Tech Notes

Tech tips and new discoveries

Why Databases Reach for B+ Trees

Why B+ trees became the default on-disk index structure for relational databases, and where they do not work well.

DatabasesPostgreSQLPerformance
Reading PostgreSQL Execution Plans with EXPLAIN ANALYZE

How I read EXPLAIN ANALYZE output in PostgreSQL: node types, bad row estimates, and how to use the plan to fix a query.

PostgreSQLDatabasesPerformance
PostgreSQL Scales Further Than Most People Think

How to get more out of a single PostgreSQL instance before you move to a distributed database or a rewrite.

PostgreSQLDatabaseLinux
How to Upgrade PostgreSQL Without Losing Data

The three ways to upgrade a PostgreSQL major version: pg_dump, pg_upgrade, and logical replication, and the problems you can hit with each one.

PostgreSQLLinuxDocker