Re: VMWare file system / database corruption

On Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 11:09 AM, Tom Duffey <tduffey(at)techbydesign(dot)com> wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> We're having numerous problems with a PostgreSQL 8.3.7 database running on a
> virtual Linux server w/VMWare ESX.  This is not by choice and I have been
> asking the operator of this equipment for details about the disk setup and
> here's what I got:
>
> "We have a SAN that is presenting an NFS share.  VMWare sees that share and
> reads the VMDK file that make up the virtual file system."
>
> Does anyone with a better understanding of PostgreSQL and VMWare know if
> this is an unreliable setup for PostgreSQL?  I see things like "NFS" and
> "VMWare" and start to get worried.

I see VMWare and thing performance issues, I see NFS and thing dear
god help us all. Even if properly setup NFS is a problem waiting to
happen, and it's not reliable storage for a database in my opinion.
That said, lots of folks do it. Ask for the NFS mount options from
the sysadmin.