PostgreSQL Integrates IO_uring for Enhanced Asynchronous I/O
In a notable advancement for the open-source PostgreSQL database server, initial support for IO_uring has been successfully merged into the PostgreSQL Git repository as of March 26. This feature promises to enhance asynchronous I/O capabilities, potentially leading to significant performance improvements.
The integration of IO_uring is a forward-looking addition in anticipation of PostgreSQL 18, which is set to be released later this year. To utilize this feature, developers will need to compile PostgreSQL with the –with-liburing option, linking it to the liburing library. Furthermore, the database server’s I/O method must be specified as io_method=io_uring within the PostgreSQL configuration.
The recent commits to the PostgreSQL repository have laid the groundwork for this enhancement. The first commit introduced the optional liburing build dependency, while a subsequent commit focused on the integration of the io_method=io_uring option. This latter commit highlights the advantages of using IO_uring:
“aio: Add io_method=io_uring Performing AIO using io_uring can be considerably faster than io_method=worker, particularly when lots of small IOs are issued, as
- a) the context-switch overhead for worker-based AIO becomes more significant
- b) the number of IO workers can become limiting
io_uring, however, is Linux-specific and requires an additional compile-time dependency (liburing). This implementation is fairly simple and there are substantial optimization opportunities.”
Previous discussions surrounding the implementation of IO_uring in PostgreSQL have showcased its promising potential, indicating that there is still ample opportunity for further performance enhancements. The excitement surrounding this new support is palpable, and it will be intriguing to observe how effectively the IO_uring method is optimized leading up to the PostgreSQL 18.0 release, anticipated in September.
