Backup Method

Hi everyone,

I am reaching the point with my database backups where the backups are
taking too long, and starting to interfere with running of the system
during the day. So I am looking for a bit of sage advice as to how to
proceed.

For a typical server, I have a single database cluster with multiple
database that I backup nightly using sequential pg_dumps to NFS.

So what I am looking for is a backup regime with less impact that will
run overnight but faster or less impact than the pg_dump.

Would a file system backup be the better option in PITR format, or is
pg_dumpall more efficient than pg_dump?

Look forward to your advice.

Howard.