The Oracle export (EXP) and import (IMP) utilities are used to perform
logical database backup and recovery. They are also used to move
Oracle data from one machine, database or schema to another.
The imp/exp utilities use an Oracle proprietary binary file format and
can thus only be used between Oracle databases. One cannot export
data and expect to import it into a non-Oracle database. For more
information on how to load and unload data from files, read the
SQL*Loader FAQ.
The export/import utilities are also commonly used to perform the
following tasks:
. Backup and recovery (small databases only)
. Reorganization of data/ Eliminate database fragmentation
. Detect database corruption. Ensure that all the data can be read.
. Transporting tablespaces between databases
. Etc.