Nik Samokhvalov (@samokhvalov) / X

Nik Samokhvalov

13.4K posts

Nik Samokhvalov

@samokhvalov

Self-driving Postgres @postgres_ai // @PostgresFM // I stand with Ukraine

California, USA

Joined January 2015

Pinned
Nik Samokhvalov
@samokhvalov
May 31
"you can't have superuser" "you can't install that extension" "you can't access WAL" "it's for your protection!" no. it's free software -- handed back to you with the freedom removed, and the cage painted as safety Postgres is free. that freedom is the whole point. you
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Nik Samokhvalov
@samokhvalov
Jul 14, 2023
If you're still new to @PostgreSQL, here are some useful info bits from me: 1) tuples are physical versions of rows; you can start understanding them by selecting hidden columns ctid, xmin, xmax (all tables have them); start looking at this as early as possible, and later you
247K
Nik Samokhvalov
@samokhvalov
Aug 19, 2023
|￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣| Just use Postgres |＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿| \ (•◡•) / \ /
100K
Nik Samokhvalov
@samokhvalov
Sep 26, 2023
I'm going to start a @PostgreSQL marathon: each day I'll be posting a new "howto" recipe. Today is the day zero, and the first post is here. My goal is to create at least 365 posts 😎 Why am I doing it? 1) Postgres docs are awesome but often lack practical pieces of advice
Nik Samokhvalov
@samokhvalov
Sep 26, 2023
When analyzing Postgres query execution plans, I always recommend using the BUFFERS option: explain (analyze, buffers) <query>; Example: test=# explain (analyze, buffers) select * from t1 where num > 10000 order by num limit 1000; QUERY PLAN
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Nik Samokhvalov
@samokhvalov
Aug 1, 2023
There is Postgres the database system, and there is Postgres the ecosystem. Just Postgres DBMS itself is almost never enough. You also need a pooler (eg pgBouncer), as discussed it that thread. But not only. The other must-have components for any full-fledged setup are: - a
dax
@thdxr
Aug 1, 2023
given @PlanetScale exists i think people assume the equivalent for postgres is a similar effort that's inevitable but there's a few major differences that make it quite different ran into one of them when doing a slightly non-standard deployment of postgres once - details below
172K
Nik Samokhvalov
@samokhvalov
Aug 21, 2023
Some @PostgreSQL footguns: - default configuration - long transactions mixed with OLTP workload - repmgr (and other HA tools not based on consensus algorithms) - LISTEN/NOTIFY - "pg_dump is a utility for backing up a PostgreSQL database" says the official doc - moving/copying
133K
Nik Samokhvalov
@samokhvalov
Sep 9, 2023
The pure zero downtime, zero data loss upgrade of @PostgreSQL 12->14 of several multi-terabyte, heavily-loaded clusters, with support of zero downtime, zero data loss return to the cluster – a great example of what's possible. And great coordinated work by multiple teams 🎉 🐘
GitLab.com Status
@gitlabstatus
Sep 9, 2023
Automated by @gitlab
GitLab.com planned maintenance for the database layer is complete. We'll be monitoring the platform to ensure all systems are functioning correctly. Thank you for your patience. status.gitlab.com
136K
Nik Samokhvalov
@samokhvalov
Sep 15, 2023
(if everyone writes a ton about pg16 why can't I) @PostgreSQL 16 is a groundbreaking update that incorporates a host of novel features aimed at pushing the boundaries of database management. My favorite new features: 1) The new "... LIMIT +infinity;" syntax is now supported,
126K
Nik Samokhvalov
@samokhvalov
Sep 7, 2024
finally someone made it – tetris in @PostgreSQL, [almost] in pure SQL, with recursive CTEs github.com/nuno-faria/tet… HN: news.ycombinator.com/item?id=414448… UPD: the repo's README is amazing
GIF
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Nik Samokhvalov
@samokhvalov
Mar 29, 2025
Awesome read: 30 years of PostgreSQL buffer manager locking design evolution medium.com/@dichenldc/30-…
20K
Nik Samokhvalov
@samokhvalov
Jun 2, 2023
The slide deck of my tutorial "Modern Postgres monitoring" at @PGCon: bit.ly/pg-monitoring
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Nik Samokhvalov
@samokhvalov
Sep 26, 2020
A great talk from the author of the most noticeable performance-related feature in @PostgreSQL 13, btree deduplication. A must-see. "B-tree — learn more about the heart of PostgreSQL", Anastasia Lubennikova (video, 35 min) youtu.be/n5-xEEQFqPY
Nik Samokhvalov
@samokhvalov
Apr 30, 2024
What's your go-to @PostgreSQL performance optimization trick that never fails?
77K
Nik Samokhvalov
@samokhvalov
Oct 11, 2023
#PostgresMarathon day 15: How to monitor CREATE INDEX / REINDEX progress in Postgres 12+ // I post a new @PostgreSQL "howto" article every day. Join me in this journey – subscribe, provide feedback, share! To monitor the progress of long-running index building or rebuilding,
GIF
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