NOTE: Before taking a dump, check the table engines!!!
If table engines are MyISAM, a write AND read lock will be placed on the tables, which means there will be “interruption” of service involved.
Change 'databasename' to the name of the database you are looking to dump

select engine,count(*),sum(index_length+data_length)/1024/1024 from information_schema.tables where table_schema = 'databasename' group by engine;

mysqldump -u root -p database > filename.sql

mysqldump database > mysql_dump_name_backup.$(date +"%Y-%m-%d").sql

mysqldump database | pv > mysql_dump_name_backup.$(date +"%Y-%m-%d").sql

Once you have created the db you can import with:

mysql -u root -p mytestdb2 < mytestdb.sql

Using PV to import - Progress report

pv database_file.sql | mysql database_name

Check the db engines before you dump. This will allow you to find the most efficient way of dumping the tables
Replace “database name” with the name of your database

mysql -e 'SELECT TABLE_NAME, ENGINE FROM information_schema.TABLES where TABLE_SCHEMA = "database name"

+------------------------+--------+
| TABLE_NAME             | ENGINE |
+------------------------+--------+
| wp_commentmeta         | MyISAM |
| wp_comments            | MyISAM |
| wp_links               | MyISAM |
| wp_options             | MyISAM |
| wp_popularpostsdata    | InnoDB |
| wp_popularpostssummary | InnoDB |
| wp_postmeta            | MyISAM |
| wp_posts               | MyISAM |
| wp_term_relationships  | MyISAM |
| wp_term_taxonomy       | MyISAM |
| wp_terms               | MyISAM |
| wp_usermeta            | MyISAM |
| wp_users               | MyISAM |
+------------------------+--------+

You will need to dump the db based on the storage engine:

source: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.6/en/mysqldump.html#option_mysqldump_single-transaction

mysqldump -u user -p --single-transaction mydatabase > /my/backup/directory/mydatabase_date.$(date +"%Y-%m-%d").sql

mysqldump -u user -p --single-transaction mydatabase | pv > /my/backup/directory/mydatabase_date.$(date +"%Y-%m-%d").sql

source: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.6/en/mysqldump.html#option_mysqldump_lock-tables

mysqldump -u user -p --lock-tables mydatabase > /my/backup/directory/mydatabase_date.$(date +"%Y-%m-%d").sql

mysqldump -u user -p --lock-tables mydatabase | pv > /my/backup/directory/mydatabase_date.$(date +"%Y-%m-%d").sql

–lock-all-tables will provide a consistent backup for hybrid databases

mysqldump -u user -p --lock-tables mydatabase > /my/backup/directory/mydatabase_date.$(date +"%Y-%m-%d").sql

mysqldump -u user -p --lock-tables mydatabase | pv > /my/backup/directory/mydatabase_date.$(date +"%Y-%m-%d").sql

# mysqlshow

#mysqlshow database

mysqldump db_name table_name > table_name.sql

mysqldump db_name table_name | pv > database.table.$(date +"%Y-%m-%d").sql