PGConf NYC 2024 Event Recap
Author: Suyog Pagare | 6 min read | October 16, 2024
I had the opportunity to attend the PostgreSQL Conference 2024 in NYC, a gathering of database enthusiasts, developers, and administrators from around the globe. The conference provided a platform to dive deep into the latest advancements in PostgreSQL, exchange ideas, and learn from industry experts.
Datavail was once again a Gold sponsor, and we gave away LEGO sets and Datavailopoly, the only board game for DBAs, by DBAs, and other fun prizes.
During the conference, we were excited to announce our new partnership with Liberatii, a pioneer in no-code multi-cloud database migration. Responding to the growing demand from enterprises, we initiated this collaboration to offer our clients an easier path to migrating Oracle workloads to alternatives such as PostgreSQL and MySQL using Liberatii’s groundbreaking no-code platform.
This strategic partnership provides IT leaders with a comprehensive solution that accelerates database modernization without the traditional complexities of manual coding. Learn more about Liberatii here.
As someone deeply involved in database consulting and optimization, the sessions I attended were highly relevant not only to my work but also to the ongoing needs of my team. In this post, I’ll share key insights from the sessions I attended and explain how we can apply these learnings to enhance our database management practices. You can also take a look at my video coverage from this event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08yrokCUcFA
PGConf NYC 2024 Session Highlights
PGConf NYC 2024 included a diverse set of talks and events. There was a lot of excitement about PostgreSQL 17 and new database trends. I’d like to emphasis a few sessions in particular:
Sponsor Keynote (Charles Fedderson): Everything Postgres at Microsoft – 2024 in Review: This session covered Microsoft’s recent open-source contributions to Postgres 17 and its ecosystem, new features accessible in Azure Database for PostgreSQL, and demos of additional capabilities. I was particularly interested in the autonomous parameter tuning feature in Azure Flex, which is a great feature for DBAs.
What’s new in PostgreSQL 16: Magnus Hagander, PostgreSQL Core Team, dove into new features and capabilities of PostgreSQL 16, and shared some of key highlights on PostgreSQL 17.
Latest developments in PostgreSQL by Amit Kapila: This session focused on explaining major features in PostgreSQL 17 such as incremental backup, modifications to logical replication setup, and performance enhancements.
Beyond PostgreSQL 17: 7 DBA Workarounds for Enhanced Management, by Vibhor Kumar: PostgreSQL 17 has made substantial advances, but several DBA-specific improvements are on the horizon. This session covered seven areas where DBAs may face limits and how to navigate these issues efficiently.
9.2 to 15 and beyond: a case study of a tricky upgrade path, by Nicholas Meyer: This session dove into a case study on how Academia.edu upgrades from PostgreSQL 9.2 to 15.
Using Logical Replication for Major Version Upgrades and Tenant Migrations, by Shayon Mukherjee: This session covered how Tines used logical replication in PostgreSQL to facilitate major version upgrades and tenant migrations with minimal downtime. It also covered the use of pg_easy_replicate, for performing seamless upgrades across 50+ production databases via blue/green setup with DNS based switchovers.
Datavail’s Presentations at PGConf NYC 2024
I also gave a presentation on “Importance of PostgreSQL Vacuum Tuning to Optimize Database Performance.”
In PostgreSQL, vacuuming is a routine maintenance procedure that improves database speed and frees up space. It leads to clearing out old or deleted rows from tables and indexes, as well as refreshing query planner statistics. By deleting records that are no longer required, PostgreSQL’s vacuum operation maintains the database’s speed and space efficiency.
In PostgreSQL, autovacuum is enabled by default and can be customized using a number of settings in the postgresql.conf file. There are several vacuum-related PostgreSQL options that may be customized to manage how the vacuum process functions.
In this session, I covered:
- What is the Vacuum and Autovacuum process
- How to tune Autovacuum parameters to optimize database performance
- When and how to use Vacuum full, reindex, and pg_repack
- Best practices and lessons learned from real-world case studies
Our other session featured Eric Russo, SVP of Database Services at Datavail, alongside Nima Torabi, CEO & Co-founder at Liberatii, and James Reynolds, Chief Software Architect at Liberatii. They presented “Is Application Refactoring Holding Back Your Oracle to PostgreSQL Migrations? Datavail Introduces Intelligent Database Virtualization from Liberatii.”
This presentation showed how a new solution from UK-based Liberatii allows teams to work with data across multiple platforms—whether on-premises, in the cloud, or hybrid environments—without worrying about the underlying database. For example, moving from Oracle to Postgres no longer requires rewriting application or integration code, because Liberatii abstracts the database. Datavail is using this powerful tool for reducing complexity, speeding up deployment times, and future-proofing your infrastructure.
PGConf NYC 2024 was a fantastic event, and I’m looking forward to next year! Want to keep the conversation going? Connect with me and the rest of the Datavail Postgres team.
