Re: Need help with a backup plan

[Dave S]

I should add, short of some more general advice, I could also use some specific info:

If I use mysqldump, what effects might it have on the tables while it runs? I'm very amenable to a slow, sloppy backup that isn't overly concerned with integrity between the tables. I don't need any type of transactional backup, since the tables are largely unrelated. I really just need a raw dump. (gawd that sounds horrid)

Also, are there any pertinent differences between doing mysqldump from the command line, vs doing something like "select * into outfile" from a PHP script?

Thanks!