From: Michael Widenius Date: April 1 1999 10:44pm Subject: Copying live files List-Archive: http://lists.mysql.com/mysql/1306 Message-Id: <14083.62970.632640.450485@monty.pp.sci.fi> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >>>>> "Brandon" == Brandon Pulsipher writes: Brandon> What are the implications of copying *.ISM,*.ISD,*.frm files while MySQL is Brandon> still running? Basically, I am proposing that I could copy these files Brandon> while MySQL is running, for a descent backup. Before I restore, I would Brandon> obviously have to isamchk everything. Brandon> Taking the database down is a big loss, however, so I am wondering about Brandon> this option. I know it's not the cleanest, but would it work? The files Brandon> would be messed up if copied while an insert/update was taking place, but Brandon> again , teh isamchk *should* correct that, just with a little data loss. Brandon> Are there any other GOOD options for backing up a database server with lots Brandon> of databases and lots of table sin each database, without stopping the Brandon> database? Brandon> Thanks. Hi! Yes; under the context you describe, copying the data files should only give you real minor data loss (if there was concurrent table changes) if you want to restore them later. Note that you don't even have to copy the .ISM files in this case ! I would however recommend you to do 'mysqladmin flush-tables' before you start your backup; This should your backup a little bit safer... Regards, Monty