Jerry Stuckle wrote:

> I don't see why ext3 would help.


only to not to get the file system corrupted.



> It knows nothing about the internal
> format of the tables, and that's what is most likely to get screwed up
> in a database crash. I would think it would be almost impossible to
> recover to a consistent point in the database unless you have a very
> detailed knowledge of the internal format of the files.


Well, mysql recovery procedures does have that knowledge. There are
different levels of disaster. My assumption is that the file system
survives.


>
> The best strategy is to keep regular backups of the database.
>

in my case it is a bit different. There are millions of rows which get
inserted, live for a few minutes or hours and then they get deleted. the
backup is not even feasible. While I can afford some (1-5%) data loss
due to crash, I still must not lose entire table. Wonder if mysql
recovery procedures can ensure that.

--
alf