Re: Simultaneously streaming database replication and pg_dump, yet observing zero lag

On Apr 30, 2015, at 8:00 AM, Matt Patey <matt.patey@ableton.com> wrote:
>
> We have a streaming replication setup, where the replication slave runs pg_dump every hour. Our lag monitor shows an
expectedsawtooth shape, where pg_dump runs coincide with a climbing lag, which ends abruptly when pg_dump is finished.
Thisis, to the best of my knowledge, expected behaviour. The lag pattern occasionally disappears though, and when
lookingat system processes we see that the database is recovering WAL data, and pg_dump is also running. How is this
evenpossible? 

Any query (and pg_dump is a series of queries) does not necessarily block recovery. AFAIK, it’s only when the query
requiresa version of a row which would be removed by WAL replay that the recovery gets blocked. So it’s possible for
pg_dumpto not block recovery, but in any reasonably active db I think it’s unlikely—exactly what you’re seeing. 

--
Scott Ribe
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