Self-hosting Postgres: Managed vs Self-Managed

In this podcast episode, the hosts delve into the topic of self-hosting Postgres and discuss the differences between managed and self-managed solutions. They highlight the evolution from the old model of installing and managing databases on your own to the emergence of cloud models that offload the management burden. While comparing the two approaches, they emphasize the importance of backups and the need for verification and testing. They touch on the challenges of monitoring and alerting in self-managed setups and suggest tools like Netdata for monitoring. They also mention the significance of point-in-time recovery and the use of connection pullers for scalability. The hosts explore various components needed for a self-managed setup, including index automation, lock analysis, and extensions like PGStatStatements and PGVector. They discuss alternatives like using Kubernetes operators or products like Vitaly Postgres Cluster and Superbase as options for self-hosting without Kubernetes. They also touch on the debate between open-source and proprietary solutions, emphasizing the value of transparency and being able to examine the source code. The episode concludes with a look at future possibilities for self-hosting Postgres with open-source products.