Method and system for enabling separation of database administrator and backup administrator roles

1. A system for enabling separation of database administrator and backup administrator roles, the system comprising:

a processor-based backup application executed on a computer and configured to:

identify a backup file of a plurality of backup files stored on a database by querying a database system backup catalog associated with the database;

query a database schema to identify backup information associated with the backup file stored on the database based on identifying the backup file, the database schema defining elements of the database, the backup information including at least one of an archived transaction log and a configuration file used for restoring the database;

create a clone copy of the identified backup file using the associated identified backup information;

store the clone copy of the identified backup file and the associated identified backup information on an external destination node comprising at least one of an external disk and a tape, based on the backup information; and

catalog the clone copy and the associated identified backup information both in the database system backup catalog as an external copy of the identified backup file and in a backup application backup catalog associated with the backup application.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein querying the database system backup catalog and the database schema comprises querying database system backup catalog views to identify mapping of the backup file to database objects.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the backup information comprises metadata information about the backup file, a database name, a list of archived redo log names and their system change numbers, configuration files, a list of data file names and tablespaces and their system change numbers, and wherein the clone copy further comprises backup of one or more full or incremental database backups, an archived transaction log backup, and a configuration file backup.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the processor-based application is further configured to identify the archived transaction log in other transaction log archive locations in response to a determination that the archive transaction log is absent from a flash recovery area.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein storing the clone copy on the external destination node comprises associating at least some of the backup information with the clone copy, and wherein the backup information comprises metadata associated with the backup file.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor-based application is further configured to delete at least one of (1) the backup file from the disk and the database system backup catalog and (2) the clone copy from the external destination node and the backup application backup catalog, the deletion being based on a retention policy.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor-based application is further configured to recover the clone copy from the external destination node based on the backup information and restore the clone copy to a database in response to a determination that the backup file is at least one of a corrupted backup file and an absent backup file.

8. A computer-implemented method for enabling separation of database administrator and backup administrator roles, the method comprising:

identifying, by a backup application, a backup file of a plurality of backup files stored on a database by querying a database system backup catalog associated with the database;

querying, by the backup application, a database schema to identify backup information associated with the backup file stored on the database based on identifying the backup file, the database schema defining elements of the database, the backup information including at least one of an archived transaction log and a configuration file used for restoring the database;

creating, by the backup application, a clone copy of the identified backup file using the associated identified backup information;

storing, by the backup application, the clone copy of the identified backup file and the associated identified backup information on an external destination node comprising at least one of an external disk and a tape, based on the backup information; and

cataloging, by the backup application, the clone copy and the associated identified backup information both in the database system backup catalog as an external copy of the identified backup file and in a backup application backup catalog associated with the backup application.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein querying the database system backup catalog and the database schema comprises querying database system backup catalog views to identify mapping of the backup file to database objects.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the backup information comprises metadata information about the backup file, a database name, a list of archived redo log names and their system change numbers, configuration files, a list of data file names and tablespaces and their system change numbers, and wherein the clone copy further comprises backup of one or more full or incremental database backups, an archived transaction log backup, and a configuration file backup.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises identifying the archived transaction log in other transaction log archive locations in response to a determination that the archive transaction log is absent from a flash recovery area.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein storing the clone copy on the external destination node comprises associating at least some of the backup information with the clone copy, and wherein the backup information comprises metadata associated with the backup file.

13. The method of claim 8 , wherein the method further comprises deleting at least one of (1) the backup file from the disk and the database system backup catalog and (2) the clone copy from the external destination node and the backup application backup catalog, the deletion being based on a retention policy.

14. The method of claim 8 , wherein the method further comprises recovering the clone copy from the external destination node based on the backup information and restoring the clone copy to a database in response to a determination that the backup file is at least one of a corrupted backup file and an absent backup file from the disk.

15. A computer program product, comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium having a computer-readable program code embodied therein, the computer-readable program code adapted to be executed by one or more processors to implement a method for enabling separation of database administrator and backup administrator roles, the method comprising:

identifying, by a backup application, a backup file of a plurality of backup files stored on a database by querying a database system backup catalog associated with the database;

querying, by the backup application, a database schema to identify backup information associated with the backup file stored on the database based on identifying the backup file, the database schema defining elements of the database, the backup information including at least one of an archived transaction log and a configuration file used for restoring the database;

creating, by the backup application, a clone copy of the identified backup file using the associated identified backup information;

storing, by the backup application, the clone copy of the identified backup file and the associated identified backup information on an external destination node comprising at least one of an external disk and a tape, based on the backup information; and

cataloging, by the backup application, the clone copy and the associated identified backup information both in the database system backup catalog as an external copy of the identified backup file and in a backup application backup catalog associated with the backup application.

16. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein querying the database system backup catalog and the database schema comprises querying database system backup catalog views to identify mapping of the backup file to database objects.

17. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the backup information comprises metadata information about the backup file, a database name, a list of archived redo log names and their system change numbers, configuration files, a list of data file names and tablespaces and their system change numbers, and wherein the clone copy further comprises backup of one or more full or incremental database backups, an archived transaction log backup, and a configuration file backup.

18. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein storing the clone copy on the external destination node comprises associating at least some of the backup information with the clone copy, and wherein the backup information comprises metadata associated with the backup file.

19. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the method further comprises deleting at least one of (1) the backup file from the disk and the database system backup catalog and (2) the clone copy from the external destination node and the backup application backup catalog, the deletion being based on a retention policy.

20. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the method further comprises recovering the clone copy from the external destination node based on the backup information and restoring the clone copy to a database in response to a determination that the backup file is at least one of a corrupted backup file and an absent backup file.