upgrade strategy Archives

Tech Optimizer

April 21, 2025

Best practices to handle AWS DMS tasks during PostgreSQL upgrades

The AWS Database Migration Service (AWS DMS) provides a managed solution for migrating and replicating databases to AWS, supporting both homogeneous and heterogeneous migrations. It allows seamless data migration from PostgreSQL databases to any supported target and vice versa. Open-source PostgreSQL regularly releases new versions, and Amazon RDS aims to support these within five months. Upgrading PostgreSQL instances is essential for security and compliance. Minor version upgrades focus on security and bug fixes without adding new functionalities, while major upgrades can change system tables and data formats. AWS DMS tasks require careful management during PostgreSQL upgrades. For minor upgrades, ongoing DMS tasks should be stopped and then resumed post-upgrade. For major upgrades, replication slots must be dropped before the upgrade, which will invalidate ongoing DMS tasks. After the upgrade, a new CDC-only task should be created to resume data migration. Minor version upgrades of the target PostgreSQL database do not affect AWS DMS CDC tasks, but major upgrades require stopping the DMS task, performing the upgrade, and ensuring compatibility with the replication instance before resuming the task.

Tech Optimizer

February 27, 2025

Upgrade strategies for Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL and Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL 12

Standard support for Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL-Compatible Edition and Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL version 12 will end on February 28, 2025. The final update for PostgreSQL 12, version 12.22, was released on November 21, 2024. PostgreSQL follows an annual major version release cycle, supporting each version for five years post-release. Upgrading to newer major versions requires careful planning and testing to ensure application compatibility. New features in higher PostgreSQL versions include performance improvements, enhanced security, and new functionalities. Aurora PostgreSQL now supports AWS Graviton4 instances, which provide up to 40% performance improvement over Graviton3 instances. Recommended upgrades include moving to PostgreSQL 16 or newer, with options for in-place upgrades, blue/green deployments, and out-of-place upgrades. Amazon RDS Extended Support allows continued operation on a major version beyond the standard support end date, available at an additional cost. Extended Support for Aurora PostgreSQL 12.x and Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL 12.x will incur charges starting March 1, 2025, and will cease upon upgrading.

Winsage

August 15, 2024

Microsoft stopped nagging some Windows 10 users with full-screen Windows 11 ads

Microsoft plans to broaden Windows 11 upgrades for eligible Windows 10 users as support for Windows 10 nears its end. Initially, the strategy involved displaying full-screen ads to promote the upgrade, which faced significant backlash. In response, Microsoft announced it would stop these intrusive ads on eligible Windows 10 devices with the April 2024 security update. However, a specific timeline for the Windows 11 upgrade for non-managed domain-joined devices is still unclear. Regular users may still encounter prominent Windows 11 advertisements when restarting their machines.