We have a database that is about 3GB (in text) after mysqldump is used to dump a text representation of it, and then
mysql < mysqlstatement.sql
is used to restore the database. But it takes 4 hours.
Is there a way to quickly back up / restore the database instead?
It is on a Mac using Ruby on Rails, so one time I set the test environment to use the development DB, and the test wiped out the whole DB in a few seconds.
I have a way which is to "take a snapshot" of the development environment if it is PC -- just use Virtual PC and say the virtual disk image is only 2, 3GB, then we can save that virtual hard drive (VHD), and then the whole thing together with the DB is backed up.
But on Mac, there is no such way? Thanks.