A detailed primer on scaling PostgreSQL via streaming replication (with performance measurements) by Lee Hampton – R&D Engineer at TimescaleDB. Despite popularity of PostgreSQL developers often still choose a non-relational (or “NoSQL”) system over PostgreSQL, typically because of one reason: scale. Most developers still underestimate PostgreSQL native scalability.
When it comes to scalability, author found that developers are typically looking for some combination of the following three requirements:
- Higher insert performance
- Higher read performance
- High availability (technically not related to scale, yet still often cited as a reason)
PostgreSQL already natively supports two of those requirements, higher read performance and high-availability, via a feature called streaming replication. PostgreSQL streaming replication leverages the Write Ahead Log (WAL).
The article then digs deeper into:
- How PostgreSQL streaming replication works
- What Is The WAL Anyway?
- WAL and Replication
- Different Replication Modes For Different Situations
… and much more in this very educational piece. Great work!
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