In a past blog post, I gave the definition of software as being enterprise-grade in the following manner:
A piece of software is enterprise-grade when it caters to the needs of not a single individual, nor a select group of individuals, but the whole organization.
When applied to database management systems, an enterprise database is an implementation of database software that serves the organization by managing their humongous collection of data. It must be robust enough to handle queries from hundreds to tens of thousands of users at a time. It must also have a host of features that are geared towards improving the productivity and efficiency of the organization, such as multi-processing, parallel queries, and clustering, to name a few.
To tease it out a little bit further, I would like to propose that a database implementation is “enterprise” when it possesses the following attributes:
1. A database engine that has proven itself in a multitude of business applications globally in a span of decades
2. Able to meet strict SLAs (at least 5 nines) through high availability and failover mechanisms
3. Monitoring
4. Backup and Recovery Management
5. Connection Pooling
Traditionally, enterprise database implementations have been costly investments and organizations have been willing to pay the price given the criticality of data to any business endeavor. But given the current economic climate brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the perennial need for businesses to streamline costs in order to divert savings into the core business, many are asking: Is there a better, more cost-efficient way of implementing a database solution without sacrificing enterprise-ness?
The answer is most certainly! Let me introduce you to PostgrEX.
What is PostgrEX?
What is PostgrEX?
PostgrEX is shorthand for Postgres EXIST Enterprise Xpertise.
It is an enterprise-grade database platform built on top of a purely open-source technology stack and is part of EXIST Software Labs Inc.’s Data Solutions.
What are the components of PostgrEX?
1. Scoping and sizing of DB hardware
We will recommend the hardware specifications (memory, CPU, storage, networking, etc.) that will be optimal for your business requirements based on the current and projected data growth, the total number of users, total concurrent users, largest table size, largest query size, etc.
2. Installation
We will install the database system, along with the high availability/failover, monitoring, backup/recovery, and connection pooling components.
3. Optimization
We will optimize the database configuration settings for the best possible performance given the hardware available.
4. High Availability/Failover/Disaster Recovery
We will set up replication between the Postgres database servers (streaming replication, WAL log-shipping, or a combination of both) in the Main site and we can also set up replication to a DR site.
We will also set up and configure Patroni, etcd, and HAProxy as part of the failover mechanism of the system.
5. Monitoring
We will install, set up, and configure pgCluu as the default DB cluster monitoring tool.
6. Backup and Recovery
We will install, set up, and configure Barman as the default DB backup and recovery management tool.
7. Connection Pooling
We will install, set up, and configure pgBouncer as the default DB connection pooling tool.
8. Query Optimization
We can also provide query optimization services to your Developers in order to ensure tip-top application performance.
9. Migration to Postgres
We can migrate your existing SQL Server, MySQL, and Oracle databases to Postgres CE.
What are the technologies used by PostgrEX?
1. Database
Postgres, or PostgreSQL, is arguably the best open-source object-relational database management system available today. It was DB-Engine’s “DB-of-the-Year” for 2 years straight (2017 and 2018), and has proven itself in mission-critical applications across all industry verticals.
2. High Availability and Failover
Patroni – an open-source Python application that handles Postgres configuration and is ideal for HA applications. See Patroni documentation.
etcd – a fault-tolerant, distributed key-value store that is used to store the state of the Postgres cluster. See etcd documentation.
HAProxy – provides a single endpoint to which you can connect the application. It forwards the connection to whichever node is currently the master. It does this using a REST endpoint provided by Patroni. Patroni ensures that, at any given time, only the master Postgres node will appear as online, forcing HAProxy to connect to the correct node. See HAProxy documentation.
3. Monitoring
pgCluu – a lightweight, open-source Postgres monitoring and auditing tool. See pgCluu documentation.
4. Backup and Recovery
Barman – an open-source backup and recovery management tool. See Barman documentation.
5. Connection Pooling
pgBouncer – a lightweight, open-source connection pooler for Postgres. See pgBouncer documentation.
Moving Forward with PostgrEX
Is your organization ready to face the challenges of an uncertain future? Having enough money in the bank is certainly a top priority and doing away with unnecessary and exorbitantly-priced database license costs is one way of doing this.
With PostgrEX, your business applications can still enjoy industry-recognized, top-level, enterprise database excellence through the use of expertly-configured, purely open-source technologies. This means you get to keep your kidney to live and fight another day—and many other days!
Contact us for more information.
