Using RMAN for performing incremental backups

For databases which are very large in size, taking a full backup daily may not be an option. Not only would such a backup take a very long time but would also be heavy on system resource consumption. Incremental backups are supposedly the best option for such large sized databases. We have already discussed incremental backups at the start of this chapter. But just to refresh your memory, incremental backups include only the modified blocks since the last full or incremental backup taken. There is a base backup level which is designated with level 0 and subsequent backups after it are labeled as level 1. For level 0, the backup format can either be a backup set or an image copy but for level 1, only the backup set format is supported. For level 1, there can be two further options, differential level 1 and cumulative level 1 incremental backups. Since we have already known how to take a full backup, it's time to perform the incremental backups...