PostgreSQL Consultancy and Support

OptimaData offers consultancy, training, support and management services for PostgreSQL database platforms.

What is PostgreSQL

PostgreSQL is a free, open-source, relational database server (RDBMS). It provides an alternative to both open-source database management systems like MySQL and Firebird and proprietary systems like Oracle, Sybase, DB2, and Microsoft SQL Server. PostgreSQL is not being managed or controlled by one single company, but relies as an open-source platform on a worldwide community of developers and companies. In its latest version, NoSQL data can be processed by PostgreSQL, as well.

PostgreSQL’s official pronunciation is ‘post-gress-Q-L’, but many users abbreviate this and use ‘postgres’.

Within PostgreSQL, a user can define data types. PostgreSQL used to be one of the first database servers with MVCC (multi-version concurrency control), which is a system in which access to data is not locked, but where data receives a time stamp.

Datamanagement technologies

The huge increase in data from mobile devices and applications, social media, and machines has already caused database professionals to start looking for new, innovative solutions. Nowadays, a typical data center consists of a wide range of different data management technologies. From enterprise relational databases and stand-alone niche NoSQL-only solutions to specialised extensions: a data manager’s tool set is becoming more and more diverse.

One of the biggest challenges a data manager faces is the integration of data from different new data sources with existing data from solutions that have been used for a long time. This is extremely important in order for the data to be analysed and used properly. In other words, how do you create a proper integration from Hadoop clusters or MongoDB implementations with existing relational tables, so a useful snapshot can be created?

External data sources

According to OptimaData, relational databases will continue to play an important role. Especially open-source alternatives such as PostgreSQL will remain important. Using the smart function Foreign Data Wrapper (FDW), PostgreSQL has turned out to be the optimal data management solution to every integrational challenge. Using these FDWs, data from different sources, such as MongoDB, Hadoop, and MySQL, can be easily integrated and used. The FDWs connect external data sources to Postgres databases, so users can get access and are able to manipulate these external data as native Postgres tables.

Postgres as central hub

The use of FDWs allows PostgreSQL to function as a central hub in an enterprise database. Especially the use of the JSON datatype, which supports NoSQL, is very important. Rightly so, JSON has been one of the most important new components of PostgreSQL’s latest release.

This means that users can use unstructured data types and other programming methods, without the database losing important ACID-compliancy. This is possible because PostgreSQL is extensible. PostgreSQL was developed bearing the possibility of extension in mind, which makes it unique to the world of databases. This makes adding new datatypes, indexations, languages, and other matters easier, without damaging existing functions.

IoT and PostgreSQL

Because of the Internet of Things (IoT), organisations will have to implement big changes to gain holistic and real-time insight into the interests and needs of their business partners and clients. In this new day and age, PostgreSQL is able to deliver a data platform that allows IT departments to transform their database management systems and still have budget left to support new IoT-applications.

PostgreSQL’s FDWs provide IT organisations with the possibility to enrich existing data from relational DBMSs with NoSQL functionalities within a single platform. By joining these two data sources, IT departments can create a holistic image of their clients and partners. Using this image, intelligent recommendations can be created, and specific actions can be undertaken to improve customer engagement. The future of the IoT will definitely need those kinds of improvements. Whether a client receives a push notification on their smartphone or their washing machine tells them which detergent is most suitable to wash sportswear, solid and effective data management is a necessity.