Oracle recovery manager is aplatform independent utility. Oracle RMAN is used to perform a backup, restore and recover operation of an Oracle database. It is a feature of the Oracle database server and does not require separate installation. The RMAN is also required when performing an incremental backup. In my opinion it's value is limited if you only have one or two instances, butit comes into it's own where large numbers of instances on multiple platforms are used. The reporting features alone mean that you should never find yourself in a position where your data is in danger due to failed backups.