PGConf.Russia 2025

The execution time of SQL queries depends on factors like indexes and up-to-date statistics. In most cases, optimizing slow queries helps resolve database performance issues.

But what if classic query optimization doesn’t work? What if the system keeps behaving unpredictably — or worse, crashes, leading to frustration, panic, and even despair?

In this talk, we’ll explore how Postgres Professional’s performance engineers tackle these challenges, look at the tools they use, what’s still missing, and where PostgreSQL performance optimization is headed

In PostgreSQL performance testing, benchmarks measure query execution time (latency). To get more reliable results, queries are executed repeatedly, generating a dataset of latency values. Performance is often assessed using standard metrics like the median or mean, but we propose a more advanced approach.

In practice, latency distributions are often multimodal, consisting of multiple underlying distributions with distinct characteristics. In such cases, traditional statistical methods are insufficient, requiring a more detailed analysis of the dataset’s structure.

Our work presents a tool that automatically performs statistical analysis of benchmark results, accounting for dataset-specific features. It detects multimodality, identifies the number and boundaries of dominant modes, and determines key distribution parameters—providing deeper insights into PostgreSQL performance variations.

As part of the import substitution process, we encountered the need to find a reliable alternative to Oracle. PostgreSQL was considered the primary candidate for replacement, but during the research, the "vanilla" version revealed a number of critical limitations that hindered a successful transition.

These issues included support for autonomous transactions, batch variables, and several other specifics. What is special about pg_settings? Why do we need autonomous transactions, and how do HOLD cursors relate to this? These and other topics will be discussed in our presentation, where we will also share our experience of implementing Postgres Pro Enterprise.

There are many administrator consoles out there, ranging from the old-school DBeaver to the ubiquitous pgAdmin. However, we decided to create another one. Why?

In this talk, you’ll learn:

• How can a single installation manage tens of thousands of database instances.

• How many users can the console support.

• How can you inventory your infrastructure without losing your sanity.

• How do you integrate into an existing environment without starting from scratch.

• How to build a security model that earns the trust of leading banks and telecom operators.

• How can you get hands-on experience with all of this.