Why does Restoring the database claim at least 1.5x its size

[ethanrox]

Hello,

I am running Windows and I have C(system) and D(data) volumes. My postgresql data directory is on D (not C)
The restore process starts to become really almost dangerous for me because PT4 concurrently uses both C and D to do the restore. I didn't mind before my DB became 6GB, but now it claims up to 1.5-2x the database size on C before completely restoring it in the postgresql date directory on D.

Can't the posgresql commands do this in-place so to speak just on the D volume and not touch C or if PT4 needs to touch C, then why 1.5x size? Seems inconceivable to me.

[Flag_Hippo]

PostgreSQL will use your Windows temporary directory when backing up or restoring data:

C:\Users\{Windows Login}\AppData\Local\Temp

If you want to configure Windows to use another drive for temporary files then see this guide.

[ethanrox]

Thanks for the hint.
I did something different and used the backup/restore from within pgAdmin3 and nothing was written to the TEMP.
Are there any drawback to this approach? Backup size seems to be the same with default options.

[Flag_Hippo]

That should be OK but you might want to test restoring a database with pgAdmin to make sure that everything works as expected.

[ethanrox]

That should be OK but you might want to test restoring a database with pgAdmin to make sure that everything works as expected.

I did and so far it works. For sure it won't work if a new PT4 update demands a db-upgrade.