Restoring postgres sql file over 20gb

Question

We have a backup of a database with sql 32gb format (containing various binary files over 50mb), but when we do import data only 8gb are actually placed on the bench.

We've done everything from changing the version that was Postgres 8.3 to Postgres 9.1 and even then not everything is imported.

Answer 1

It could be normal for Postgres.

When you export your binary data to sql file it must be encoded as base64 and properly escaped. This encoding and escaping can increase the size of the output file 2-6 times (from my experience). + sql dump format adds overhead for INSERT/COPY commands.

Try dumping the base in binary format, to see what size would the binary dump be.