storing. file_chunk>DBID>DB_NAME>backuppiece>DATE(YYYY-MM-DD)>



4) Add Policies to managed the object in Compartment.

Allow group Administrators to manage buckets in compartment gold1_compartment
Allow group Administrators to manage objects in compartment gold1_compartment
Allow service objectstorage-ap-hyderabad-1 to manage object-family in compartment gold1_compartment

5) Create a Life Cycle Rule on Object Storage Bucket.

I am using. the pattern as */PROD_*/* --> This means that anything under the directory structure and where it matches the PROD_ folder structure will be moved to archived storage.






6) The rule gets applied immediately and within few minutes we can see our objects being moved to Archive storage.

    






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