Fred, > on SunOS 5.8. I have 2 other production databases in HP-UX ... is it > possible to backup the HP-UX databases via the same catalog database?? Absolutely. This has always been one of the strengths of RMAN. RMAN makes a SQL*Net connection to the other database and sends a directive for that database to back itself up. Dennis Williams -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l