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+$PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/backup.sgml,v 2.59 2005/03/17 15:38:46 momjian Exp $
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<chapter id="backup">
<title>Backup and Restore</title>
</para>
<para>
- If your database is spread across multiple volumes (for example,
- if you are using tablespaces) there may not be any way
- to obtain exactly-simultaneous frozen snapshots of all the volumes.
+ If your database is spread across multiple file systems there may not
+ be any way to obtain exactly-simultaneous frozen snapshots of all
+ the volumes. For example, if your data files and WAL log on different
+ file disks, or if tablespaces are on different file systems, it might
+ not be possible to use snapshots because the snapshots must be simultaneous.
Read your file system documentation very carefully before trusting
to the consistent-snapshot technique in such situations. The safest
approach is to shut down the database server for long enough to
<para>
Another option is to use <application>rsync</> to perform a file
- system backup. First, while the database server is running,
- run <application>rsync</>, then shut down the database
- server and perform a second <application>rsync</>, then
- restart the database server. This allows a file system backup to be
- performed with minimal downtime.
+ system backup. This is done by first running <application>rsync</>
+ while the database server is running, then shutting down the database
+ server just long enough to do a second <application>rsync</>. The
+ second <application>rsync</> will be much quicker than the first,
+ but will be consistent because the server was down. This method
+ allows a file system backup to be performed with minimal downtime.
</para>
<para>