Backups are divided into physical backups and logical backups:
Physical backups are backups of the physical files used in storing and recovering your database, such as data files, control files, and archived redo logs. Ultimately, every physical backup is a copy of files storing database information to some other ___location, whether on disk or offline storage, such as tape.
Logical backups contain logical data (for example, tables or stored procedures) extracted from a database with Oracle Data Pump (export/import) utilities. The data is stored in a binary file that can be imported into Oracle Database.
Physical backups are the foundation of any backup and recovery strategy. Logical backups are a useful supplement to physical backups in many circumstances but are not sufficient protection against data loss without physical backups.
Reconstructing the contents of all or part of a database from a backup typically involves two phases: retrieving a copy of the data file from a backup, and reapplying changes to the file since the backup, from the archived and online redo logs, to bring the database to the desired recovery point in time. To restore a data file or control file from backup is to retrieve the file from the backup ___location on tape, disk, or other media, and make it available to Oracle Database. To recover a data file, is to take a restored copy of the data file and apply to it the changes recorded in the database's redo logs. To recover a whole database is to perform recovery on each of its data files.