Arecovery catalog is an optional database schema consisting of tables and views, and RMAN uses it to store its repository data. The control file of each target database always serves as the primary store for the repository, but you may want to create a recovery catalog as secondary storage for the repository, thus providing redundancy for the repository. For most small databases, you can get away with using just the control file to store the RMAN metadata. However, the recovery catalog provides a larger storage capacity, thus enabling access to a longer history of backups, and it is an ideal solution when dealing with a large number of databases. In addition, you can create and store RMAN scripts in the recovery catalog. Any client that can connect to the recovery catalog and a target database can use these stored scripts. Recovery catalog– based stored scripts aren’t the same as operating system scripts that invoke RMAN or RMAN command scripts, which are available only if the RMAN client can access the filesystem. You can execute a local stored script only in the target database you’re connected to from RMAN.
