Good point. When I read "while DB up" I over interpreted that as "without altering the database status" or without perhaps doing anything to the database at all. So IF the product alluded to includes these instructions (as Timefinder includes instructions for a brief period of "hot backup"), then it could hold water. Thanks for filling in that hole Mark. mwf -----Original Message----- From: oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Powell, Mark Sent: Wednesday, January 08, 2014 12:34 PM To: 'ORACLE-L' Subject: RE: Oracle 11 'cold backup' while DB up. I believe Oracle has the suspend and resume commands of alter database for use in schemes like this. -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l