-w|-verify

This BRBACKUP command option verifies the backup after the files have been backed up.

You can use this option to make sure that the backup is readable and complete. Once the backup phase is complete, all the saved files are restored from the volume (for example, tape) in sequence, decompressed (when compress = yes was used), read by the check program, or compared with the originals. See also compress_dir.

See Log Supplements.

-w|-verify [use_dbv|only_dbv|only_conf|use_rmv|only_rmv]

Default values: no verification.

Possible values:

no value set: performs a database backup followed by a restore to a temporary directory, as defined in the init<DBSID>.sap parameter compress_dir. For an offline backup, the file contents are compared in binary form. For an online backup, the sizes of the saved files are determined and checked.
use_dbv: performs a database backup followed by a restore to a temporary directory and a check of the Oracle block structure with the DBVERIFY tool
only_dbv: calls DBVERIFY to check the internal block structure on the database files without a backup
only_conf: calls the external backup utility only to confirm that the backup is known, not to verify the data
use_rmv: restores and then verifies the successfully backed-up files using RMAN
only_rmv: verifies the original database files using RMAN without starting a backup

Note that verification approximately doubles the required backup time.

For security reasons, we recommend using this option at least once within the volume expiration period for your complete backups - or even better, once a week. It enables you to detect and correct any possible hardware problems.