PgConf.Russia 2020

If you care about Postgres performance, there are a number of hardware acceleration options to help with different use cases. Intel Optane DC persistent memory creates new tier in data hierarchy allowing developers to utilize performance of traditional memory combining with volume and persistency of block storage devices. Unlike traditional DRAM-only in-memory systems, where memory is small, expensive, and volatile, Intel Optane DC persistent memory makes it possible to run larger Postgres databases (terabytes) in memory for higher performance. FPGAs are integrated circuits that can be reprogrammed dynamically to accelerate a specific workload such as SQL execution and data compression. FPGA accelerators extend Postgres with hundreds of SQL reader and writer processes that work in parallel on the FPGA. It’s similar to adding hundreds new cores to boost parallel processing on your server.

Last year I made a talk about unexpected PostgreSQL bottlenecks, which could make sad surprise to user (or DBA). Feedback to my talk was very positive. Additionally I have new material after year. This is why I'm making a sequel including new unexpected situations when your database hangs. This time focus will be on multicore hardware platforms, but not only them.

Locking is critical for providing high concurrency for any database — you cannot fully utilize your hardware if locking is throttling its use. This talk explores all aspects of locking in Postgres by showing queries and their locks; covered lock types include row, table, shared, exclusive, and advisory lock types. The high concurrency provided by Multiversion Concurrency Control (MVCC) is also covered.

Slides are at https://momjian.us/main/writings/pgsql/locking.pdf

When migrating data from one DBMS to another, the question arises: choose a third-party tool or to program the migration yourself? Companies, trying to grow competencies within themselves, choose the second option. And they come across the "invention of their own bicycles". However, the market has powerful free data migration tools. One such tool is Pentaho Data Integration, part of the Pentaho Community Edition. The report will discuss the use of this package for data migration between Oracle and PostgreSQL. Particular attention will be paid to the problems with using this tool, and to the tasks of testing for the completeness and integrity of migrated data.

Small video illustration: