# about mysqldump

**URL:** <https://forums.percona.com/t/about-mysqldump/1414>\
**Category:** Other MySQL® Questions\
**Created:** [May 20, 2010, 10:07pm UTC](https://forums.percona.com/t/about-mysqldump/1414 "2010-05-20T22:07:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![gjuan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/53a042/32.png) [@gjuan](https://forums.percona.com/u/gjuan)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 10:07pm UTC](https://forums.percona.com/t/about-mysqldump/1414/1 "2010-05-20T22:07:19Z")

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Hi,

What is the limit size to generate a backup using mysqldump?

For example i have a database size from about 20 GB, it is a good a idea to generate a backup using mysqldump?

What about taking a snapshot in linux?

Thanks.

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**Author:** ![xaprb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/49beb7/32.png) [@xaprb](https://forums.percona.com/u/xaprb)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 3:27pm UTC](https://forums.percona.com/t/about-mysqldump/1414/2 "2010-05-27T15:27:46Z")

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I would test a restore with it and see how long it takes. Is it acceptable? If not, then you will need something else, like XtraBackup or LVM snapshots.