With xfsdump and xfsrestore, you can recover from intentional or accidental interruptions--this means you can interrupt a dump or restore at any time, and then resume it whenever desired. With xfsrestore, you can restore xfsdump data onto EFS filesystems. (xfsdump backs up mounted XFS filesystems only.) xfsdump and xfsrestore support incremental dumps, and multiple dumps can be placed on a single media object. The utilities can automatically divide a dump among multiple drives, and can restore a dump from multiple drives. This allows you to perform faster dumps and restores.
xfsdump and xfsrestore support XFS features including 64-bit inode numbers, file lengths, holes, and user-selectable extent sizes. They support multiple media types, all IRIX-supported file types (regular, directory, symbolic link, block and character special, FIFO, and socket), and retain hard links. xfsdump does not affect the state of the filesystem being dumped (for example, access times are retained). xfsrestore detects and bypasses media errors and recovers rapidly after encountering them. xfsdump does not cross mount points, local or remote.
xfsdump optionally prompts for additional media when the end of the current media is reached. Operator estimates of media capacity are not required and xfsdump also supports automated backups. xfsdump maintains an extensive online inventory of all dumps performed. Inventory contents can be viewed through various filters to quickly locate specific dump information. xfsrestore supports interactive operation, allowing selection of individual files or directories for recovery. It also permits selection from among backups performed at different times when multiple dumps are available. Dump contents may also be viewed noninteractively.