Re: Best VPS provider for running performant PostgreSQL database server

On 3/16/15 12:08 AM, Some Developer wrote:
> I wasn't sure whether to post this in general, admin or performance but
> since it is basically a performance question I went with performance.
>
> I'm about to launch a new a website that is written using the Django web
> framework and has PostgreSQL as the database server. Unfortunately I
> can't afford to get dedicated hardware at the launch of the website as I
> won't be making money off it for a couple of months (maybe longer).
>
> So I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for decent VPS
> providers that have good hardware specs for running a PostgreSQL server?
> I'll be using PostgreSQL 9.4.
>
> The database is likely to be quite small (under 1GB) for quite sometime
> so should I go for double the size of the database in RAM so I can fit
> it all in memory if required? The database will be mainly read only with
> only a small number of writes (although as new features are added the
> number of database write operations will increase).

That's probably your best bet. If you go that route then IO performance
basically shouldn't matter. That means that instead of spending money
for a VPS you could just use a cheap EC2 instance.

> I guess SSDs are essential these days but am I right about the amount of
> RAM? Is there anything else I should be looking out for? I'll just be
> running PostgreSQL on the VPS, the web server and app server will be run
> on different VPSs.

SSD is in no way essential. It's all a question of what your needs are,
and from how you're describing it right now your needs are extremely modest.

One thing you absolutely should do however is have at least 1 hot
standby. That's an absolute must with services like EC2 where a node can
just vanish, and it's still a good idea with a VPS.

> In the past I've used Linode, Digital Ocean, Vultr and RamNode. I've
> become disheartened by Digital Ocean so don't want to use them for this
> project.

You should take a look at
https://github.com/manageacloud/cloud-benchmark-postgres and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtORBqQdKHY
--
Jim Nasby, Data Architect, Blue Treble Consulting
Data in Trouble? Get it in Treble! http://BlueTreble.com