Re: PITR, checkpoint, and local relations

"J. R. Nield" <jrnield@usol.com> writes:
>> Uh, why?  Why not just force a checkpoint and remember the exact
>> location of the checkpoint within the current log file?

> If I do a backup with PITR and save it to tape, I need to be able to
> restore it even if my machine is destroyed in a fire, and all the logs
> since the end of a backup are destroyed.

And for your next trick, restore it even if the backup tape itself is
destroyed.  C'mon, be a little reasonable here.  The backups and the
log archive tapes are *both* critical data in any realistic view of
the world.

> Is the complexity really that big of a problem with this?

Yes, it is.  Didn't you just admit to struggling with bugs introduced
by exactly this complexity??  I don't care *how* spiffy the backup
scheme is, if when push comes to shove my backup doesn't restore because
there was a software bug in the backup scheme.  In this context there
simply is not any virtue greater than "simple and reliable".
        regards, tom lane