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Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2012 11:08:29 -0600
From: "Kevin Grittner" <Kevin.Grittner@wicourts.gov>
To: "Michael Monnerie" <lists.michael.monnerie@is.it-management.at>,
	<pgsql-admin@postgresql.org>
Subject: Re: speedup pg_dumpall
References: <2829256.7Mb1lcLYlD@saturn>
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Michael Monnerie <lists.michael.monnerie@is.it-management.at> wrote:
 
> What can I do to improve pg_dump performance?
 
I can't help wondering why you're running it.  For routine backups
it is generally not your best option in PostgreSQL.  PITR or warm
standby are generally more useful for routine backups of any
database big enough to worry about run time.
 
For my purposes, pg_dump is mostly useful for dumping schema as SQL
statements or dumping data from individual tables.  Prior to the
availability of pg_upgrade our main use was for upgrades from one
major release to another, but I now see it as a pretty narrow niche
utility -- at least for my shop.
 
-Kevin