Re: multiple instances on one box?

Tim Ellis <Tim(dot)Ellis(at)gamet(dot)com> writes:
> Hopefully not a FAQ, but I wonder, how do I start multiple Postgres
> instances on one computer?

Isn't it in the FAQ? Just give them different port numbers and
data directories, and away you go. (As long as you don't exceed
kernel limits on total size of shared memory, total number of
semaphores, open files, etc.)

I concur with Andrew Perrin's concerns about why you are doing this,
though. I can think of a couple of valid reasons:

1. You want to run multiple Postgres versions. (That's why I have
three or four postmasters running here.)

2. You want airtight separation between two instances, eg because
you are doing C-code development in one of the instances and so you
occasionally crash it.

But as a mechanism for redundancy against hardware failures it doesn't
seem particularly useful.

regards, tom lane