Pinned
Every now and then I stumble across an underrated article.
An example: "Measuring Latencies Between AWS Availability Zones" (link below). An incredible resource for anyone building on AWS.
What are your favorite, lesser-known blogs?
www.bitsand.cloud/posts/cross-...
An example: "Measuring Latencies Between AWS Availability Zones" (link below). An incredible resource for anyone building on AWS.
What are your favorite, lesser-known blogs?
www.bitsand.cloud/posts/cross-...
November 28, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Every now and then I stumble across an underrated article.
An example: "Measuring Latencies Between AWS Availability Zones" (link below). An incredible resource for anyone building on AWS.
What are your favorite, lesser-known blogs?
www.bitsand.cloud/posts/cross-...
An example: "Measuring Latencies Between AWS Availability Zones" (link below). An incredible resource for anyone building on AWS.
What are your favorite, lesser-known blogs?
www.bitsand.cloud/posts/cross-...
On a managed database, YOU benefit from the shared experience of the entire fleet.
There's tons of hard-to-predict issues. Intermittent AWS network lag. PG + MySQL edge cases. etc.
PlanetScale continually hardens our systems against these problems, and all customers win.
There's tons of hard-to-predict issues. Intermittent AWS network lag. PG + MySQL edge cases. etc.
PlanetScale continually hardens our systems against these problems, and all customers win.
November 26, 2025 at 5:10 PM
On a managed database, YOU benefit from the shared experience of the entire fleet.
There's tons of hard-to-predict issues. Intermittent AWS network lag. PG + MySQL edge cases. etc.
PlanetScale continually hardens our systems against these problems, and all customers win.
There's tons of hard-to-predict issues. Intermittent AWS network lag. PG + MySQL edge cases. etc.
PlanetScale continually hardens our systems against these problems, and all customers win.
Postgres supports point-in-time recovery: the ability to "travel back in time" to a previous database state.
This works via a combination of backup-restores and WAL replay.
This works via a combination of backup-restores and WAL replay.
November 24, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Postgres supports point-in-time recovery: the ability to "travel back in time" to a previous database state.
This works via a combination of backup-restores and WAL replay.
This works via a combination of backup-restores and WAL replay.
These graphs never get old.
Depot uses one of my favorite tools, PlanetScale Insights, to drill in on query performance issues and address them via schema change DRs.
Depot uses one of my favorite tools, PlanetScale Insights, to drill in on query performance issues and address them via schema change DRs.
November 23, 2025 at 9:41 PM
These graphs never get old.
Depot uses one of my favorite tools, PlanetScale Insights, to drill in on query performance issues and address them via schema change DRs.
Depot uses one of my favorite tools, PlanetScale Insights, to drill in on query performance issues and address them via schema change DRs.
Bf-trees are a high-performance alternative to the classic B-tree.
The key contribution: Decoupling the size of on-disk pages from the size of memory cache entries.
I'm curious if/when MySQL and Postgres will adopt modern versions of classic indexes.
The key contribution: Decoupling the size of on-disk pages from the size of memory cache entries.
I'm curious if/when MySQL and Postgres will adopt modern versions of classic indexes.
November 23, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Bf-trees are a high-performance alternative to the classic B-tree.
The key contribution: Decoupling the size of on-disk pages from the size of memory cache entries.
I'm curious if/when MySQL and Postgres will adopt modern versions of classic indexes.
The key contribution: Decoupling the size of on-disk pages from the size of memory cache entries.
I'm curious if/when MySQL and Postgres will adopt modern versions of classic indexes.
Reposted by Ben
Postgres databases now come with LLM-powered index recommendations.
Indexes are crucial for database performance, and these recommendations help ensure your queries are executing optimally.
Read about how we built this:
planetscale.com/blog/postgre...
Indexes are crucial for database performance, and these recommendations help ensure your queries are executing optimally.
Read about how we built this:
planetscale.com/blog/postgre...
AI-Powered Postgres index suggestions — PlanetScale
Introducing AI-powered index suggestions for PostgreSQL
planetscale.com
November 21, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Postgres databases now come with LLM-powered index recommendations.
Indexes are crucial for database performance, and these recommendations help ensure your queries are executing optimally.
Read about how we built this:
planetscale.com/blog/postgre...
Indexes are crucial for database performance, and these recommendations help ensure your queries are executing optimally.
Read about how we built this:
planetscale.com/blog/postgre...
Intercom is powered by nearly 1000 MySQL instances. Sharding brought to you by Vitess.
Amazing talk by Eugene Kenny at SF Ruby conf.
Amazing talk by Eugene Kenny at SF Ruby conf.
November 21, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Intercom is powered by nearly 1000 MySQL instances. Sharding brought to you by Vitess.
Amazing talk by Eugene Kenny at SF Ruby conf.
Amazing talk by Eugene Kenny at SF Ruby conf.
What are your favorite technical papers?
I want to do some livestreams going over papers as a group.
Much like my grad-school days of sitting in a classroom and discussing design tradeoffs of popular tech literature.
I want to do some livestreams going over papers as a group.
Much like my grad-school days of sitting in a classroom and discussing design tradeoffs of popular tech literature.
November 20, 2025 at 7:01 AM
What are your favorite technical papers?
I want to do some livestreams going over papers as a group.
Much like my grad-school days of sitting in a classroom and discussing design tradeoffs of popular tech literature.
I want to do some livestreams going over papers as a group.
Much like my grad-school days of sitting in a classroom and discussing design tradeoffs of popular tech literature.
Postgres uses TOAST to store large, variable-sized data values like JSONB and TEXT.
Using it impacts performance, so you gotta know the tradeoffs.
Using it impacts performance, so you gotta know the tradeoffs.
November 19, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Postgres uses TOAST to store large, variable-sized data values like JSONB and TEXT.
Using it impacts performance, so you gotta know the tradeoffs.
Using it impacts performance, so you gotta know the tradeoffs.
Reposted by Ben
Don't be alarmed, I won't be blogging daily, but I did just publish a second article in as many days.
Everything is lock-in
rcrowley.org/2025/everyth...
Everything is lock-in
rcrowley.org/2025/everyth...
Everything is lock-in — Richard Crowley
rcrowley.org
November 17, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Don't be alarmed, I won't be blogging daily, but I did just publish a second article in as many days.
Everything is lock-in
rcrowley.org/2025/everyth...
Everything is lock-in
rcrowley.org/2025/everyth...
S3 is powered by millions of HDDs.
This Andy Warfield article is a fascinating look under the covers one of the largest storage systems on earth.
I particularly enjoyed the discussion of scaling both the technology and ones self as an engineer.
www.allthingsdistributed.com/2023/07/buil...
This Andy Warfield article is a fascinating look under the covers one of the largest storage systems on earth.
I particularly enjoyed the discussion of scaling both the technology and ones self as an engineer.
www.allthingsdistributed.com/2023/07/buil...
November 17, 2025 at 2:50 PM
S3 is powered by millions of HDDs.
This Andy Warfield article is a fascinating look under the covers one of the largest storage systems on earth.
I particularly enjoyed the discussion of scaling both the technology and ones self as an engineer.
www.allthingsdistributed.com/2023/07/buil...
This Andy Warfield article is a fascinating look under the covers one of the largest storage systems on earth.
I particularly enjoyed the discussion of scaling both the technology and ones self as an engineer.
www.allthingsdistributed.com/2023/07/buil...
Biggest takeaway from KubeCon: People want Neki badly.
We're building the solution for scaling and managing huge Postgres databases.
More to come, but in the meantime: neki.dev
We're building the solution for scaling and managing huge Postgres databases.
More to come, but in the meantime: neki.dev
Neki - Sign Up
Join Neki and stay updated with our latest news and updates.
neki.dev
November 14, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Biggest takeaway from KubeCon: People want Neki badly.
We're building the solution for scaling and managing huge Postgres databases.
More to come, but in the meantime: neki.dev
We're building the solution for scaling and managing huge Postgres databases.
More to come, but in the meantime: neki.dev
PlanetScale Insights is amazing.
Correlating schema/config changes and performance has never been easier.
The perfect tool for squeezing every ounce of performance out of your database resources.
Correlating schema/config changes and performance has never been easier.
The perfect tool for squeezing every ounce of performance out of your database resources.
November 13, 2025 at 2:49 PM
PlanetScale Insights is amazing.
Correlating schema/config changes and performance has never been easier.
The perfect tool for squeezing every ounce of performance out of your database resources.
Correlating schema/config changes and performance has never been easier.
The perfect tool for squeezing every ounce of performance out of your database resources.
Postgres handles MVCC with per-row transaction ID metadata.
Every row (tuple) you insert into a Postgres table includes xmin and xmax metadata. xmin is the transaction that created the row, and xmax the one that updates or deleted it.
Every row (tuple) you insert into a Postgres table includes xmin and xmax metadata. xmin is the transaction that created the row, and xmax the one that updates or deleted it.
November 12, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Postgres handles MVCC with per-row transaction ID metadata.
Every row (tuple) you insert into a Postgres table includes xmin and xmax metadata. xmin is the transaction that created the row, and xmax the one that updates or deleted it.
Every row (tuple) you insert into a Postgres table includes xmin and xmax metadata. xmin is the transaction that created the row, and xmax the one that updates or deleted it.
Not all CPUs are created equal.
This latency graph shows a r6id → i7i upgrade. Same vCPU count. Same amount of RAM. Both using local SSDs.
Upgrading to a newer instance makes a big difference.
This latency graph shows a r6id → i7i upgrade. Same vCPU count. Same amount of RAM. Both using local SSDs.
Upgrading to a newer instance makes a big difference.
November 10, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Not all CPUs are created equal.
This latency graph shows a r6id → i7i upgrade. Same vCPU count. Same amount of RAM. Both using local SSDs.
Upgrading to a newer instance makes a big difference.
This latency graph shows a r6id → i7i upgrade. Same vCPU count. Same amount of RAM. Both using local SSDs.
Upgrading to a newer instance makes a big difference.
The database community needs better benchmarks.
TPCC is widely used for OLTP, but was published in 1992.
Who's working on this? What do you want to see in a modern OLTP benchmark?
TPCC is widely used for OLTP, but was published in 1992.
Who's working on this? What do you want to see in a modern OLTP benchmark?
November 9, 2025 at 1:41 PM
The database community needs better benchmarks.
TPCC is widely used for OLTP, but was published in 1992.
Who's working on this? What do you want to see in a modern OLTP benchmark?
TPCC is widely used for OLTP, but was published in 1992.
Who's working on this? What do you want to see in a modern OLTP benchmark?
What happens when you INSERT a row in Postgres?
Postgres needs to ensure that data is durable while maintaining good write performance + crash recovery ability. The key is in the Write-Ahead Log (WAL).
Postgres needs to ensure that data is durable while maintaining good write performance + crash recovery ability. The key is in the Write-Ahead Log (WAL).
November 7, 2025 at 3:47 PM
What happens when you INSERT a row in Postgres?
Postgres needs to ensure that data is durable while maintaining good write performance + crash recovery ability. The key is in the Write-Ahead Log (WAL).
Postgres needs to ensure that data is durable while maintaining good write performance + crash recovery ability. The key is in the Write-Ahead Log (WAL).
PlanetScale now supports PgBouncers (connection poolers) for your replicas.
Connection pooling is broadly important for databases, but especially for Postgres because of its process-per-connection architecture.
Don't know what that means? I have the perfect article!
Connection pooling is broadly important for databases, but especially for Postgres because of its process-per-connection architecture.
Don't know what that means? I have the perfect article!
November 6, 2025 at 6:59 PM
PlanetScale now supports PgBouncers (connection poolers) for your replicas.
Connection pooling is broadly important for databases, but especially for Postgres because of its process-per-connection architecture.
Don't know what that means? I have the perfect article!
Connection pooling is broadly important for databases, but especially for Postgres because of its process-per-connection architecture.
Don't know what that means? I have the perfect article!
Much of the the internet runs on Elastic Block Storage.
It's the default (and in most cases, required) storage layer for every EC2 instance running in AWS.
This article by Marc Olson was a delightful read on its history and engineering challenges.
www.allthingsdistributed.com/2024/08/cont...
It's the default (and in most cases, required) storage layer for every EC2 instance running in AWS.
This article by Marc Olson was a delightful read on its history and engineering challenges.
www.allthingsdistributed.com/2024/08/cont...
November 6, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Much of the the internet runs on Elastic Block Storage.
It's the default (and in most cases, required) storage layer for every EC2 instance running in AWS.
This article by Marc Olson was a delightful read on its history and engineering challenges.
www.allthingsdistributed.com/2024/08/cont...
It's the default (and in most cases, required) storage layer for every EC2 instance running in AWS.
This article by Marc Olson was a delightful read on its history and engineering challenges.
www.allthingsdistributed.com/2024/08/cont...
Want to understand B-trees better?
Try btree.app and bplustree.app.
These are standalone sandboxes of the visuals I built for my "B-trees and database indexes" article. Helpful for learning B-tree insertion, search, and node splits.
Try btree.app and bplustree.app.
These are standalone sandboxes of the visuals I built for my "B-trees and database indexes" article. Helpful for learning B-tree insertion, search, and node splits.
November 5, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Want to understand B-trees better?
Try btree.app and bplustree.app.
These are standalone sandboxes of the visuals I built for my "B-trees and database indexes" article. Helpful for learning B-tree insertion, search, and node splits.
Try btree.app and bplustree.app.
These are standalone sandboxes of the visuals I built for my "B-trees and database indexes" article. Helpful for learning B-tree insertion, search, and node splits.
Explain is a powerful tool in Postgres.
If you care about performance, get comfortable running `explain` and `explain analyze` commands regularly, and learn how to interpret its output.
This blog is a great intro.
www.depesz.com/2013/04/16/e...
If you care about performance, get comfortable running `explain` and `explain analyze` commands regularly, and learn how to interpret its output.
This blog is a great intro.
www.depesz.com/2013/04/16/e...
November 4, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Explain is a powerful tool in Postgres.
If you care about performance, get comfortable running `explain` and `explain analyze` commands regularly, and learn how to interpret its output.
This blog is a great intro.
www.depesz.com/2013/04/16/e...
If you care about performance, get comfortable running `explain` and `explain analyze` commands regularly, and learn how to interpret its output.
This blog is a great intro.
www.depesz.com/2013/04/16/e...
Reposted by Ben
All the IOPS you can eat, now on a smaller plate.
Coming soon: $50 PlanetScale Metal and the ability to dynamically allocate CPU and memory independent of storage size.
planetscale.com/blog/50-doll...
planetscale.com/blog/50-doll...
$50 PlanetScale Metal — PlanetScale
Introducing $50 PlanetScale Metal
planetscale.com
November 3, 2025 at 7:37 PM
All the IOPS you can eat, now on a smaller plate.
I'm baffled that Postgres logical replication doesn't fully support sequences.
Keeping nextval() in sync shouldn't be that hard. What am I missing?
Keeping nextval() in sync shouldn't be that hard. What am I missing?
November 3, 2025 at 2:42 PM
I'm baffled that Postgres logical replication doesn't fully support sequences.
Keeping nextval() in sync shouldn't be that hard. What am I missing?
Keeping nextval() in sync shouldn't be that hard. What am I missing?
Choose your storage layer carefully!
Elastic Block Storage (EBS) is great for low-I/O workloads, but becomes a bottleneck or cost sink for heavy workloads.
Two common types of EBS are gp3 and io2. Both are network-attached storage backed by SSDs, but have different performance characteristics.
Elastic Block Storage (EBS) is great for low-I/O workloads, but becomes a bottleneck or cost sink for heavy workloads.
Two common types of EBS are gp3 and io2. Both are network-attached storage backed by SSDs, but have different performance characteristics.
November 2, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Choose your storage layer carefully!
Elastic Block Storage (EBS) is great for low-I/O workloads, but becomes a bottleneck or cost sink for heavy workloads.
Two common types of EBS are gp3 and io2. Both are network-attached storage backed by SSDs, but have different performance characteristics.
Elastic Block Storage (EBS) is great for low-I/O workloads, but becomes a bottleneck or cost sink for heavy workloads.
Two common types of EBS are gp3 and io2. Both are network-attached storage backed by SSDs, but have different performance characteristics.