Hot backup (Online Backup) : A hot backup is also known as online backup because it is done while the database is active. Some sites can not shut down their database while making a backup copy, they are used for 24 hour a day, 7 days a week.
Cold backup (Offline Backup) : A cold backup is also known as offline backup because it is done while the database has been shutdown using the SHUTDOWN normal command. If the database is suddenly shutdown with a uncertain condition it should be restarted with RESTRICT mode and then shutdown with NORMAL option.
For a complete cold backup the following files must be backed up.
All datafiles, All control files, All online redo log files(optional) and the init.ora file (you can recreate it manually).
