PgConf.Russia 2016

B-tree is the most widely used index type in PostgreSQL. This data structure and concerned algorithms are developed about forty years ago. But there is still an area for optimisations. In this presentation I'm going to talk about B-tree data structure, and its features important for the optimal index usage. Furthermore, I'll present a couple of new features which are expected to be included in PostgreSQL 9.6 release.

We'll discuss how does Linux work with virtual memory. The following topics will be covered: * x86-64 page table, context switch and page fault; * internals of virtual memory management (VMM) in Linux; * page eviction methods in Linux, page cache and anonymous pages; * huge and gigantic pages, transparent huge pages; * how mmap(2) works and what madvise(2), msync(2) etc. provide; * why large databases don't use mmap(2), but rather implement buffer pool on their own; * ans surely how to tune Linux VMM using sysctl.

My experience of working with PostgreSQL has provided clear understanding of its main advantages, making us choose and recommend choosing it.
1. Beginning
2. Documentation
3. Community
4.1 Transactional DDL
4.2 WAL and True Physical Replication
4.3 Transactional Snapshot and True Logical Replication and PGQ
4.4 Exciting extensibility
5. Success