PostgreSQL “configuration file contains errors” — Don’t Panic, Here’s What’s Really Happening

Introduction When PostgreSQL logs show “configuration file contains errors” after a pg_reload_conf(), most DBAs immediately fear the worst. We were in the middle of a PostgreSQL performance tuning exercise — sequential scan audit, memory configuration review, the usual production DBA drill. After carefully calculating safe values for random_page_cost, effective_cache_size, work_mem, and wal_buffers, we fired off Read more about PostgreSQL “configuration file contains errors” — Don’t Panic, Here’s What’s Really Happening[…]

PostgreSQL performance diagram: parallel seq scan vs index scan impact on cache hit ratio

Why PostgreSQL Cache Hit Ratio Keeps Dropping: The Missing Index Problem

Recently, we encountered a perplexing situation with one of our production PostgreSQL systems. The buffer cache hit ratio, which had been consistently above 95%, started gradually declining – hovering around 90% and continuing to drop. The strange part? No slow query alerts, no CPU saturation, no memory pressure warnings. Everything looked normal on the surface. Read more about Why PostgreSQL Cache Hit Ratio Keeps Dropping: The Missing Index Problem[…]

PostgreSQL Scaling: What OpenAI Proved Wrong at 800M Users

By Sanjeeva Kumar | Senior Oracle DBA & Database ArchitectPublished: February 2026 | Reading time: 8 minutes The Scaling Advice That’s Costing You Millions I’ve been a DBA for over 20 years. Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL—I’ve scaled them all. And I’m here to tell you something that might save your company millions of dollars and months Read more about PostgreSQL Scaling: What OpenAI Proved Wrong at 800M Users[…]

Architecture comparison showing complex specialized vector database setup versus simple PostgreSQL pgvector unified solution for AI workloads

Why PostgreSQL Beat Specialized Vector Databases: A DBA’s Perspective

Last Updated: December 2025 | By Sanjeeva Kumar | 20+ Years in Database Systems The Plot Twist Nobody Saw Coming Two weeks ago, PostgreSQL’s pgvector extension released version 0.8.0. Within days, the entire vector database market collectively held its breath. Why? Because that “old guard” relational database just made billion-dollar vector database startups look like Read more about Why PostgreSQL Beat Specialized Vector Databases: A DBA’s Perspective[…]

pgvector extension for PostgreSQL enabling vector similarity search and AI embeddings storage with neural network visualization

PostgreSQL as Vector Database: Complete pgvector Installation & Configuration Guide [2026]

Last Updated: April 10, 2026Tested On: PostgreSQL 16.1, pgvector 0.8.1 The explosion of AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) has created massive demand for vector databases. Instead of adopting a new specialized database, you can transform PostgreSQL into a powerful vector database using pgvector. This guide shows you exactly how to install, configure, and use Read more about PostgreSQL as Vector Database: Complete pgvector Installation & Configuration Guide [2026][…]

PostgreSQL Read-Only User: Complete Permission Setup Guide

Are you struggling with PostgreSQL read-only user permissions? This step-by-step guide will show you exactly how to create and configure read-only users in PostgreSQL 16. Whether you’re a database administrator or developer, you’ll learn how to properly set up schema-level permissions and avoid common pitfalls. The Challenge: PostgreSQL Read-Only Access Not Working Many developers face Read more about PostgreSQL Read-Only User: Complete Permission Setup Guide[…]

Installing PostgreSQL 16 on RHEL 9 using DNF package manager with step-by-step terminal commands

How to Install PostgreSQL 16 on RHEL 9/Red Hat Linux [2025 Guide]

Last Updated: December 10, 2025Tested On: RHEL 9.3, PostgreSQL 16.1 PostgreSQL 16 is the stable release of the powerful open-source relational database system, offering enhanced performance, security, and new features. This comprehensive guide walks you through installing PostgreSQL 16 on RHEL 9 with step-by-step instructions, commands, and best practices. Why Upgrade to PostgreSQL 16 on Read more about How to Install PostgreSQL 16 on RHEL 9/Red Hat Linux [2025 Guide][…]

PostgreSQL Configuration Parameters: Essential Settings Guide

Understanding PostgreSQL Configuration Parameters PostgreSQL’s default configuration rarely fits production workloads. Whether you’re managing a small application database or an enterprise data warehouse, knowing which PostgreSQL configuration parameters to adjust can mean the difference between sub-second queries and application timeouts. In this guide, we’ll cover the essential PostgreSQL configuration parameters that directly impact performance, with Read more about PostgreSQL Configuration Parameters: Essential Settings Guide[…]

Mastering PSQL: Enable Timings and Fetch All Rows Without Paging

Why Enable Timing in PSQL? When optimizing your SQL queries, it’s crucial to measure their execution time to understand their performance. Enabling timing in psql lets you see how long a query takes to execute. Why Turn Off the Pager? By default, psql uses a pager (like less) to display query results when the output Read more about Mastering PSQL: Enable Timings and Fetch All Rows Without Paging[…]

PostgreSQL synchronous master-slave replication — master waits for slave ACK via remote_apply

Data Replication Setup Using Master and Slave: PostgreSQL- IV

In this final blog of our PostgreSQL synchronous replication setup series, we close the loop on Master-Slave replication — and we save the best for last. Through the previous three blogs, we built our foundation, configured the async node, and watched streaming replication come alive. Async worked beautifully — but async also means the master Read more about Data Replication Setup Using Master and Slave: PostgreSQL- IV[…]

Data Replication Setup Using Master and Slave: PostgreSQL- III

In last few blogs, we have seen how to automate steps required to setup Master-slave nodes. This blog would be the last in this series. Until now we have discussed how the architecture should look like and what parameters are needed to be modified to what value on master and slave node. In this blog, Read more about Data Replication Setup Using Master and Slave: PostgreSQL- III[…]

PostgreSQL Meta-Command using psql: Command Information -IV

This is in continuation of My last blog about Meta Commands in PostgreSQL. In last blog I have explained what a Meta command and how to list databases. In next few blogs we will explore few of Meta commands. Lets start exploring schemas. Visit this series of last blog for other command. The command we Read more about PostgreSQL Meta-Command using psql: Command Information -IV[…]

Data Replication Setup Using Master and Slave: PostgreSQL – I

Setting up high availability in PostgreSQL requires a master-slave replication environment where the slave takes over if the master fails. This post covers the architecture design. In next few blogs we will explore how High Availability(HA) will be setup. This is Part 1 of a 4-part series on PostgreSQL replication In this blog we will Read more about Data Replication Setup Using Master and Slave: PostgreSQL – I[…]

PostgreSQL master-slave streaming replication configuration showing postgresql.conf and recovery.conf parameters with WAL streaming between nodes

Data Replication Setup Using Master and Slave: PostgreSQL – II

This is Part 2 of our PostgreSQL streaming replication configuration series. In this post, we configure the master and slave nodes — covering every postgresql.conf and recovery.conf parameter you need for streaming replication. Tested on PostgreSQL 11. Note: Starting from PostgreSQL 12, recovery.conf has been removed. Replication parameters now go directly into postgresql.conf and a Read more about Data Replication Setup Using Master and Slave: PostgreSQL – II[…]

Automating PostgreSQL master-slave replication setup using makefile with pg_createcluster and pg_ctlcluster utilities

Automating Master and slave replication: PostgreSQL – I

Master-slave replication setup is the implementation of HA in PostgreSQL. Deployment architecture of 1 master and at least one slave in SYNC mode would be able to provide senses of High Availability of the database. To achieve this we require some steps to be performed into the database which will make one of the nodes Read more about Automating Master and slave replication: PostgreSQL – I[…]

PostgreSQL MVCC trade-offs — concurrency benefits versus table bloat and vacuum overhead

MVCC Concurrency Architecture: PostgreSQL way of implementation – III( pros/cons)

We have explored the PostgreSQL implementation of MVCC in the last two blogs. We will understand the pros and cons of this way of implementation in this blog. PostgreSQL MVCC Pros and Cons in Production Understanding the PostgreSQL MVCC pros and cons helps DBAs make informed decisions about vacuum tuning, table design, and when bloat Read more about MVCC Concurrency Architecture: PostgreSQL way of implementation – III( pros/cons)[…]

PostGIS spatial extension installation with PostgreSQL enabling geographic and geometry data types

PostGIS Installation with PostgreSQL

PostgreSQL supports many other tools in form of database extensions like UUID support, dblink. In the same way, it also supports geographic and spatial data with help of PostGIS. This blog will explain how to install PostGIS 2.5 which can be used by PostgreSQL 11. Tested on PostgreSQL 11 with PostGIS 2.5. For newer PostgreSQL Read more about PostGIS Installation with PostgreSQL[…]

PostgreSQL database cluster concept showing one instance managing multiple databases including default postgres, template0, template1

What is a Database Cluster: PostgreSQL

In the last blog, we have installed PostgreSQL on different Linux platforms ( CentOs, Ubuntu). However, We have leftover to initialize the installation and connection to the database that we will discuss here. Postgres provides more than one way to initialize a database cluster. We will use pg_createcluster in this blog. But before that, we Read more about What is a Database Cluster: PostgreSQL[…]

psql terminal showing \dn command listing PostgreSQL schemas with CREATE SCHEMA and search_path navigation

PostgreSQL Meta-Command using psql: Command Information -III

T his is in continuation of My last blog about Meta Commands in PostgreSQL. In last blog I have explained what a Meta command and how to list databases. In next few blogs we will explore few of Meta commands. Lets start exploring schemas. Visit this series of last blog for other command. The command Read more about PostgreSQL Meta-Command using psql: Command Information -III[…]

PostgreSQL Meta-Command using psql: Command Information -II

This is in continuation of My last blog about Meta Commands in PostgreSQL. In last blog I have explained what a Meta command is all about. In next few blogs we will explore few of Meta commands. Lets start exploring databases. How to List Databases in psql Using \l The command we will explore here Read more about PostgreSQL Meta-Command using psql: Command Information -II[…]

PostgreSQL MVCC tuple versioning showing xmin and xmax values across insert, update, and delete operations

Concurrency Control in PostgreSQL

In previous blog, we have detailed out about the inception of PostgreSQL. In this blog, we will explain the architecture (MVCC) with respect to PostgreSQL. Concurrency Control: There are more than one way to provide concurrency control by database. Concurrency is an important factor to allow many users to work on the same dataset at Read more about Concurrency Control in PostgreSQL[…]

PostgreSQL Meta-Command using psql: Command Information -I

This is in continuation of My last blog about Meta Commands in PostgreSQL. In last blog we have explained what a Meta command is all about. In next few blogs we will explore few of Meta commands. Let’s start with psql command itself. How to Use psql to Connect to a PostgreSQL Database Once we Read more about PostgreSQL Meta-Command using psql: Command Information -I[…]

PostgreSQL Installation on CentOS 7

There are multiple ways of installation of the PostgreSQL database on Unix like platforms. We will explore the installation of PostgreSQL version 12 on CentOS 7 using YUM installation. Let’s start. Verifying the version of CentOS: root@localhost yum.repos.d]# rpm -q centos-release centos-release-7-7.1908.0.el7.centos.x86_64 PostgreSQL allows us to download many version across multiple platform, one should visit its official Read more about PostgreSQL Installation on CentOS 7[…]

PostgreSQL Installation on Ubuntu

There are multiple ways of installation of the PostgreSQL database on Unix like platforms. We will explore the installation of PostgreSQL version 11 on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS using apt installation. Let’s start. Login to Ubuntu and check the version of Ubuntu. postgres@sanjeeva:/home/sanjeeva/postgres$ lsb_release -a No LSB modules are available. Distributor ID: Ubuntu Description: Ubuntu 18.04.5 LTS Release: Read more about PostgreSQL Installation on Ubuntu[…]

Evolvement of PostgreSQL: Background

Research papers of “System R” from IBM were initially picked up by two professors, Michael Stonebraker and Eugene Wong, at Berkeley University, California. This resulted in a new database called INteractive Graphics REtrieval System i.e. “Ingres“. The work done by this duo for Ingres becomes the foundation of many relational databases like MS SQL Server, Read more about Evolvement of PostgreSQL: Background[…]