Re: Long term database archival

On 07/12/2006 09:25:45 AM, Jan Wieck wrote:
> On 7/6/2006 8:03 PM, Karl O. Pinc wrote:
>
>> On 07/06/2006 06:14:39 PM, Florian G. Pflug wrote:
>>> Karl O. Pinc wrote:
>>>> Hi,
>>>>
>>>> What is the best pg_dump format for long-term database
>>>> archival? That is, what format is most likely to
>>>> be able to be restored into a future PostgreSQL
>>>> cluster.
>>
>>> Anyway, 20 years is a _long_, _long_ time.

> The best way is to not only backup the data. With todays VM
> technology it should be easy enough to backup a virtual disk that
> contains a full OS and everything install for every major Postgres
> release.

I think that that's the answer, put the whole OS and db on a
bootable cd or DVD. In 20 years they'll surely be no
problem running the whole thing from RAM so media access
speed should not be an issue.

The only thing to worry about is if the underlying architecture
goes away entirely. I suppose if you choose something common
they'll be an emulator.

Karl <kop(at)meme(dot)com>
Free Software: "You don't pay back, you pay forward."
-- Robert A. Heinlein