MySQL MyISAM tables - Is it possible to just copy the .MYD, .MYI and .FRM files for backup?

Question

I currently have a database with 3 MyISAM tables containing very large number of rows (~400,000,000). Even though the rows are not complex and consist of maybe 3 or 4 integer fields, I would like to be able to most effectively backup the database and restore in case of failure.

I have tried using mysqldump, but when I recently restored the database it took a really long time (about 14 hours). My data is not mission critical in that it is updated only about once a week, but still I would not like to wait that long if I had to restore it.

Since I am using MyISAM tables, is it possible to just copy the .MYD, .MYI, and .FRM files for each table, and, in case I needed to restore the database, just copy these individual tables' files back to where they were? Would that work? Or would I need to copy additional files/data or perform any additional tasks for restoring?

Thanks in advance, Tim

Answer 1

Looks like it: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/4.1/en/copying-databases.html though I'd probably stop the engine first...