Ok, so it’s only in the architecture stage… but the great news is, we’re already publishing the info so we can get early feedback before implementation starts. I think that’s a fab development. Greg Lehey is leading this project.
You can find the review document here: OnlineBackup (on the MySQL Forge Wiki).
This feature will implement a way to make complete online backups (i.e., from a running server), regardless of which storage engines are being used. A backup will also be consistent across multiple engines.
And the idea is to make it a stream, so it can be sent straight through gzip/bzip, or tape or some other sequential archival device. This is excellent for very large data sets, of course, as there wouldn’t be space for intermediate storage.
Anyway, please take a look, and give Greg your feedback! Details for community involvement are at the bottom of the page. Thanks.