This guide is designed to help platform engineers, software developers, Kubernetes specialists, and network engineers understand the essential PostgreSQL concepts and architecture that affect day-to-day operations.
- Platform engineers
- Kubernetes/Infrastructure specialists
- Software developers
- Network engineers
- Anyone operating PostgreSQL in production environments
Understanding PostgreSQL's process model, backend processes, auxiliary processes, and connection management.
Shared buffers, work memory, maintenance work memory, and how PostgreSQL uses memory.
Multi-Version Concurrency Control, transaction isolation levels, visibility, VACUUM, autovacuum, and bloat management.
Write-Ahead Logging, checkpoints, durability, and crash recovery.
5. Replication
Streaming replication, replication slots, synchronous vs asynchronous replication, failover concepts.
Physical layout, PGDATA directory structure, configuration file management, TOAST, fillfactor, and storage management.
Essential views, key metrics, and logging configuration for production operations.
Backup strategies, PITR, modern tools, and disaster recovery concepts.
pg_upgrade, logical replication for upgrades, extension management, and version policies.
Critical postgresql.conf parameters, authentication, and workload-specific tuning.
Practical solutions for replication lag, connection issues, and disk space problems.
Roles, privileges, SSL/TLS, audit logging, and row-level security.
Hypertables, chunks, compression, continuous aggregates, and operational considerations.
Each topic is structured as follows:
- What is it? - Core concepts explained
- Why it matters - Operational impact and importance
- How to monitor - Practical queries and metrics
- Common problems - Symptoms and solutions
- References - Official documentation and resources
Start with topics relevant to your current challenges, or read sequentially for comprehensive understanding.
This is a living document. If you find gaps, errors, or have suggestions for improvement, please contribute.
- expand patroni session into a whole chapter