PostgreSQL Archives

Tech Optimizer

July 22, 2025

PostgreSQL services from hyperscalers raise downtime conerns

Recent research shows that 82 percent of PostgreSQL users are concerned about cloud region failures, with 21 percent experiencing such failures in the past year. In the first half of 2025, PostgreSQL gained over 13 points in database popularity rankings, becoming the fourth most popular database. A survey found that 91 percent of organizations using PostgreSQL expect no more than four minutes of downtime per month, with 24 percent aiming for less than 30 seconds. Microsoft Azure, AWS, and Google offer various PostgreSQL services, while alternatives like CockroachDB and YugabyteDB focus on reliability. PlanetScale recently launched a PostgreSQL service that is 100 percent compatible with open-source PostgreSQL. Convex is transitioning from AWS Aurora to PlanetScale for better performance. pgEdge offers a multi-master distributed database for high availability. AWS claims its Amazon Aurora DSQL is designed for up to 99.999 percent availability, while its Aurora for PostgreSQL guarantees 99.99 percent uptime.

Tech Optimizer

July 21, 2025

Scaling AI Inference at the Edge With Distributed PostgreSQL

Data is crucial for artificial intelligence, especially for inference workloads used in real-time decision-making across various platforms. Traditional centralized cloud-based AI inference struggles with demands for low latency and high availability, particularly in applications like autonomous vehicles and healthcare. Shifting AI inference to the edge reduces latency, enhances data privacy, and lowers bandwidth costs. Antony Pegg emphasizes the need for a multi-master active-active architecture that allows read and write operations at any node, ensuring data synchronization and high availability. Misconceptions about edge AI include beliefs that edge hardware can't handle AI workloads, that edge inference is limited to low-stakes use cases, and that centralized systems are necessary for data integrity. The shift to distributed inference can lead to reduced latency, faster insights, and lower costs, while supporting data compliance with regulations. Companies are adopting distributed PostgreSQL solutions with multi-master architecture for low latency and high availability. Enquire AI is an example of a company that improved performance and compliance by transitioning to pgEdge Cloud. This architecture allows for consistent data availability and supports scalable AI solutions at the edge.

Tech Optimizer

July 18, 2025

Redundant statistics slow down your Postgres? Try sampling in pg_stat_statements

pg_stat_statements is a PostgreSQL extension for monitoring query statistics, tracking execution counts, execution times, and row returns. It uses a hash table to store metrics for each query, identified by a key generated from four parameters: queryid, User OID, Database OID, and a toplevel flag. The extension can become a performance hindrance in high contention environments due to locking operations on the hash table. When numerous unique queries are executed, contention for the hash table can lead to significant performance drops. For example, with pg_stat_statements enabled, a system with 48 CPUs showed a TPS drop from 237,437 to 32,112 when executing unique queries. In contrast, with a high volume of similar queries on a 192 CPU machine, enabling pg_stat_statements resulted in a TPS of 484,338 compared to 1,015,425 with it disabled. Query sampling is introduced as a method to mitigate performance issues by recording metrics for only a fraction of executed queries. The pg_stat_statements.sample_rate parameter allows configuration of the proportion of queries tracked. However, sampling can lead to incomplete data and potential security risks if sensitive information is recorded in non-normalized form. Benchmark tests with varying sample_rate values showed that as the sample_rate decreased, TPS increased, and SpinDelay diminished. At a sample_rate of 1.0, TPS was lowest, while at 0.25 and below, SpinDelay effectively disappeared, indicating that sampling can significantly enhance performance under high contention conditions.

Tech Optimizer

July 18, 2025

Customer Success Stories: Regions Financial Corporation Drives the Future of Banking with EDB Postgres AI

Regions Financial Corporation is modernizing its technological infrastructure to enhance database capabilities and enable real-time data processing. The corporation is selecting a flexible database solution to align its application and technology teams, aiming to drive efficiency and improve customer experiences. A white paper detailing their transformation journey and the role of EDB Postgres is available for further insights.

Tech Optimizer

July 17, 2025

TigerData Launches Tiger Lake, Unifying Postgres and the Lakehouse for Real-Time Intelligence

TigerData has introduced Tiger Lake, an architectural layer that integrates the operational speed of Postgres with the analytical capabilities of lakehouses. This innovation allows for continuous, bidirectional data movement between operational databases and scalable cloud storage systems, eliminating the need for data duplication and complex pipelines. Tiger Lake enables real-time replication of Postgres tables into the lakehouse and synchronization of processed results back into Postgres. It is built into Tiger Postgres and enhanced by TimescaleDB, making it suitable for high-ingest, time-series data management. Tiger Lake is based on open standards, such as Apache Iceberg, allowing flexibility without vendor lock-in. It is currently in public beta, enabling users to stream data between Postgres and Iceberg-backed S3 storage, with future updates planned for enhanced querying and synchronization capabilities.

Tech Optimizer

July 17, 2025

AWS Open-Sources pgactive PostgreSQL Extension

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has launched pgactive, an open-source extension for PostgreSQL that enables active-active replication, allowing databases to stream data asynchronously between instances. Announced in June 2025, pgactive was previously proprietary within AWS's Relational Database Service (RDS) and first appeared in late 2023. The extension supports conflict resolution and bidirectional data syncing, enhancing resiliency for high-availability applications. It is available under the Apache 2.0 license, encouraging community contributions and customization. Pgactive's architecture includes logical replication slots and customizable conflict handlers, essential for fault-tolerant systems. The open-source model promotes transparency and peer review, with potential integrations discussed in developer communities. The initiative aims to transform enterprise database replication and empower developers to innovate without vendor lock-in.

Tech Optimizer

July 16, 2025

ParadeDB Raises Funds, Challenges Elasticsearch with Postgres Integration

Postgres, an open-source database management system, is experiencing a revival due to its compatibility with AI applications and its ability to manage structured data effectively. Despite its strengths, Postgres lacks native high-performance full-text search and analytics capabilities, leading organizations to use separate systems like Elasticsearch, which complicates data management. ParadeDB, an open-source extension developed in 2023, addresses these limitations by enabling sophisticated data search and analytics directly within Postgres, eliminating the need for data transfers. ParadeDB has gained traction, securing its first enterprise customer by early 2024 and recently completing a funding round for platform enhancements. Its integration with Postgres simplifies workflows and reduces operational overhead, making it a compelling alternative to traditional search solutions.

Tech Optimizer

July 16, 2025

ParadeDB takes on Elasticsearch as interest in Postgres explodes amid AI boom

Open source database management system Postgres is nearing its 40th anniversary and has seen increased demand due to its compatibility with AI applications, although its search and analytics capabilities are limited. ParadeDB is an open source extension that enhances full-text search and analytics within Postgres, integrating with various data infrastructure tools like Google Cloud SQL, Azure Postgres, and Amazon RDS. Founded in 2023, ParadeDB released its first version the same year and gained Alibaba as its first customer in May 2024. The company recently secured a million Series A funding round led by Craft Ventures to expand its team and improve its platform. The growing popularity of Postgres is highlighted by recent acquisitions, such as Snowflake's acquisition of Crunchy Data and Databricks' purchase of Neon.

Tech Optimizer

July 14, 2025

The performance engineer: a detective licensed to kill… bottlenecks

A SQL query initially took fifteen hours to process, but after performance engineering adjustments by Vadim Laktushin, it was reduced to two minutes. Performance engineers (PEs) work to enhance IT system efficiency by identifying and resolving performance bottlenecks in application code, database management systems, configurations, and hardware. Vadim transitioned from a developer to a performance specialist at Postgres Professional after exploring benchmarks and system tuning. Performance issues often require complex solutions rather than straightforward fixes. For example, a client migrating from Oracle to PostgreSQL faced delays due to the Write-Ahead Log (WAL), which became a bottleneck during heavy write operations. PEs adhere to principles such as proactive analysis, reliance on data, and caution against quick fixes. Essential skills for PEs include programming, Linux expertise, understanding algorithms, statistical thinking, and effective communication. The future of performance engineering may involve specialization, and while AI can assist, it cannot replace human expertise in optimization tasks.

Tech Optimizer

July 11, 2025

Cloud PostgreSQL uptime falls well short of expectations

A survey conducted by The Foundry revealed that 82 percent of PostgreSQL users have concerns about cloud region failures, with 21 percent having experienced such failures in the past year. Among 212 IT decision-makers, 91 percent require no more than four minutes of downtime per month, aiming for an uptime target of approximately 99.99 percent. Additionally, 24 percent seek less than 30 seconds of downtime. AWS dominates the PostgreSQL service market, with 55 percent using AWS RDS and 45 percent using AWS Aurora Global Database. Azure Cosmos DB and Google Cloud SQL are used by 29 percent and 24 percent of respondents, respectively. Unexpected downtime has disrupted business operations for 56 percent of respondents, with 40 percent reporting damage to brand trust. Strategies for ensuring PostgreSQL availability vary, with 58 percent using single-region strategies and 47 percent adopting multi-region approaches. Notably, 23 percent still rely on manual processes, and 5 percent have no high availability strategy. Furthermore, 51 percent of respondents use PostgreSQL in a hybrid database environment, while 35 percent use it as the primary database for customer-facing applications. PostgreSQL has been recognized as the most significant climber in database rankings, currently standing fourth overall.