We are happy to announce that to support more realistic and scenario-driven recovery planning, the Recover Estimator has been enhanced with the ability to explicitly control image copy backup type selection during recovery estimation. (PTF LU19181)
With this enhancement, the RECOVER-TOOL ESTIMATE-RECOVERY job now supports a new BACKUP-TYPE keyword. This allows database administrators to specify exactly which image copy backup types should be considered when building a recovery plan. As a result, recovery time estimates can be aligned more closely with real operational constraints and disaster recovery strategies.
Why This Matters
In many environments, multiple image copies may exist for the same recovery point, stored locally or remotely and classified as primary or backup copies. The new BACKUP-TYPE option enables DBAs to model recovery scenarios more precisely by isolating specific data sources. For example:
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Estimating recovery using only remote image copies to validate business continuity during a regional outage
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Focusing on local image copies to understand the fastest possible recovery for operational restores
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Comparing different recovery strategies without changing the underlying backup configuration
This makes the Recovery Estimator a more practical tool for validating critical disaster recovery assumptions before they are tested in production.
How Backup Type Selection Works
The BACKUP-TYPE keyword defines which image copy backup types are eligible to be used as the recovery base:
When multiple image copies are available for the same recovery point (identified by the same START_RBA value), Recovery Estimator applies a defined precedence order to select the most appropriate copy:
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Local primary (LP)
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Local backup (LB)
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Remote primary (RP)
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Remote backup (RB)
The image copy with the highest precedence among the allowed backup types is used for the recovery plan estimation.
Supported Values
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ALL
Considers all available image copy backup types (excluding FC). This is the default behavior.
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LP
Uses local primary image copies.
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LB
Uses local backup image copies.
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RP
Uses remote primary image copies.
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RB
Uses remote backup image copies.
Multiple backup types can be specified as a comma-separated list without spaces. For example:
By allowing explicit control over image copy selection, this enhancement helps DBAs produce recovery estimates that better reflect real-world recovery conditions.
For more information about Recovery Estimation, see the Recovery Compliance Toolkit section in the Recovery Analyzer documentation.