Re: Backup method

On Wed, 2006-05-04 at 22:29 +0100, Simon Riggs wrote:
> On Wed, 2006-04-05 at 15:42 -0400, Bob Powell wrote:
>
> > I have a systems admin that is backing up our Linux computers
> > (postgres) by backing up the directory structure. This of course
> > includes all the files that pertain to my postgres databases. I
> > maintain that using pgdump and creating a file of SQL commands for
> > restore is a better method by allowing the restore on any linux box that
> > is running postgress as opposed to having to reconstruct the directory
> > on another server.
> >
> > Does anyone have any thoughts on this matter. Is one way better than
> > the other? Thanks in advance.
>
> If you want to do this quickly then you should use PITR. The base backup
> is faster, plus you're covered if you crash between backups.
>
> Archivelogmode is standard for Oracle/DB2 etc installations; PITR should
> be your standard if you run PostgreSQL too. Here's why:
>
> pg_dump produces portable backups, but that won't help you if you took
> the backup at 04:00 and your server crashes at 14:15 - you'll still lose
> *all* the transactions your business performed in the last 10+ hours.
> You'll also have to explain that away to your boss and remember she/he's
> the one handing out the raises at the end of the year...
>
> PITR takes more thought, but then is the purpose of a backup to make
> your life easier or to recover the data for the person paying you?
>
> Best Regards, Simon Riggs

How do you suggest one does PITR ?

It has been a while since I read the Docs, but do not recall
any tools that allow one to do such a thing.