Using Tarsnap for PostgreSQL continuous archiving

[George MacKerron <george@mackerron.co.uk>]

Hi all,

I'm considering using Tarsnap for backup of a PostgreSQL database, using tarsnap both for Write Ahead Log archiving (as my 'archive_command') and for the base backup (performed between SELECT pg_start_backup('label'); and SELECT pg_stop_backup(); commands). (These tasks are described at http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.4/static/continuous-archiving.html).

I'm also considering adding pg_compresslog/pg_decompresslog to this arrangement (though I'm a bit wary of recent bugs with Postgres 8.4).

Does anyone on the list have experience with this Tarsnap use case? Any advice? Any pitfalls? And/or any feel for what level of compression is achieved with both full and non-full ('archive_timeout'-switched) WAL files?

Many thanks,
George