Database Insights

Walk through PostgreSQL's multi-process architecture, shared/local memory layout, page-organized storage, MVCC tuple versioning, the WAL write path, the query execution pipeline, and physical + logical replication — all with ASCII flow diagrams that show how data and control actually move through the system.

Understand how PostgreSQL TOAST stores large columns, diagnose TOAST bloat with SQL, choose the right storage strategy, and use LZ4 compression in PG14+.

Learn how to convert a standalone PostgreSQL instance to a Patroni high-availability cluster with etcd. Step-by-step guide covering installation, configuration, and failover testing.

Build selective, cross-version PostgreSQL replication with logical replication. Learn publications, subscriptions, conflict handling, and real-world use cases.

Tune PostgreSQL WAL for durability and performance. Covers synchronous_commit tradeoffs, checkpoint frequency monitoring, WAL archiving, and full_page_writes safety.

Logical replication in PostgreSQL has a critical gap: slots do not survive failover. PostgreSQL 17 finally fixes this with failover slots, plus adds row and column filtering for selective replication.

Configure PostgreSQL logical replication for selective table sync and zero-downtime major version upgrades. Covers publications, subscriptions, and replication slot monitoring.

Set up PostgreSQL streaming replication from scratch. Covers primary configuration, standby base backup, replication monitoring, and manual failover promotion.

PostgreSQL 17 is one of the most impactful releases in years. Incremental backups, vacuum improvements, logical replication failover slots, and planner enhancements are all production-critical changes.

pg_dump takes 4 hours on your 200GB database. pg_basebackup takes 20 minutes and enables point-in-time recovery to any second. Learn to set up WAL archiving, take base backups, and execute a PITR restore.