tape: local tape device.

pipe: tape device of a remote system

tape_auto or pipe_auto: suppresses prompts for changing the tape. This is only useful when you use a tape device with automatic tape changing (tape changing device).

tape_box or pipe_box: jukeboxes or autoloader tape devices that can be addressed locally or remotely. The drivers for the data transfer (cpio, dd) are defined in the parameters tape_address or tape_address_arch, the drivers for rewinding are defined in the parameters tape_address_rew or tape_address_rew_arch and the drivers for mounting and dismounting the tapes are defined in the parameters tape_address_ctl or tape_address_ctl_arch.

disk: local disk. You have to use disk for disaster recovery if backups were done with rman_disk.

stage: restore from remote disk. You have to use stage for disaster recovery if backups were done with rman_stage.

util_file|util: for a recover created by external backup programs for file-by-file backup. If you use this option, you might have to create a file containing the parameters required for that type of recover. If a parameter file of this type is required, you must specify the name of the file in the profile parameter util_par_file or with the option -r. You have to use util for disaster recovery if backups were done with rman_util.

util_vol: as for util_file but for volume by volume backups

rman_util|rman_disk|rman_stage|rman: for a backup with the Oracle Recover Manager (RMAN). You can specify rman instead of rman_util, rman_disk, or rman_stage for restore of database files and offline redo log files.