PostgreSQL by VSHN
PostgreSQL, managed by VSHN for you.
PostgreSQL is a powerful, open source object-relational database system that uses and extends the SQL language combined with many features that safely store and scale the most complicated data workloads. The origins of PostgreSQL date back to 1986 as part of the POSTGRES project at the University of California at Berkeley and has more than 30 years of active development on the core platform.
| The user documentation is available under docs.appcat.ch. |
- Availability of the service
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APPUiO on cloudscale Zones
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Features
Available sizing |
1, 2 or 3 replicas |
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No downtime during Maintenance |
[1] |
Multiple logical databases per instance |
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Multiple users per instance |
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Super-user access |
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Maximum supported size of database |
500 GiB [2] |
Data encryption at rest |
[3] |
Guaranteed performance |
[3] |
High availability |
[1] |
Support |
(see Support Plans) |
The following common features are available as well:
Self-Service Instance Provisioning and Configuration |
Service instances can be self-service ordered and are provisioned fully automated in the background. Access to self-service provisioning is provided via custom Kubernetes configuration objects in the Kubernetes cluster or via Open Service Broker API (on request). |
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Best-Practice Configuration Management |
Services are configured with best practices and the configuration is updated continuously as we learn improvements during day-2 operations and from the community. Industry standards are used for security configuration and wherever possible TLS encrypted connections are offered by default. |
Maintenance and Security Operations |
Patch updates are applied as they get available. We monitor security information for services and apply zero-day patches or workaround configuration as they become available. |
Data Protection and Recovery |
All services offer a regular backup option. See the service descriptions for more details. |
Service Metrics |
Performance metrics are collected regularly and are available as graphs to the user. The metrics are automatically monitored and acted upon irregularities, see Monitoring and Alerting below. |
Monitoring and Alerting |
Service Level Indicators are monitored and alerted upon. Depending on the service level alerts are automatically handled by a VSHNeer. |
Service Logging |
All logs are collected and are available to debug service errors. |
Support by VSHN or Vendor |
Support for all services are available from VSHN support engineers. Depending on the service, additional support by the software vendor or a third-party might be available. |
Supported versions
Supported versions:
See Versioning Policy of the StakGres project to read about more detailed versions support. Once a version isn’t supported anymore by the upstream project, we’ll stop supporting the version as well.
Upgrade Policy
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We continuously add new supported versions from the upstream project.
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We only support a version as long as it’s supported upstream.
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3 months before the support ends ("Final Release") the grace period starts, and you’re urged to upgrade to a supported version.
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Once the support for a service has ended, the service is considered "unmanaged" by VSHN. Meanwhile, the service still continues to run.
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We currently do not offer an in-place upgrade of Major versions. To switch to a newer Major version (for example from version 15 to version 16) a new instance has to be deployed, and the data has to be migrated manually.
| An unmanaged service is a service that is not monitored and SLA doesn’t apply anymore. |
Service Level Indicator (SLI)
PostgreSQL responds to probes (a SQL query) from within the same cluster. The service is considered up, if the SQL query succeeds.
Please refer to Service Levels for further information about service levels. Also, check out "What does SLI / SLA / SLO mean?" for more information about these terms.
Incident Prevention
The capacity of any given instance is monitored. If a threshold is reached, an automated alert is generated to an alert channel of the customer’s choice.
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The configured storage volume is in danger to run full
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The remaining available connections are in danger to run out
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The memory is in danger to run low
Data Protection
Backups can be configured per instance.
By default, backups happen at 22:00 each day (timezone of the cluster) and 6 backups are kept. This schedule and the retention is configurable.
Backups are not encrypted at rest.
Recurring Maintenance
We conduct recurring maintenance tasks on the service to keep it stable and up-to-date.
- Planned Maintenance Activities
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Updating of the base container image with the latest patched version, this causes a service restart.
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If there’s a newer minor version available that does not contain breaking changes, then the service will automatically be updated to that minor version.
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Major upgrades are not automatic.
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Configuration improvements as we learn new best-practices or some configuration proved to be non-optimal.
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- Mandatory Maintenance Activities
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Security issue (CVE) mitigation by updating to a patched version or configuration adjustments, usually causes service restart.
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Regular maintenance on the underlying platform, usually causing up to 2 restarts per replica.
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- Maintenance Windows
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This is an automated recurrence once a week. The day and time can be configured per service instance, whereas by default it is a random time in the night from Tuesday to Wednesday.
Users responsibilities
As a DevOps company, we believe in its collaborative approach. Flawless service is only possible through a sense of responsibility on both sides. Accordingly, we rely on the user to consider the following points:
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Choose reasonably sized resources for the software consuming the service
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Act early when an increase in service usage is foreseen (for example increase resources)
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Rely on best-practices for using the service
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Choose a matching service level for your use-case
Behind the scenes
This service is provided by StackGres. Service instances are running on the same Kubernetes cluster as the service instance was ordered in.
Pricing
| Service Level | Single | Replicated (2 instances) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
CHF 0.11111 / h |
CHF 80.00 / 30d |
CHF 0.22222 / h |
CHF 160.00 / 30d |
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CHF 0.33333 / h |
CHF 240.00 / 30d |
CHF 0.66666 / h |
CHF 480.00 / 30d |
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The computing resources required for the service are not included in the price and charged additionally.
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"Replicated" are instances with a replication factor of 2.
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For pricing, each additional replica counts as one additional instance.
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Support is available at additional cost via Support Plans.
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These prices are valid starting 2023-04-01 until further notice.
See Pricing for more details.
Available PostgreSQL extensions
Please check StackGres' list of extensions.
Alternatively a list is available directly in the database with select * from pg_available_extensions;.
To use an extension in your database, consult the documentation on CREATE EXTENSION — install an extension.
Service Maturity
This section describes the maturity of this service. We are constantly improving it and adding more features to the service.
✅ |
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✅ |
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✅ |
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✅ |
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✅ |
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✅ |
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✅ |
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✅ |
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✅ |
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✅ |
FAQ
- What do I need to get the service?
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Currently the service is available on APPUiO and Managed OpenShift. Once you have access to such a cluster, it’s a matter of creating a Kubernetes object to order a service instance. In the getting started guide you’ll find all the information you need to get started.
- Where do I get it?
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As mentioned in the previous answer, the service is available on APPUiO and Managed OpenShift.
- Are there any extra costs?
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Yes, there are usage costs associated with the service. Please refer to VSHN AppCat Services Pricing for further information.
- Who will set it up?
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All services are available in full self-service. There is no need to open a ticket and wait until the service is provisioned, it’s available immediately.
- What do I need to do?
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The user documentation explains everything you need to know.
- Can I get it myself or do I need to contact anyone?
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There is no need to contact anyone, just follow the instructions on docs.appcat.ch and you’ll be up and running in no time.
- How can it be integrated in my environment?
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Services are available right now on APPUiO and Managed OpenShift. If you want these services on your environment, please contact us and we’ll help you get started.
- How can I get support?
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You can either open a ticket on our customer portal or send an email to support@vshn.ch. Please note that support is only available with our support plans.