When I run pg_dump, the computer spends a great amount of time in "system" state. Like 100% of one cpu and part of another. The small part seems to be the postgreSQL server, and the big part the client (pg_dump) compressing the data.
Now my tape drive has built-in compression anyway (although I could turn it off). I prefer to let the hardware compression run since it is a nuisance to turn it on and off and I want it on for my normal backups of the rest of the system. Does pg_dump's compression do anything really special that it is not likely the tape drive already does? The drive claims 2:1 compression for average data (e.g., not already compressed stuff like .jpeg files). -- .~. Jean-David Beyer Registered Linux User 85642. /V\ PGP-Key: 9A2FC99A Registered Machine 241939. /( )\ Shrewsbury, New Jersey http://counter.li.org ^^-^^ 10:50:01 up 23 days, 4:08, 5 users, load average: 4.16, 4.40, 4.44 ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- TIP 3: Have you checked our extensive FAQ? http://www.postgresql.org/docs/faq
