Microtalk: Take a picture, it'll last longer
summary
Demonstrates branching live databases by swapping filesystem snapshots so developers get fast safe experiments without huge copies. Uses ZFS snapshots (also applicable to Btrfs) to clone a MySQL datadir instantly, a git post-checkout hook to automate snapshot/clone on branch switch, and a Vagrant plugin vagrance EFS to give each VM its own cloned filesystem. Claims low initial disk use, near-instant branch switches, and that the tooling works on laptops though one plugin needs updating for the new Vagrant 1.1.
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chapters (12)
- 0:00Start
- 1:12Sandbox our experiments
- 2:13Branch the database!
- 2:58A few ideas...
- 4:36Switching to a new branch is fast!
- 5:10Hey, wait! ZFS!
- 5:38Filesystem, volume manager & software RAID
- 6:06Copy-on-write transaction model (like REE)
- 6:50Fast & cheap snapshotting & cloning features
- 7:37Not just for Solaris anymore!
- 8:22But who wants to type that much?
- 8:32Sounds like a job for git hooks!








