Enterprise PostgreSQL Solutions

Highlights from PostgreSQL Conference 2024 in Seattle

Introduction PostgreSQL Conference was held on November 6th and 7th, 2024 as part of PASS Data Community Summit in Seattle. Bringing together database enthusiasts, developers, and industry professionals from around the world, the event offered an exceptional platform to delve into all things database. Although nearly a month has passed since I had the opportunity…
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Table Access Method: How Data Update is Handled in PostgreSQL

Introduction In previous blogs, we talked about an overview of PostgreSQL’s table access method API here , how sequential scan is handled within this API here, and how data insertion is handled here. Today in this blog, we will look closely into how PostgreSQL handles update. A successful update in PostgreSQL can be viewed as “insert a new…
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How to Utilize PostgreSQL’s JSONB APIs as a Simple JSON Parser for Your Extension

Introduction In your PostgreSQL extension development based on the C language, you may come across a need to work with structured data like JSON. Naturally, you would probably introduce a third-party JSON parsers such as cJSON or libjannson in your extension. While they are powerful, easy to use and offering many features, it may be…
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PGConf.dev 2024: Shaping the Future of PostgreSQL in Vancouver

Introduction For the first time ever, PGConf.dev (previously known as PGCon from 2007 to 2023) has taken place in the picturesque city of Vancouver, Canada. This rebranded conference brings a fresh perspective and several new additions, elevating the experience beyond its predecessor. While PGCon was traditionally more developer-focused, attracting experienced developers, contributors, and researchers from…
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Understand PostgerSQL’s Portal – Executor vs Process Utility

Introduction When you send a query to PostgreSQL, it normally would go through stages of query processing and return you the results at the end. These stages are known as: I wrote another blog to briefly explain the responsibility of each query processing stage. You can find it here. In this blog. There is one that…
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Bringing IvorySQL to Neon Autoscaling Platform

1. Overview In this blog post, we will guide you through the process of integrating IvorySQL, an open-source database built on PostgreSQL, into Neon Autoscaling Platform. Throughout this guide, we’ll walk you through each step, providing clear instructions and demonstrations. 2. What is IvorySQL “IvorySQL is advanced, fully featured, open source Oracle compatible PostgreSQL with…
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A Deeper Look Inside PostgreSQL Visibility Check Mechanism

What is Visibility? Simply put, the visibility refers to whether a row of data (Heap Tuple by default) should be displayed to the user in certain states, backend processes, or transactions. For example, MVCC (Multi-Version Concurrency Control) is a method in which each write operation creates a “new version” of the data while retaining the…
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How to run TLS regression test in PostgreSQL

1. Overview In my previous blogs, I discussed Setting up a debugging environment in PostgreSQL to better understand OpenSSL APIs, Enhance PostgreSQL TLS Security with OCSP Stapling, and How to setup TLS connection for PostgreSQL. In this blog, I will share a simple procedure about How to run SSL/TLS regression tests in PostgreSQL. 2. Postgres…
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Procedure To Test Multiple Client Certificate Feature

Introduction I shared a patch some time ago that adds a feature on libpq to allow user to supply multiple client certificate pairs. The feature is capable of choosing one client certificate to send to the server (if it requests one) based on the server’s trusted CA certificate settings during TLS handshake. Refer to this…
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Understand PostgreSQL’s Planner – Simple Scan Paths vs Plans

Introduction When you send a query to PostgreSQL, it normally would go through stages of query processing and return you the results at the end. These stages are known as: I wrote another blog to briefly explain the responsibility of each query processing stage. You can find it here. In this blog, we will only…
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Setting up a debugging environment in PostgreSQL to better understand OpenSSL APIs

1. Overview In my previous blog, I discussed how to enhance PostgreSQL TLS security with OCSP Stapling. In this blog, I will share a simple procedure for setting up a gdb debugging environment to dive into TLS connections and gain a better understanding of the OpenSSL APIs used in PostgreSQL. 2. Build OpenSSL with debugging…
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Multiple Client Certificate Selection – a Simple POC

Introduction I recently came across this email thread discussion from several years ago, which discussed ways to enable a client to choose from a list of client certificates to send to the server. The benefit is obvious; when a client has to communicate with different PostgreSQL servers with different TLS settings and trust structure, the…
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Deciphering PostgreSQL Encryption: A Beginner’s Guide

Introduction In this blog, we’ll go over the different methods we can use to encrypt and decrypt data in a PostgreSQL database. Having some experience with Linux and PostgreSQL is necessary, while experience with encryption is not but is nice to have. This blog was written using PostgreSQL 16 running on Ubuntu 23.04. First I’ll…
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Enhance PostgreSQL TLS Security with OCSP Stapling

1. Overview In my previous blog, I discussed how to quickly set up a TLS connection between a PostgreSQL server and a psql client. In this blog, I will guide you through the process of setting up a TLS connection using OCSP Stapling, which can help improve the security of PostgreSQL. 2. What is OCSP…
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A Comprehensive Overview of PostgreSQL Query Processing Stages

Introduction When you send a query to PostgreSQL, it will undergo several processing stages in the backend. Each of these stages has different responsibilities to ensure that you receive correct responses in shortest amount of time possible. Yes, they can be quite large and complex to fully understand but I believe it is important for…
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JSON in PostgreSQL: Revolutionizing Data Flexibility in Your Database

Introduction In this blog, we’ll go over PostgreSQL’s implementation and handling of JSON objects. Having some experience with Linux, Postgres, and JSON is necessary as we’ll not only be going over these new features but also how to implement them. This blog was written using PostgreSQL 16 (Development Version) running on Ubuntu 23.04. First I’ll…
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How to setup TLS connection for PostgreSQL

1. Overview PostgreSQL is a robust open-source database management system, earning the distinction of DBMS of the Year 2023. Users choose for PostgreSQL due to various reasons, such as SQL support, Query Optimization, and Reliability, etc. In this blog, I will guide you through the process of setting up a TLS connection between a PostgreSQL…
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Experiencing a specific table recovery using file-level backup

1. Overview In previous blog post, we discussed the process of performing backup and restore operations using pg_rman. pg_rman is a user-friendly tool that supports full and incremental backups and restores for PostgreSQL, operating at the file level. In this blog, I will guide you through a potential method for restoring a specific table using…
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New in PostgreSQL 16: Bi-Directional Logical Replication

Introduction In this blog, we’ll be going over some more advanced topics new in Postgres 16. Having some experience with Linux, Postgres, and SQL is necessary as we’ll not only be going over these new features but also how to implement them. This blog was written using PostgreSQL 16 (Development Version) running on Ubuntu 23.04.…
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Explore Table Access Method Capabilities: How Data Insertion is Handled

Introduction In previous blogs, we talked about an overview of PostgreSQL’s table access method API here , and how sequential scan is handled within this API here. Today we will explore how data insertion is handled by the table access method API. APIs Involved The main API for handling insertion is called tuple_insert, which points…
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