Re: pg_start_backup and pg_stop_backup Re: Re: [COMMITTERS] pgsql: Make CheckRequiredParameterValues() depend upon correct

Robert Haas wrote:
> but
> what do you mean by "except with filesystem-level snapshot
> capabilities"?

If you have a filesystem that supports atomic snapshots, you can take a
snapshot of the filesystem the data directory resides on, and then copy
the data directory from the snapshot at your leisure, without
pg_start/stop_backup(). It is entirely invisible to PostgreSQL and works
just like copying the data directory after an immediate shutdown. The
server will perform crash recovery after restore.

Virtualization software, logical volume managers and SANs tend to have
such features, in addition to filesystems.

--  Heikki Linnakangas EnterpriseDB   http://www.enterprisedb.com