http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/ Command Prompt Blog Feed: Joshua Drake's Blog Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:35:00 -0700 www.commandprompt.com http://www.commandprompt.com/images/small_mammoth.gif http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/ 46 46 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2010/01/postgresql_conference_east_early_bird_registration_is_open_classes_announced/ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:35:00 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2010/01/postgresql_conference_east_early_bird_registration_is_open_classes_announced/ As everyone already knows, <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/">PostgreSQL Conference East</a> is happening on March 25th through March 28th in Philadelphia. However, what is new is, <a href="http://www.postgresql.us/purchase">early bird registration is now open</a> and we have confirmed the three classes that will be taught on Sunday the 28th. <ul><li><a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/2010/east/training/postgresql_administration">PostgreSQL Administration</a> by Bruce Momjian. <li><a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/2010/east/training/postgresql_performance_maintenance">PostgreSQL Performance and Maintenance</a> by Joshua D. Drake (yes me) <li><a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/2010/east/training/pitr_hs">Point and Time Recovery and Hot Standby</a> by Chander Ganesan. </ul>The conference is shaping up to be the largest and most successful U.S. PostgreSQL Conference Yet. I hope you will join us. The <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/">link to register</a> can be found on the main <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/">PostgreSQL Conference site.</a> http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2010/01/postgresql_conference_east_early_bird_registration_is_open_classes_announced/ Business OpenSource PostgreSQL Python SQL http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2010/01/is_the_response_to_pgeast_a_sign_of_things_to_come/ Wed, 13 Jan 2010 12:14:23 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2010/01/is_the_response_to_pgeast_a_sign_of_things_to_come/ We announced the <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/">CFP for PostgreSQL Conference East</a> back in December. Since that time, we have been working diligently to make this the best PostgreSQL Conference ever presented in the United States. The signing of Platinum partner <a href="http://www.enterprisedb.com/">EnterpriseDB</a> and the subsequent change of venue has been an exciting foray into a new phase of the PostgreSQL Conference series.<p>However, what has really surprised me is the number of individual emails I have received from people. Generally speaking, the Conferences East and West are self populating. The community knows the conferences exist. They know it generates funds for <a href="http://www.postgresql.us/">PgUS</a> and <a href="http://www.postgresql.org/">.Org</a>. They also know that it is a chance to meet a lot of the contributors, learn and generally just have a good time.<p>What is new, is the people that are contacting me are not normal members of the community. You are not going to see them on -general or -hackers. These are true End Users. They represent the community, outside the community. What I want to know is where these people are coming from? Are they new to PostgreSQL? Are they exploring new alternatives to legacy databases such as MySQL? Perhaps PostgreSQL is just growing up.<p>Don't get me wrong, PostgreSQL for many years has far surpassed any open source database in overall capability, performance, management and features. However, the community as a whole has only recently realized the importance of cross pollination to other user groups and not being so anal retentive that all we do is turn off potential users. I think we are starting to see actual pay off there.<p>As an example, I know SelenaD and JoshB are both speaking at non-traditional conferences about PostgreSQL. For my part, I have been actively speaking at user groups around the Pacific Northwest, including Django, Python and next week Perl. My topic of course is, PostgreSQL Performance.<p>So, with all the changes in our ecosystem, I invite anyone to contact me about the conference, PgUS or .Org. I would love to just chat, possibly visit your user group or help you find a speaker for your user group.<p>Don't forget to come to <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/">East. This conference is going to rock!</a> http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2010/01/is_the_response_to_pgeast_a_sign_of_things_to_come/ Business OpenSource PostgreSQL Python SQL http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2010/01/postgresql_conference_east_change_of_venue_and_dates/ Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:24:20 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2010/01/postgresql_conference_east_change_of_venue_and_dates/ East 2010 is taking it up a notch! This year, along with Platinum Partner EnterpriseDB, we will be making an aggressive marketing campaign not only to community but also professionals, and decision makers. With this aggressive marketing campaign we have adjusted the conference to be four days, March 25th - 28th. We have also moved from Drexel University to the Radison Plaza, Warwick Hotel. This is to better allow for business professionals outside of our normal community to attend the conference. It is also to allow for the most exposure to potential exhibitors. Yes, I said exhibitors. This year, PostgreSQL Conference East will have a limited exhibit space (13 (of 15) currently available). The exhibit space is within the main hall, where the Keynote, Social area and Food/Beverages will be provided. Please join Command Prompt and EnterpriseDB in making this the largest, most successful PostgreSQL conference ever! http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2010/01/postgresql_conference_east_change_of_venue_and_dates/ Business OpenSource PostgreSQL SQL http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/12/postgresql_conference_east_2010_call_for_papers/ Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:06:39 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/12/postgresql_conference_east_2010_call_for_papers/ <h1>Call for papers.</h1>December 14th, 2009, the PostgreSQL Conference U.S. team is pleased to announce the East 2010 venue and call for papers. This year the premiere East Coast PostgreSQL Conference will be returning to history Drexel University in Philadelphia. The event this year is being held at Drexel University in Philadelphia from March 26th through 28th. Following previously successful United States PostgreSQL conferences, we will be hosting a series of 3-4 hour tutorials, 90 minute mini-tutorials, 45 minute talks, 5 minute lightning talks and a new 30 minute presentation time slot. <h1>Time line:</h1><ul><li>December 14th: Talk submission opens</li> <li>January 30th: Talk submission closes</li> <li>February 15th: Speaker notification</li> </ul><h2><a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/talksubmission">Submit Paper (You must be logged in)</h2></a>This year we will be continuing our trend of covering the entire PostgreSQL ecosystem. We would like to see talks and tutorials on the following topics: <ul><li>General PostgreSQL: <ul><li>Administration <li>Performance <li>High Availability <li>Migration <li>GIS <li>Integration <li>Solutions and White Papers </ul><li>The Stack: <ul><li>Python/Django/Pylons/TurboGears/Custom <li>Perl5/Catalyst/Bricolage <li>Ruby/Rails <li>Java (PLJava would be great)/Groovy/Grails <li>Operating System optimization (Linux/FBSD/Solaris/Windows) <li>Solutions and White Papers </ul></ul>If you are using PostgreSQL as your platform, you need to be presenting at this conference! <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/talksubmission">Submit Paper</a>. (You must be logged in) http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/12/postgresql_conference_east_2010_call_for_papers/ Business OpenSource PostgreSQL Python SQL http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/11/pdxdjango_roundup_i_finally_got_my_martini/ Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:35:09 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/11/pdxdjango_roundup_i_finally_got_my_martini/ Shout out to Mark Long and Lacey Powers for showing up to support a Pg dude in a foreign land. Preceding my talk on PostgreSQL Performance, Adam Lowry gave and interesting intro to a database connection pooling module he wrote for Django. Essentially they bolted SQLAlchemy's pooler into Django. He then gave some metrics, showing that through the connection pooler they dropped overall request time in half. It was a basic and good indicator of why connection pooling is good, even on smaller applications. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/11/pdxdjango_roundup_i_finally_got_my_martini/ Business OpenSource PostgreSQL Python SQL http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/11/speaking_at_pdxdjango_tonight_on_postgresql_performance/ Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:41:44 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/11/speaking_at_pdxdjango_tonight_on_postgresql_performance/ I have the unexpected pleasure of speaking at PDXDjango tonight on PostgreSQL performance. Their meetings are 90 minutes with about 60 minutes (in theory) for the main speaker. The talk I am giving is a quick introduction to PostgreSQL Performance. The description I gave to the group was:<ul><li> I am a Django developer not a DBA. <li> I know nothing about PostgreSQL performance. <li> What 10 things (it will be more) can I change to make PostgreSQL faster? </ul>I am being as thorough as possible based on the time constraints and explaining what each option is and how it works. I didn't want to just say, "Change it to 10". If you are in the neighborhood, stop by and let me know all the things I say that are wrong. The meeting starts at 7:00PM. <pre> PIE 1227 NW Davis St Portland, Oregon (At the corner of NW Davis & NW 12th). </pre> http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/11/speaking_at_pdxdjango_tonight_on_postgresql_performance/ OpenSource PostgreSQL Python SQL http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/10/west_wrap_up_and_some_videos/ Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:51:24 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/10/west_wrap_up_and_some_videos/ I am back home and done recovering from Pg West 2009. I can now provide some closing thoughts. I think the conference as a whole went very well. This is the first time we did a zero swag conference and the majority of people didn't seem to mind. SWAG is probably the single largest contributor to time spent organizing a conference (in a single block). By not having swag has allowed the team is able to organize the conference from a single Rubbermaid. We had some scheduling snafus, mostly based around two different versions of the schedule being printed (my bad) and a certain speaker (yeah you Robert Hodges;)) not following the speakers list. In all though these were minor and the attendees took it all in stride. It was great. The Keynote was fun. I wrote the talk late, just finishing right before walking into the room. While writing the talk I was chatting with Big Jim (Jimbo from EDB). He made it a point to request special treatment for the EDB boss from Red Hat. You can get his name <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/2009/west/talks/welcome_to_postgresql_conference_west_2009">from the slides.</a> When the video is up, you will see the particular ribbing that was provided. It was all in good fun of course and EDB was a great partner in the festivities. This time around I purchased SDHC based cameras which has enabled me to already start getting videos up. In fact the only thing stopping me from having them all up is that I have a quota on the account. <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/2009/west/talks">You can check here for videos and slides that we currently have up.</a> One thing that didn't happen was a closing session and I did hear some grumbling about that. I want to apologize to the attendees that wanted one. It is a good idea to have that and we didn't. In closing, I am glad it is over. I am glad I muscled through it (I strongly considered not having West this year). I am most glad that I focused on family during the after hours versus going to the various parties. No offense to the speakers or attendees. It is just what I needed this time around. We are already starting to talk about East as well as a Denver or Austin. Stay tuned! http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/10/west_wrap_up_and_some_videos/ Business OpenSource PostgreSQL Python SQL http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/10/87_people_on_a_friday/ Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:53:00 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/10/87_people_on_a_friday/ What an amazing Friday. Normally on Fridays, PgWest and East are sparsely populated. Usually running in the mid 50s. Today was a great day with 87 people attending and many more slated to attend on Saturday. Even some unexpected contributors showed up such as Robert Bernier. If you are reasonably close, and if you are thinking about coming; now is the time to make the commitment. If you are here by Saturday, there is a great party planned by EnterpriseDB, Saturday night. If there are too many commas in this blog, it is the fault of my daughter. She said it was comma happy day. <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/">Conference details here.</a> http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/10/87_people_on_a_friday/ Business OpenSource PostgreSQL Python SQL http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/10/in_seattle_for_postgresql_conference_west/ Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:10:23 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/10/in_seattle_for_postgresql_conference_west/ Well I made it to Seattle. It was a bit of disaster to get here with my Wife flatly stating she was suing a well known Mexican restaurant for hot beans and bad signing from a well known pop star. I have a meeting today with the college to verify facilities. I then pick up the programs. Of course the "suites" at Spring Hill Suites are not really suites but hey, the room is clean. Tomorrow I think I will be sitting in on the Howdah talk. It seems odd, but I have been so busy with PostgreSQL that outside of minor high level architecture discussions I am not aware of the supposed coolness that leaks from the pipes of Pylons + Howdah and PostgreSQL. Look forward to seeing everyone! http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/10/in_seattle_for_postgresql_conference_west/ Business OpenSource PostgreSQL Python SQL http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/10/loving_community_postgresql_conference_west_gets_help/ Mon, 12 Oct 2009 10:47:38 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/10/loving_community_postgresql_conference_west_gets_help/ I was very happy about the progress of <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/">PostgreSQL Conference West this year.</a> We secured facilities earlier than we ever had before thanks to heroic efforts by Lisa Sandoval of <a href="http://seattlecentral.edu/">Seattle Central Community College</a>. Communication about the conference has been flowing well. We have a <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/2009/west/talks">great talk line up.</a> <a href="http://www.postgresql.us/purchase">Registrations are on par with last year, even with the economic downturn.</a> And then I got hit with a heavy six month contract that specifically requires my expertise. I am not complaining. The contract is a good one but it did cause me to be unable to do a lot of things all of a sudden. This is why I am loving community. A vacuum presented itself and the community automatically stepped up to fill the void. I am not organizing an after-party. <a href="http://www.baconandtech.com/2009/10/08/are-you-going-to-pgwest/">Gabrielle stepped in.</a> For good measure, <a href="http://www.chesnok.com/daily/2009/10/09/enterprising-pgwest-conference-speaker-makes-an-after-party-wiki-page/">Selena backed her up.</a> Then, EnterpriseDB being the great community member they are asked if they could help. I would also like to thank Kevin Kempter and Brent Friedman for their continued persistence in helping me get things done. Of course let's not forget <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/2009/west/talks">all the speakers who have stepped up to give us such a great round of content.</a> http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/10/loving_community_postgresql_conference_west_gets_help/ Business OpenSource PostgreSQL SQL http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/10/everybody_loves_parties_pg_conference_west_in_seattle_next_week/ Wed, 07 Oct 2009 10:24:36 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/10/everybody_loves_parties_pg_conference_west_in_seattle_next_week/ If there is one thing the Open Source community knows how to do, it is party. Well, and drink but those do not necessarily go together at all times. Luckily, the Open Source community is also good at re-inventing the wheel, improvisation and general hackery. With that in mind, it is time to announce the after party info for PostgreSQL Conference West. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/10/everybody_loves_parties_pg_conference_west_in_seattle_next_week/ Business OpenSource PostgreSQL SQL http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/09/postgresql_conference_west_2009_update_and_replicator_181/ Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:56:29 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/09/postgresql_conference_west_2009_update_and_replicator_181/ As mentioned over at the PgUS website, the PostgreSQL Conference West 2009 <a href="https://www.postgresql.us/purchase">registration is now open.</a>. I will be giving a talk on <a href="https://projects.commandprompt.com/public/replicator">Replicator 1.8.1</a> (which was just updated to 8.3.8). I will also be giving a talk on <a href="https://projects.commandprompt.com/public/pitrtools">PITRTools</a>. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/09/postgresql_conference_west_2009_update_and_replicator_181/ Business OpenSource PostgreSQL Python SQL http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/08/postgresql_conference_west_talk_submission_deadline_extended_until_september_5th/ Wed, 26 Aug 2009 09:43:45 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/08/postgresql_conference_west_talk_submission_deadline_extended_until_september_5th/ In order to make our talk slots available to all who would like to give a presentation at PostgreSQL Conference West 09, we have extended our talk deadline until September 5th. If you have already submitted a talk, you will be notified of your acceptance (or not) by September 1st. For those that submit talks after August 25th, you will be notified by September 7th. As always you can find more information on The PostgreSQL Conference Series here: <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/">Conference website</a> http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/08/postgresql_conference_west_talk_submission_deadline_extended_until_september_5th/ Business OpenSource PostgreSQL Python SQL http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/08/postgresql_replicator_831-18_released/ Wed, 26 Aug 2009 09:39:50 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/08/postgresql_replicator_831-18_released/ From the hackers: <blockquote>Replicator 8.3-1.8.1 It is recommended to update your 8.3-1.8.0 installation. No changes required for replication databases or configuration files. Release notes: - Fixed a bug that lead to occasional crashes of the master's backend when performing updates to a table with dropped columns. - Fixed a couple of minor mcp_stat problems. <li><a href="http://files.commandprompt.com/replicator/mammoth-replicator-8.3.7-1.8.1.tar.bz2">Download it here.</a> <li><a href="http://projects.commandprompt.com/public/replicator">Project site</a> </blockquote> http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/08/postgresql_replicator_831-18_released/ Business OpenSource PostgreSQL SQL http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/08/2nd_call_for_papers_postgresql_conference_west/ Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:21:33 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/08/2nd_call_for_papers_postgresql_conference_west/ Reminder: We are in the midst of the <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/">PostgreSQL Conference West</a> call for papers. The call for papers ends 08/20/09. If you wish to be considered to present you must <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/">submit a talk.</a> http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/08/2nd_call_for_papers_postgresql_conference_west/ Business OpenSource PostgreSQL SQL http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/07/replicator_83-18_released/ Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:21:54 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/07/replicator_83-18_released/ I am pleased to announce the immediate availability of Replicator 8.3-1.8. Everyone jump start <a href="https://projects.commandprompt.com/public/replicator/wiki/getting_replicator">their engines over here.</a> http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/07/replicator_83-18_released/ Business OpenSource PostgreSQL SQL http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/06/postgresql_conference_west_2009_call_for_papers/ Wed, 24 Jun 2009 12:00:00 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/06/postgresql_conference_west_2009_call_for_papers/ <strong>PostgreSQL Conference West 2009 Call for Papers</strong> June 24th, 2009, the PostgreSQL Conference U.S. team is pleased to announce the West 2009 venue and call for papers. This year the premiere West Coast PostgreSQL Conference will be leaving its roots at Portland State University and moving north to sunny Seattle, Washington. The event this year is being held at Seattle Central Community College from October 16th through 18th. The move to Seattle opens up a larger metropolitan area for continuing to expose databases users, developers, and administrators to the World's Most Advanced Open Source Database. Following previously successful West Coast conferences, we will be hosting a series of 3-4 hour tutorials, 90 minute mini-tutorials, and 45 minute talks. This year we will be continuing our trend of covering the entire PostgreSQL ecosystem. We would like to see talks and tutorials on the following topics: <strong>General PostgreSQL:</strong> <ul><li>Administration <li>Performance <li>High Availability <li>Migration <li>GIS <li>Integration <li>Solutions and White Papers </ul><strong>The Stack:</strong> <ul><li>Python/Django/Pylons/TurboGears/Custom <li>Perl5/Catalyst/Bricolage <li>Potato <li>Ruby/Rails <li>Java (PLJava would be great)/Groovy/Grails <li>Operating System optimization (Linux/FBSD/Solaris/Windows) <li>Solutions and White Papers </ul>If you are using PostgreSQL as your platform, you need to be presenting at this conference! <strong><div align="center"><a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/talksubmission">Submit your talk</a> (You must be have an account on the site)</div></strong> *** The PostgreSQL Conference U.S. series is an autonomous Educational Project used to educate all comers on the use of The World's Most Advanced Open Source Database. Proceeds from the event are donated directly to United States PostgreSQL; the 501c3 non-profit for PostgreSQL education and advocacy in the United States. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/06/postgresql_conference_west_2009_call_for_papers/ Business OpenSource PostgreSQL Python SQL http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/06/the_shortest_path_between_two_points/ Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:52:12 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/06/the_shortest_path_between_two_points/ Recently I was doing some benchmarking on one of our machines. The benchmarking wasn't going so well due to <a href="http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/05/hardware_problem_solved_when_you_really_need_some_cache/">bad batteries on the RAID controller</a>. I had instructed one of our System Administrators to take care of the problem. Long story short, the Administrator went down a very long trail to an obvious solution. The trail was well mapped, thought out and precise. It however missed some important points. When I caught on to the long trail she was taking I asked, "What is the shortest path between two points?". She replied, "On a plane or sphere?". That is when I knew we were in trouble. Now most people would have just said, "Huh?". Luckily I have been blessed with at least a modicum of technical/mathematical knowledge and a general experience with Geeks for 18 years. Let's review. <strong>The System Administrators trail was:</strong><ul> <li>Visit Colo to check cards physically after receiving BIOS message <li>Record all information about cards including BIOS versions <li>Research possible cause of batteries not charging, find that some versions of the BIOS can do that. Thus causing yet another trip to the colo for installation. <li>Go back to colo to update BIOS revisions to see if that resolves the problem<ul> <li>If that doesn't solve the problem, research new batteries for order </ul></ul><strong>My trail:</strong><ul><li>System reports batteries are bad <li>Known fact: Hardware was bought used <li>Buy new batteries <li>Upgrade BIOS during new battery installation </ul>What is the difference? I run into this a lot with technical people. They become hyper focused and they are not able to abstract their problem solving skills to include the entirety of the problem. Now you say, "What the problem is the batteries don't work, fix them." It isn't that simple. Using the System Administrators path, the solution to the problem cost at least 1500.00-2000.00. Using my path, the cost is 550.00. My path is a single trip to the collocation facility with cards drop shipped, an hour to replace and upgrade BIOS. Same resolution, ~ 37% of the cost. <strong>But... But... what if that doesn't fix the problem?</strong> Then you know you have bad cards and it will still cost less to replace them that to perform multiple trips to the colo. Again it isn't that the System Administrators path was incorrect. In fact I would bet a lot of businesses would think it was the absolutely correct direction to take. I would rather just write off the cards and replace them. We can make far more money from the System Administrator if they are not focusing on long and winding roads to the same destination that can be reached by not taking a left at the fork. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/06/the_shortest_path_between_two_points/ Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/05/hardware_problem_solved_when_you_really_need_some_cache/ Fri, 22 May 2009 09:38:41 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/05/hardware_problem_solved_when_you_really_need_some_cache/ As reported in my last blog, Stefan was having much greater success with his pgbench results than I. In reviewing why, we found a problem with the hardware. What I like about this problem is that the results in the <a href="http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/05/837_tps_and_checkpoint_segments/">previous blog post</a> become more interesting. As a reminder I was running 16 connections over 4 different users at 1M transactions. Below is the results from a single user from that batch: <pre> pghost: pgport: 6000 nclients: 4 nxacts: 1000000 dbName: bench transaction type: TPC-B (sort of) scaling factor: 100 number of clients: 4 number of transactions per client: 1000000 number of transactions actually processed: 4000000/4000000 tps = 101.024360 (including connections establishing) tps = 101.024392 (excluding connections establishing) </pre> Over 16 connections we were getting ~ 400 TPS. I verified that this was consistent by running a second test with a single user and 4 connections. The results: <pre> pghost: localhost pgport: 6000 nclients: 4 nxacts: 1000000 dbName: bench transaction type: TPC-B (sort of) scaling factor: 100 number of clients: 4 number of transactions per client: 1000000 number of transactions actually processed: 4000000/4000000 tps = 404.021738 (including connections establishing) tps = 404.022316 (excluding connections establishing) </pre> So, what is it that causes a machine with plenty of resources to perform in such a consistently slow manner?. You can only write data as fast and the spindles turn. That is why they invented cache. The results should look very similar to Stefan's once we replace the battery cache. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/05/hardware_problem_solved_when_you_really_need_some_cache/ OpenSource PostgreSQL http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/05/thanks_stefan/ Thu, 21 May 2009 14:13:54 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/05/thanks_stefan/ So while doing the benchmarking of the various parameters, Stefan pointed out the my numbers were ridiculously low. I wasn't really paying attention because I was looking at differences between parameters but then he posted me an example of a single thread pgbench using my same parameters. His machine is a dual core connected to 10 spindles on a NetAPP. In theory my machine should be faster. It is not. His configuration, like mine was all defaults. Stefan's numbers. <pre> scaling factor: 100 number of clients: 4 number of transactions per client: 1000000 number of transactions actually processed: 4000000/4000000 tps = 1681.615766 (including connections establishing) tps = 1681.622950 (excluding connections establishing) </pre> So now I am trying to figure out what is up with my hardware. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/05/thanks_stefan/ Business OpenSource PostgreSQL SQL http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/05/837_tps_and_checkpoint_segments/ Thu, 21 May 2009 09:09:29 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/05/837_tps_and_checkpoint_segments/ Continuing my postgresql.conf changes I ran a new test yesterday with checkpoint_segments set to 300. As a reminder the original results and specs of the machine being used in the test are <a href="http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/05/default_tps_performance_of_837/">here.</a> The results of the new test below: <pre> pghost: pgport: 6000 nclients: 4 nxacts: 1000000 dbName: bench transaction type: TPC-B (sort of) scaling factor: 100 number of clients: 4 number of transactions per client: 1000000 number of transactions actually processed: 4000000/4000000 tps = 101.024360 (including connections establishing) tps = 101.024392 (excluding connections establishing) pghost: pgport: 6000 nclients: 4 nxacts: 1000000 dbName: bench transaction type: TPC-B (sort of) scaling factor: 100 number of clients: 4 number of transactions per client: 1000000 number of transactions actually processed: 4000000/4000000 tps = 100.796885 (including connections establishing) tps = 100.796924 (excluding connections establishing) pghost: pgport: 6000 nclients: 4 nxacts: 1000000 dbName: bench transaction type: TPC-B (sort of) scaling factor: 100 number of clients: 4 number of transactions per client: 1000000 number of transactions actually processed: 4000000/4000000 tps = 100.801501 (including connections establishing) tps = 100.801534 (excluding connections establishing) pghost: pgport: 6000 nclients: 4 nxacts: 1000000 dbName: bench transaction type: TPC-B (sort of) scaling factor: 100 number of clients: 4 number of transactions per client: 1000000 number of transactions actually processed: 4000000/4000000 tps = 100.852900 (including connections establishing) tps = 100.852944 (excluding connections establishing) </pre> O.k. so same test, same hardware, 10x more checkpoint_segments gives us ~8 percent improvement. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/05/837_tps_and_checkpoint_segments/ Business OpenSource PostgreSQL SQL http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/05/default_tps_performance_of_837/ Wed, 20 May 2009 10:58:13 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/05/default_tps_performance_of_837/ I recently purchased some used hardware for some performance testing of PostgreSQL. I didn't want to interrupt the great work that Mark Wong was doing with the PostgreSQL Performance Lab. The testing I am doing is a bit different than Mark's. Where Mark is testing various filesystem performance via PostgreSQL using DBT2 and FIO and wanted to go up a level. I am testing using the PostgreSQL tool pgbench which is available in contrib. I am also testing in a basically default environment as a way to see how changing different parameters of the postgresql.conf changes overall performance. <strong>Hardware Configuration</strong> <blockquote>Newisys Quad Opteron 846 32GB of memory (2) MSA 30s (RAID 10, 14 drives each) (2) HP 6402 Controllers (one for each MSA) </blockquote> <strong>Operating System Configuration</strong> <blockquote>Ubuntu Hardy LTS x86_64 /array1 , ext3, data=writeback elevator=deadline </blockquote> Outside of the minor operating system changes the system remained in default. The only postgresql.conf parameter I changed was to set checkpoint_segments to 30. <br /> <strong>pgbench configuration</strong> I used four pgbench instances within a single database with four schemas. Each schema was assigned to its own pgbench user 01-04. The pgbench command used was: <pre> /array1/jd/pgsql/bin/pgbench -U bench01 -s10 -t1000000 -c4 -p 6000 -d bench \ > bench01& /array1/jd/pgsql/bin/pgbench -U bench02 -s10 -t1000000 -c4 -p 6000 -d bench \ > bench02& /array1/jd/pgsql/bin/pgbench -U bench03 -s10 -t1000000 -c4 -p 6000 -d bench \ > bench03& /array1/jd/pgsql/bin/pgbench -U bench04 -s10 -t1000000 -c4 -p 6000 -d bench \ > bench04& </pre> <strong>Results</strong> <pre> pghost: pgport: 6000 nclients: 4 nxacts: 1000000 dbName: bench transaction type: TPC-B (sort of) scaling factor: 100 number of clients: 4 number of transactions per client: 1000000 number of transactions actually processed: 4000000/4000000 tps = 92.279931 (including connections establishing) tps = 92.279960 (excluding connections establishing) pghost: pgport: 6000 nclients: 4 nxacts: 1000000 dbName: bench transaction type: TPC-B (sort of) scaling factor: 100 number of clients: 4 number of transactions per client: 1000000 number of transactions actually processed: 4000000/4000000 tps = 91.674708 (including connections establishing) tps = 91.674739 (excluding connections establishing) pghost: pgport: 6000 nclients: 4 nxacts: 1000000 dbName: bench transaction type: TPC-B (sort of) scaling factor: 100 number of clients: 4 number of transactions per client: 1000000 number of transactions actually processed: 4000000/4000000 tps = 91.583754 (including connections establishing) tps = 91.583782 (excluding connections establishing) pghost: pgport: 6000 nclients: 4 nxacts: 1000000 dbName: bench transaction type: TPC-B (sort of) scaling factor: 100 number of clients: 4 number of transactions per client: 1000000 number of transactions actually processed: 4000000/4000000 tps = 91.616330 (including connections establishing) tps = 91.616355 (excluding connections establishing) </pre> Each pgbench process executed 4M transactions with an average of ~ 24TPS per client. That is pretty miserable. However remember this is defaults and the defaults will make you checkpoint quite a bit (every 20 seconds or so) with the above stress test. Stay tuned for results as we change specific parameters to see the effect each one has. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/05/default_tps_performance_of_837/ OpenSource PostgreSQL SQL http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/05/surprising_events_from_a_top_20_list/ Mon, 11 May 2009 10:15:47 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/05/surprising_events_from_a_top_20_list/ In a completely unscientific review of community popularity I was reviewing the active members of various channels on #freenode. For those that don't know, Freenode is the defacto destination for the Open Source community on IRC. This is where you will find official community support channels for such open source luminaries as #gentoo, #ubuntu, #mysql and of course #postgresql. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/05/surprising_events_from_a_top_20_list/ OpenSource PostgreSQL Python SQL http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/04/my_turn_on_oracle_purchasing_sun/ Fri, 24 Apr 2009 08:44:01 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/04/my_turn_on_oracle_purchasing_sun/ I feel like I am coming late to this topic. All the pundits have already had there say and the <strong>blogosphere</strong> has been rampant. I have been talking with a lot of MySQL folks lately, encouraging them to at least test PostgreSQL as an alternative. MySQL folks are nervous. They don't like the <em>opportunity</em> Oracle brings to the table. This morning I was asked quite bluntly, "From your perspective what is the future of MySQL?". http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/04/my_turn_on_oracle_purchasing_sun/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/04/the_great_netbook_giveaway/ Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:39:30 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/04/the_great_netbook_giveaway/ At PostgreSQL Conference East, Platinum Sponsor <a href="http://www.enterprisedb.com/">EnterpriseDB</a> raffled two Netbooks. This is the video of the raffle (only 5 minutes). Of particular interest is a certain Major Contributors response. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/04/the_great_netbook_giveaway/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/04/escaping_data_madness/ Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:16:02 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/04/escaping_data_madness/ We had an interesting issue crop up this past week. The question was, "How do we properly escape the following string...?". The string was:<pre> You can't have it that way can you? </pre> That seems like a pretty simple string right? On insert you would do one of the following:<pre> (E'You can\'t have it that way can you?'); ($$You can't have it that way can you?$$); ('You can''t have it that way can you?'); </pre> You would think that would be the end of it. However, If you are using ODBC with a pass through query you will receive the error, "The # of binded parameters is < than the # of parameter markers." Yes, that's right. ODBC will parse the ? and interpret it as a parameter. This affects psqlodbc and ODBCng. Apparently it is actually not a bug [1]. I am not sure I agree with that, regardless of what Microsoft says. What is particularly interesting here is that it is specifically the ? that is the problem. Not the single quote. To work around this problem you can execute the query like this:<pre> INSERT INTO foo VALUES ($$You can't have it that way can you?$$); INSERT INTO foo VALUES ('You can''t have it that way can you?'); </pre> Of course neither of those are actually standard (the E'\'' is standard). 1. <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms713534(VS.85).aspx">MSDN Data Platform developer center</a> http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/04/escaping_data_madness/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/03/registration_closing_for_postgresql_conference_east/ Tue, 31 Mar 2009 09:49:19 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/03/registration_closing_for_postgresql_conference_east/ As a reminder for all of those in our community that like to register at the last minuted (that means most of us), registration will be closing on Wednesday April first. On line registration is much easier than registering at the door so please bounce on over to <a href="http://www.postgresql.us/purchase">PostgreSQL.us/purchase</a> and get your registration in. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/03/registration_closing_for_postgresql_conference_east/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/03/postgresql_training/ Thu, 26 Mar 2009 10:50:18 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/03/postgresql_training/ Command Prompt has offered training since we began as a one man shop back in 1997. It has always been, "by request". Since that time a lot of things have changed and we are regularly receiving training requests from multiple companies. We have decided to finally bring our training into the light and make it a forefront of the services that CMD offers. Interestingly we are going to be providing a lot of ad-hoc, webcast style training (as well as traditional on site or classroom). The number one training we are asked for is something that is half day that covers a specific topic such as backup and restore or configuring Point in Time Recovery. These types of courses will be cost effective for even small establishments and will be held over the Internet. We will also be participating in the open curriculum community ensuring that most if not all of our curriculum is freely available for self starters. What other training provider is going to do that? Here is our current <a href="/services/training">list of pre-defined courses</a>. We will be adding a dozen or so more in the next 90 days. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/03/postgresql_training/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/03/postgresql_conference_east_final_schedule_announced/ Mon, 23 Mar 2009 10:45:31 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/03/postgresql_conference_east_final_schedule_announced/ PostgreSQL Conference East is the Eastern segment of the United States PostgreSQL Conference series. The event is being held at Drexel University. It starts on April 3rd and runs through April 5. We kick the conference off on April 3rd with three sessions. For DBAs we have Mastering PostgreSQL Administration a four hour training, presented by PostgreSQL Core Team member Bruce Momjian. For Developers we have a Database Normalization, a 4 hour workshop. Finally for those who are seeking information on the upcoming 8.4 release we have a 3 hour guide to PostgreSQL 8.4 presented by Major Contributor Robert Treat. April 4th and 5th are a plethora of mini-tutorials and sessions. The talks range from Pylons and Grails development with PostgreSQL to Understanding Column Level privileges, Windowing Functions, the Art of Indexes, four presentations on different Replication technologies and a Performance Round Table. In all we have 35 sessions. There is no question that there is something at this conference for every PostgreSQL user. We will close out the conference with a raffle of two Asus EEEPC 1000 preloaded with Ubuntu Intrepid and Postgres Plus from <a href="http://www.enterprisedb.com/">Platinum Sponsor EnterpriseDB.</a> The proceeds of East are being donated directly to the United States PostgreSQL (PgUS) Association. You may <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/2009/east/">view the schedule.</a> <a href="https://www.postgresql.us/purchase">You may register here.</a> http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/03/postgresql_conference_east_final_schedule_announced/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/03/more_postgresql_conference_goodness_west_08_keynote/ Thu, 19 Mar 2009 10:49:22 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/03/more_postgresql_conference_goodness_west_08_keynote/ This is the Keynote I gave at West 08 last October. Topics include updates on the various non-profits, reach out to tertiary communities, recognition of the importance of non direct PostgreSQL participation as well as many others (such as 8.4 and replication). Those interested in participating in the <a href="http://www.postgresql.us/purchase">upcoming East should visit here and register.</a> http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/03/more_postgresql_conference_goodness_west_08_keynote/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/03/remembering_excellence_from_past_postgresql_conferences/ Wed, 18 Mar 2009 10:59:07 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/03/remembering_excellence_from_past_postgresql_conferences/ Just about 5 months ago we held <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/2008/west">PostgreSQL Conference, West 2008</a> in Portland Oregon. It was a very successful conference with approximate 20% growth over the previous West in 2007. It was also a three day conference over the previous West event which was a single day conference. As we prep to hold <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/2009/east/">PostgreSQL Conference, East 2009</a> at Drexel University I wanted to look back at one of my favorite talks from West. Developing a PL for PostgreSQL is a hilarious but technically accurate presentation on creating procedural languages for PostgreSQL, the catch? The presentation uses LOLCode. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/03/remembering_excellence_from_past_postgresql_conferences/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/03/pg_conference_east_09_registration_open/ Tue, 03 Mar 2009 14:38:18 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/03/pg_conference_east_09_registration_open/ This year is shaping up to be an even larger even than last year with 3 days, four rooms, and multiple tracks. East runs from April 3rd to April 5th at Drexel University. To register please point your <a href="https://www.postgresql.us/purchase">Open Source web browser to PgUS.</a> Registration is free for Students and Professors and starts at as low as 40.00 for University staff. Once you have registered make sure to <a href="http://lists.postgresqlconference.org/mailman/listinfo/attendees">visit and subscribe to the attendees list.</a> The attendees list is the way to find out about all the goings on of the conference. Here is a sampling of the content to be presented at this years East:<br /> <strong>Web</strong><blockquote> An Introduction to the Pylons Web Application Framework<br /> Architecting Your PostgreSQL Application for the Cloud<br /> Grails In Practice<br /> Building A Collaborative Environment With PostgreSQL To Enhance<br /> The Learning Experience<br /> </blockquote> <strong>Replication/HA</strong><blockquote> PostgreSQL Backup/Recovery and Replication<br /> Replication using PostgreSQL Replicator<br /> Reconciling and comparing databases using schemas, DBI-Link and Slony<br /> Bucardo<br /> Introduction to Golconde<br /> Configuring a Warm Standby, the Easy Way<br /> </blockquote> <strong>Performance</strong><blockquote> Predicting Postgres Performance: Practical Queueing Theory for Postgres DBAs<br /> pgcrypto benchmarking<br /> The Art of Indexes<br /> Effects of Flash and SSDs on PostgreSQL<br /> Using and Abusing pgbench<br /> </blockquote> <strong>8.4</strong><blockquote> Column-Level Privileges, and other changes coming in 8.4<br /> Trees and More in PostgreSQL: Common Table Expressions<br /> Windowing Functions: Putting the TPS in TPS Reports<br /> No More Waiting, A guide to PostgreSQL 8.4<br /> </blockquote> <strong>Usage, Development Newbie and Administration</strong><blockquote> The power of psql<br /> Playing with Playr: The Postgres Application Testing Tool<br /> Postgresql and Java<br /> Converting your database and application from Sybase/MSSQL to PostgreSQL<br /> ERP built by Postgres: We don't need no stinkin toolkit!<br /> PostgreSQL and Temporal Data<br /> Database Development Policies<br /> Monitoring Postgres with check_postgres.pl<br /> More Than Storage: Intro to PL/pgSQL<br /> Socially Relevant Database Projects in the Undergraduate Classroom<br /> </blockquote> http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/03/pg_conference_east_09_registration_open/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/02/seven_things/ Thu, 19 Feb 2009 11:57:24 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/02/seven_things/ <a href="http://lethargy.org/~jesus/">Theo Schlossnagle</a> recently wrote a blog post called <a href="http://lethargy.org/~jesus/archives/140-Seven-things..html">seven things.</a> The idea is, seven things that you "might" want to know about him. Along those lines he listed me as someone he would like to know seven things about. It has taken me a while to get to the post because I have been busy with <a href="http://www.commandprompt.com/">various</a> <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/">things</a>. So here we go, seven things about me.<blockquote><ul><li>I have crashed a car at 135MPH and walked away. <li>I did not finish High School. <li>I am a <a href="http://extension.oregonstate.edu/mg/">master gardener.</a> <li>I am an entrepreneur not a computer geek. <li>I think the Open Source community needs to learn when to be quiet. <li>I hate it when people think I should care about <strong>x</strong>. <li>I spent two recent years being someone, I am not. This problem has been resolved. </ul></blockquote> The second part of this blog is I am supposed to list seven people I would like to know seven things about. This has struck me as more difficult than I imagined. Most of the people I want to know about, don't blog and barely email. Many other people don't interest me. Here we go:<blockquote><ul><li><a href="http://www.csail.mit.edu/people/Michael_Stonebraker/reminder">Michael Stonebraker</a>, because PostgreSQL doesn't interest him. <li><a href="http://blog.hagander.net/">Magnus Hagander</a>, because he is my counterpart in <a href="http://www.postgresql.eu">Europe</a>. <li><a href="http://www.stallman.org/">Richard Stallman</a>, because I have never seen a bigger hippy that is still living. <li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Somerset_Maugham">W. Somerset Maugham</a>, because he is one of the best authors I have ever read (yes I know he is dead). <li><a href="http://www.momjian.us/">Bruce Momjian</a>, because I realized he is a friend. <li><a href="http://www.xzilla.net/">Robert Treat</a>, because I think he will struggle like I did to come up with this list. <li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Lane_(Open_Source_Software_Developer)">Tom Lane (TGL)</a>, because after all these years he will still graciously answer my email. </ul></blockquote> http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/02/seven_things/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/02/postgresql_conference_talk_deadline_approaching/ Tue, 17 Feb 2009 11:19:16 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/02/postgresql_conference_talk_deadline_approaching/ The deadline (Feb, 23rd) is fast approaching for PostgreSQL Conference East talk submissions. <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/">Get your talk in today! </a> http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/02/postgresql_conference_talk_deadline_approaching/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/02/postgresql_mininum_requirements/ Thu, 12 Feb 2009 11:16:41 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/02/postgresql_mininum_requirements/ There has been a lot of talk through the years of what the minimum set of hardware requirements are for a PostgreSQL database. Generally speaking the requirements for PostgreSQL are very low, you can even get by on 256 Megs of memory. However you rarely hear or read about what would be considered the minimum production hardware requirements for PostgreSQL.<p> A primary reason for this is that every business has their own requirements and thus one persons minimum requirements are not another persons minimum requirements. Of course since we are in geek world and many geeks are uniquely pedantic and unable to see outside of their own bubble, my requirements may be <strong>wrong</strong> without any understanding of business requirements as a whole. So what do we do? We voice our opinion anyway. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/02/postgresql_mininum_requirements/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/02/what_is_that_sound____that_is_the_sound_of_jd_stomping/ Wed, 11 Feb 2009 14:15:45 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/02/what_is_that_sound____that_is_the_sound_of_jd_stomping/ After years of listening to Dave Page, Magnus Hagander, Josh Berkus, David Fetter, Stefan Kaltenbrunner, Ads, Gabrielle, JPA and numerous other contributors that I should mention but won't. I have finally submitted to get a passport. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/02/what_is_that_sound____that_is_the_sound_of_jd_stomping/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/02/configuring_pylons_on_ubuntu_hardy/ Fri, 06 Feb 2009 15:36:07 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/02/configuring_pylons_on_ubuntu_hardy/ I recently configured a complete <a href="http://www.pylonshq.com/">Pylons</a> + <a href="http://www.postgresql.org/">PostgreSQL</a> environment for a customer. The operating system was (of course) <a href="http://www.ubuntu.com/">Ubuntu Hardy</a>. The system included the use of <a href="https://projects.commandprompt.com/public/simpycity">Simpycity</a> and <a href="http://www.wsgi.org/wsgi/">WSGI</a>. Although I could never done it without the Pylons documentation, I found that it was unnecessary complicated for those who <strong>just want to get it done</strong>. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/02/configuring_pylons_on_ubuntu_hardy/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/02/2nd_call_for_papers_postgresql_conference_east/ Wed, 04 Feb 2009 09:34:46 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/02/2nd_call_for_papers_postgresql_conference_east/ PostgreSQL Conference East is being held at historic Drexel University on April 3rd through 5th 2009 . This is the second call for papers. The call for papers ends Feb 23rd and speakers will be notified on the 27th. You may <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/">submit your talk here.</a> We are looking for a wide range of topics. Can you speak on any of the below topics? What about a different topic? As long as it is centered around PostgreSQL we want to hear about it. <strong>Hacker topics:</strong> <pre> MVCC C Function development Writing Procedural Languages Creating types The planner Optimization tips Explaining the process model </pre> <strong>DBA topics:</strong> <pre> Backing up PostgreSQL Understanding and Configuring Autovacuum Normalization Trigger Happy (how to use triggers) PITR -- happiness is a shipped transaction log User / Groups / Roles Security </pre> <strong>End User development:</strong> <pre> Web Frameworks with PostgreSQL Pylons Grails Rails Cake Turbo Gears Django </pre> <strong>Solutions:</strong> <pre> Do you have a successful case study to present? How did you solve a problem with PostgreSQL? Do you have an Open Source product that runs on PostgreSQL? </pre> As always we let the presenters drive the feel of the conference. If you have an itch, let's figure out how to scratch it (as long as it is with PostgreSQL). <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/">Submit your paper today.</a> http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/02/2nd_call_for_papers_postgresql_conference_east/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/02/postgresql_and_replicator_at_northwest_python_day/ Tue, 03 Feb 2009 08:29:38 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/02/postgresql_and_replicator_at_northwest_python_day/ Last Saturday I gave a talk at the Northwest Python Day in Seattle. Unfortunately it was a short talk of only 30 minutes so I didn't get to cover all the topics I wanted but I was able to briefly share on PostgreSQL and on configuring PostgreSQL (Mammoth) Replicator. Just for grins I started the talk off with a question, "Please raise your hand if you are running Ubuntu." There were over 50 people in the room. Over half raised their hand. World domination is coming along nicely. I was asked two questions at the end of the talk. One was about how to have many masters replicate to a single slave. Similar to the salesman problem where they have a database of information that has to sync up to the main hub once a day or something like that. This particular application was doing security polling and the gentlemen wanted to have all the nodes report centrally. Replicator isn't really designed for that. I suggested looking at Slony which is a little more flexible with obscure configurations. The second question was about the mcp server and if the master/slaves would recover should the mcp be unavailable for a period of time. Yes, they will. The trip itself was pretty uneventful but it was nice to get out of town for a couple of days. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/02/postgresql_and_replicator_at_northwest_python_day/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/01/reflecting_on_the_great_community_discussion/ Tue, 27 Jan 2009 15:47:12 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/01/reflecting_on_the_great_community_discussion/ As I diligently prepare for <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference/">PostgreSQL Conference East 09</a> by trying to ensure that we have enough talks <strong>(hint: talk submission closes Feb 27th)</strong>. We have a suggested hotel and that everyone knows it is going on (including the Groovy, Python, MySQL, PHP and Ruby communities), I take heart in knowing that our community <a href="http://www.postgresql.org/">PostgreSQL</a> can have a well thought out, pointed and <a href="http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2009-01/msg01799.php">productive discussion</a> like no other. I was thinking what other great and historical discussions have we had? <blockquote><li>Vi vs. Emacs? (answer: joe) <li>cvs vs. git vs. svn (answer: svn) <li>python versus perl (answer: Python) <li>C vs C++ (answer: C, but only because I have had patches accepted) <li>fbsd vs linux (answer: my nick is linupoet, you guess) <li>Red versus Blue (answer: They both suck) </blockquote> Any that I missed? http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/01/reflecting_on_the_great_community_discussion/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/01/east_09_call_for_papers/ Mon, 26 Jan 2009 10:02:37 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/01/east_09_call_for_papers/ PostgreSQL Conference, U.S., East 09 will be held in Philadelphia at historic Drexel University from April 3rd through 5th. The <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/2009/east/">call for papers is now out.</a> <p>As always we let our submissions define our actual tracks. If you have something you want to talk about it. Submit it. As long as it is about PostgreSQL (or doing something with PostgreSQL) we will consider it. <p>We are seeking creative ideas about things we can do at the conference. At West we had a code sprint. The sprint was very successful as it was about all things postgresql and open source. It wasn't just hacking back end code but people worked on all kinds of things.. Is someone up for running a code sprint? <p>There has also been specific interest in having us add (in addition to our advanced topics) a newbie track. Please do not be afraid to submit a talks on items such as:<p><blockquote><li>Backing up PostgreSQL <li>Understanding and Configuring Autovacuum <li>Normalization <li>Trigger Happy (how to use triggers ;) <li>PITR -- happiness is a shipped transaction log </blockquote> <p>Other topics we are interested in beyond the standard PostgreSQL architectural fanfare are:<blockquote><li>Groovy/Grails <li>Django <li>PHP <li>Pylons <li>SQL Alchemy </blockquote> So don't delay, PostgreSQL Conference, U.S. is the premeire PostgreSQL conference series for the United States PostgreSQL community! <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/2009/east/">Submit your talk today.</a> http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/01/east_09_call_for_papers/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/01/fk_check_enum_or_domain_that_is_the_question/ Wed, 21 Jan 2009 16:05:41 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/01/fk_check_enum_or_domain_that_is_the_question/ We have a customer that recently asked me to comment on which I would use for a particular problem. This is a simple validating lookup. For example, CHECK(VALUE IN ('foo','bar')). Should we use a CHECK constraint, FK, ENUM or DOMAIN? <p>A CHECK constraint is easy to apply and has simple syntax. It is also extremely flexible in solving other types of validating problems. If your valid values change you must DROP CONSTRAINT and ADD CONSTRAINT. You can not add an element to the CHECK. <p>A Foreign Key creates the requirement of a lookup table. It also offers the easiest management of valid values. You just INSERT, UPDATE or DELETE from the lookup table. If you are a smart monkey and using natural keys versus artificial ones, you can avoid the JOIN on SELECT as well. <p>ENUM registers as a type in PostgreSQL. This means if you use an ENUM extensively you are basically locking yourself into the use of the type. In short if you need to modify an ENUM you drop the ENUM and recreate it. You can't drop an ENUM if a relation is using it. There are some interesting functions available with ENUM but I am having a hard time seeing a use case for the type as a whole. An ENUM type in theory lends itself specifically to this type of problem so I have included it. <p>A DOMAIN for this problem suffers from the same problems as ENUM as it registers as a type. However a DOMAIN is more flexible as you can apply complex logic to the validation (just as you can with a CHECK). For example a DOMAIN could contain the regex to validate if a email address is correctly formed. I have used domains many times in the past to create complex validating types. They are useful. <p>So what does all this boil down to? I have listed the pros and cons of managing each method above but what I haven't mentioned is performance. What is the particular performance bottleneck for each method? Read on, to find out for yourself. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/01/fk_check_enum_or_domain_that_is_the_question/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/01/replicator_meeting_log_for_01-08-09_is_up/ Tue, 13 Jan 2009 08:47:07 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/01/replicator_meeting_log_for_01-08-09_is_up/ The PostgreSQL + Replicator meeting logs for 01-08-09 are up. This was a long meeting held on #replicator using the Freenode IRC service. Topics covered were the removal of the Single Point of Failure of the MCP which is partially done. The new in the PostgreSQL backend forwarder works but now the question is how to safely handle failover. <a href="https://projects.commandprompt.com/public/replicator/wiki/01_08_09">Take a look, maybe you have an idea.</a> http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/01/replicator_meeting_log_for_01-08-09_is_up/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/01/postgresql_conference__pgconus_update/ Sun, 11 Jan 2009 11:55:51 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/01/postgresql_conference__pgconus_update/ In an attempt to ensure the continued positive growth of the community, PostgreSQL Conference, U.S. is going to change its current policy toward the domain PgCon.US. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/01/postgresql_conference__pgconus_update/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/01/pitrtools_multiple_slave_support/ Fri, 09 Jan 2009 15:43:18 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/01/pitrtools_multiple_slave_support/ I gave a lightning talk at <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/">Pg Conference: West 08</a> about a tool that I have developed call PITRTools. PITRTools is a python based log shipping utility. Essentially it wraps itself around standard tools such as rsync, and pg_standby to provide a usable experience. Some of the features is provides are: <blockquote> <li>Auto initialization of environment <li>Simple base backups <li>Monitoring of Master <li>Arbitrary alerts <li>Failover <li>Failover actions <li>etc... </blockquote> In all it is by far the simplest and most effective tool for PostgreSQL standby that I have used (of course I wrote it so...). http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/01/pitrtools_multiple_slave_support/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/01/postgresql_replicator_update_010609/ Tue, 06 Jan 2009 12:25:21 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/01/postgresql_replicator_update_010609/ I know it appears that it has been pretty quiet since we open sourced Replicator but that isn't the case. We have been actively working on 1.9 and fixing 1.8 Beta as bug reports have come in, including a bug to sequence replication. However, 1.9 is the true milestone release where we have finally moved away from the original architecture. For those that don't know, the original architecture looked like this: <pre> master-->mcp | | ----------------- | | | s0 s1 s2 </pre> The mcp would handle all communication and data transfer between the master and the slaves. The idea behind the architecture was to achieve maximum efficiency for the master, meaning that the number of the slaves never affected the performance of the master. However this architecture came with a cost. A single point of failure. If the mcp were to ever crash, replication would stop. When we started down the path of 1.9 it was made very clear to me by Alvaro and Alexey that this was not acceptable. In return I made it very clear that any architectural change we made must not suffer from the Slony problem (performance degradation based on number of subscribers). Together we were all very clear to each other and Alvaro came up with a new architecture. The new architecture calls for a "Forwarder" process and from a topological view doesn't look much different than the MCP. It does however offer us a great deal more flexibility and stability. Here is the new architecture: <pre> master-->forwarder0 | | ----------------- | | | s0 s1 s2 </pre> How is this different? It is different in a couple of ways. First, the forwarder is now integrated into the PostgreSQL backend. This removes the mcp binary entirely. It also greatly decreases the redundancy of the code. Secondly if the primary forwarder goes down a slave can become the forwarder. This removes the single point of failure. You can read more information on the <a href="https://lists.commandprompt.com/pipermail/replicator-general/2008-November/000024.html">forwarder here.</a> Other items up for idle thoughts on the possibilities of this new architecture is a single monitoring point. With versions of replicator <= 1.8, you can have a clear idea of which replication transactions have been received and transfered to each slave but you must access each slave individually to see what transaction has actually been restored. So what else is coming with Replicator 1.9? In continuing our cleanup of the architecture we are completely rewriting the ROLE and GRANT/REVOKE replication. This is actually the first step of the other half of the <strong>Major Feature</strong> of Replicator 1.9, DDL replication. We are currently investigating the opportunity to have certain DDL operations automatically replicate. The most obvious of these would be: <blockquote><li>CREATE TABLE <li>ALTER TABLE <li>CREATE DOMAIN <li>etc... </blockquote> We decided to pass on replicating CREATE FUNCTION due to complexity in dealing with externally linked libraries as well as various dependency problems. We may look at this again in the future. For more information on this feature please <a href="https://lists.commandprompt.com/pipermail/replicator-general/2008-December/000135.html">visit the thread.</a> If you are interested in testing you can grab the 1.8 Beta or 1.9 from <a href="https://projects.commandprompt.com/public/replicator">SVN</a>. You can also get the 1.8 Beta from <a href="https://projects.commandprompt.com/public/pgcore">The pgsqlrpms project.</a> The next developer meeting is on 01.08.09 at 11:00AM PST. We are holding in in the #replicator channel on Freenode. All are welcome. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/01/postgresql_replicator_update_010609/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/01/postgresql_conference_west_2007_more_video_up/ Mon, 05 Jan 2009 13:15:29 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/01/postgresql_conference_west_2007_more_video_up/ I have gotten a couple more of the West 2007 Videos. <blockquote><li><a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/2007/west/talks/#partitioning">PostgreSQL Partitioning</a> - Robert Treat </li> <li><a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/2007/west/talks/#babel">Babel of PLs</a> - David Fetter</blockquote> http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/01/postgresql_conference_west_2007_more_video_up/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/01/pgday_lfnw_call_for_papers_042509/ Mon, 05 Jan 2009 11:53:04 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/01/pgday_lfnw_call_for_papers_042509/ <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/">PostgreSQL Conference, U.S.</a> is having a PgDay at <a href="http://www.linuxfestnorthwest.org/">LinuxFest Northwest</a> in Bellingham Washington on April 25th, 2009. The PgDay (and LinuxFest Northwest) is a free event. We are holding the PgDAY on the first day of the event (a Saturday) parallel with LFNW. There was over 700 attendees to LFNW last year. LFNW is hoping for even more this year! In short, we are looking for some PostgreSQL talks (45 minutes each) to fill out the day. Please <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/2009/pgday/lfnw/">click here to submit your talk.</a> http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2009/01/pgday_lfnw_call_for_papers_042509/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/12/postgresql_conference_west_07_two_videos_added/ Mon, 15 Dec 2008 13:25:28 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/12/postgresql_conference_west_07_two_videos_added/ As I was working on PostgreSQL Conference this weekend I happen to crawl under my desk to pick up a pin I dropped. As I was crawling back out I smacked my head on the top of the desk and in the process jostled an empty (black) computer case that was sitting there. I noticed something on top of the case so I took a long hard look and behold! It was the Western Digital USB drive the West 07 videos were on. Now most of you wouldn't think that was a big deal except that I completely forgot we did video for West 07 and two, I thought that hard drive was long lost to the computer parts gods. I plugged it in and viola! We have videos. Of course the first thing I did was rsync them all off so we have a backup. I then formatted it because it was using HFS and that is just unacceptable. Anyway, the first two videos I pulled from the vault were:<ul> <li>Stupid Solaris tricks : Josh Berkus</li> <li>Ruby on Rails Essentials for PostgreSQL Enthusiasts | David Wheeler</li> </ul> They can both be found at <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/2007/west/talks">PostgreSQLConference.org</a>. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/12/postgresql_conference_west_07_two_videos_added/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/12/postgresql_conference_east_09_when_to_hold_survey_closed/ Mon, 15 Dec 2008 13:07:08 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/12/postgresql_conference_east_09_when_to_hold_survey_closed/ I have closed the survey, "When to hold it" and <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/2009/east/">provided the results.</a> Of particular interest to me was the majority wanted Late March/Early April but a significant amount were also interested in having the conference in Early June. I am also glad to see that people were not interested in conflicting with Ottawa as I hear it is a very good conference. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/12/postgresql_conference_east_09_when_to_hold_survey_closed/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/12/postgresql_conference_perl5_is_alive/ Fri, 12 Dec 2008 08:33:22 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/12/postgresql_conference_perl5_is_alive/ Although I don't follow the Perl world very much, my respected peer Matt S. Trout emailed me wondering when I would be able to get the <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/2008/west/talks/#perl5_is_alive">Perl 5 is Alive!</a> video up. Apparently there are some buffoons spreading FUD about the state of this very much alive, very much supported, very much developed, very much kicking language. So take a look at the link above and see for yourself. If you are a Perl fan you need not worry! http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/12/postgresql_conference_perl5_is_alive/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/12/postgresql_conference_east_2009_when_should_we_hold_it/ Wed, 10 Dec 2008 14:15:13 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/12/postgresql_conference_east_2009_when_should_we_hold_it/ I have been negotiating (with the help of Bruce and others) with various parties to determine where we are going to hold East 2009. One of the questions that keeps popping up is, "When are we going to hold PostgreSQL Conference East: 2009". Since we now have this nifty new <a href="http://www.drupal.org/">Drupal</a> (with PostgreSQL) driven web site, we should take advantage of the ease of use and ask for some feedback. If the community wouldn't mind weighing in that would be helpful. <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/2009/east/">Just visit the site and follow the links.</a> http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/12/postgresql_conference_east_2009_when_should_we_hold_it/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/12/explain_why_do_i_have_to_recheck_my_condition/ Tue, 09 Dec 2008 10:32:05 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/12/explain_why_do_i_have_to_recheck_my_condition/ As with any PostgreSQL question, the first place you should look for answer is the <a href="http://www.postgresql.org/docs/">PostgreSQL docs.</a> I was recently reviewing the EXPLAIN docs as freshen up on some query tuning fu and I came across this little gem: http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/12/explain_why_do_i_have_to_recheck_my_condition/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/12/pg_conference_videos_up_well_some_of_them_anyway/ Tue, 02 Dec 2008 09:40:31 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/12/pg_conference_videos_up_well_some_of_them_anyway/ Last March at PostgreSQL Conference: East we video taped almost all the talks. It has taken some time to get them up and we are still encoding (and learning the tricks of the trade) but we do have a few up now that people may enjoy. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/12/pg_conference_videos_up_well_some_of_them_anyway/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/11/postgresql_conference_a_new_platform/ Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:29:53 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/11/postgresql_conference_a_new_platform/ In my on going efforts to secure a location for the upcoming East (MIT, Penn State, Drexel and even the Marriot are on the list), I am bound and determined to revamp the entire <a href="http://www.pgcon.us/">Pgcon.US website</a>. I have several problems/goals I wish to solve. <ol> <li>A more community orientated site. Currently the site is 100% manage by me. Although it does use PHP it is essentially flat files. <li>A social site. I want people to use the site. We have a lot of excellent educational content and I want to make sure and utilize that. <li>Promotion. I want to promote our speakers. Most use their own money to help our community. They should be acknowledged. First step, blog aggregation. No I don't want to compete with <a href="http://planet.postgresql.org/">Planet</a> or <a href="http://www.planetpostgresql.org/">Planet</a> but the more linked a blog is the better. <li>A better sponsors interface. I want sponsors to feel as if they are partners. Possibly even allowing them to create custom content. <li>A push to <a href="http://www.pgcon.us/">http://www.pgcon.us/</a> . My thought is that <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/">http://www.postgresqlconference.org/</a> will become a portal for all postgresql conference about to happen. For example the <a href="http://www.pgcon.org/">Canadian International conference.</a> </ol> So <a href="http://drupal.postgresqlconference.org/">take a look</a> let me know what you think.</a> Don't complain about a lack of an email. If you can't find my email, you probably shouldn't be emailing me. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/11/postgresql_conference_a_new_platform/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/11/postgresql_certification_jta_results_released/ Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:59:20 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/11/postgresql_certification_jta_results_released/ The PostgreSQL Certification project has released the results of the Job Task Analysis. Thanks to everyone who participated in this important step toward delivering a quality certification. 223 members took the time and effort to fill out the survey. A couple of interesting results. There were 213 members felt we needed a certification. That is a sharp contrast to exposed opinions of some in the community. Of all the results Linux topped the requested operating systems (no surprise) but Windows was number two (I was surprised). Other operating systems that made a decent showing were the various BSDs. If you haven't done so yet I invite you to <a href="http://lists.postgresqlcertification.org/mailman/listinfo/cert">join the community.</a> The results <a href="http://www.postgresqlcertification.org/jta/2008/results">can be found here.</a>. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/11/postgresql_certification_jta_results_released/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/11/postgresql_certification_jta_now_closed/ Sat, 15 Nov 2008 11:38:08 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/11/postgresql_certification_jta_now_closed/ Thanks to everyone that took the time to participate in the PostgreSQL Certification JTA. We received over 223 respondents which is great. We will be posting the results of the JTA shortly and if you would like to participate in the resulting project discussion <a href="http://lists.postgresqlcertification.org/mailman/listinfo/cert">please join us.</a> http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/11/postgresql_certification_jta_now_closed/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/11/postgresql_certification_jta_closes_november_14th/ Mon, 10 Nov 2008 13:57:58 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/11/postgresql_certification_jta_closes_november_14th/ The PostgreSQL certification project is in the closing days of the JTA (Job Task Analysis). In short, what should the PostgreSQL certification project, certify? In hacker terms, "What is the problem we are trying to solve?". It is relatively long but the information is of extreme value to ensure that the project develops a relevant certification to the professional PostgreSQL community. If you haven't done so already <a href="http://www.postgresqlcertification.org/user/register">please create an account</a> and the <a href="http://www.postgresqlcertification.org/jta/">proceed to the JTA.</a> http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/11/postgresql_certification_jta_closes_november_14th/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/11/you_are_not_good_enough_for_open_source/ Tue, 04 Nov 2008 20:30:25 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/11/you_are_not_good_enough_for_open_source/ A segment of the talk I gave at NAU on why you should contribute to Open Source and why you think you can't. Original idea credited to Matt S. Trout. <div align="center"> <embed id="VideoPlayback" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-2180030323991676060&hl=en&fs=true" style="width:400px;height:326px" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"> </embed> <br /> Updated 11/05/08 from Matt Trout: <a href="http://www.shadowcat.co.uk/archive/conference-video/yapc-eu-2008/you-arent-good-enough/"> the version he gave at YAPC-EU 2008</a> http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/11/you_are_not_good_enough_for_open_source/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/10/the_open_source_job_market/ Tue, 28 Oct 2008 22:57:14 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/10/the_open_source_job_market/ The following is a segment of the talk I gave at Northern Arizona State University about the Open Source job market. <center> <embed id="VideoPlayback" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=4069882205731377793&hl=en&fs=true" style="width:400px;height:326px" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"> </embed> </center> http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/10/the_open_source_job_market/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/10/postgresql_replicator_developer_meeting_1028/ Mon, 27 Oct 2008 13:34:15 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/10/postgresql_replicator_developer_meeting_1028/ With the recent open sourcing of Replicator, the team has been trying to come up with ways to ensure an open development process. In that light we have decided to have our first release 1.9 meeting on Freenode. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/10/postgresql_replicator_developer_meeting_1028/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/10/replicator_18_beta_released_as_bsd_/ Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:04:31 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/10/replicator_18_beta_released_as_bsd_/ It took longer than we expected, but Replicator 1.8 for 8.1 and 8.3 of PostgreSQL has been released. It is 100% Open Source and of course, BSD. <a href="https://projects.commandprompt.com/public/replicator">Replicator all your baby elephants here.</a> http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/10/replicator_18_beta_released_as_bsd_/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/10/thanks_to_all_that_helped_with_postgresql_conference_west/ Sun, 12 Oct 2008 20:37:23 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/10/thanks_to_all_that_helped_with_postgresql_conference_west/ PostgreSQL Conference West was a big hit this weekend. It exceeded expectations of attendance as well as content. I would like to take a moment to thank the people that took time out of their personal lives to help make this conference a success! <ul> <li>Daniel Browning <li>Selena Decklemann <li>Lisa Drake <li>Josh Berkus <li>Richard Broersma Jr. <li>Tim Bruce <li>Rafael de Jesús Fernández Moctezuma <li>Lacey Powers <li>Gabrielle Roth <li>David Wheeler <li>Mark Wong </ul> Thank you all for the time you spent to help make this conference a success! Without you there is no way we could have pulled it off. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/10/thanks_to_all_that_helped_with_postgresql_conference_west/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/10/on_the_morning_of_west_east_08_appears/ Fri, 10 Oct 2008 06:45:19 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/10/on_the_morning_of_west_east_08_appears/ In preparing for West I decided we weren't going to go through the hassle we went through at East with recording. We ran out of tapes, had to borrow all the cameras, even used some digital cameras video mode. That combined with a lack of hardware to pull the video off of tapes caused content from East08 to be significantly delayed on getting to the web. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/10/on_the_morning_of_west_east_08_appears/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/09/pg_conference_west_last_call_for_lightning_talks_and_tentative_schedule_released/ Tue, 30 Sep 2008 09:59:13 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/09/pg_conference_west_last_call_for_lightning_talks_and_tentative_schedule_released/ Lightning talks are an exciting way to get involved in the conference with very little commitment on the speakers end. Assuming you can stand in front of an audience for 5 minutes; you can speak about anything PostgreSQL or Open Source related. <ul> <li><a href="http://www.pgcon.us/west08/talk_submission/">Submit your lightning talk.</a> <li><a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/west08/register">Register for the event.</a> <li><a href="http://www.pgcon.us/west08/schedule">Tentative talk schedule.</a> </ul> http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/09/pg_conference_west_last_call_for_lightning_talks_and_tentative_schedule_released/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/09/pg_conference_west_lightning_talks/ Thu, 18 Sep 2008 11:10:00 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/09/pg_conference_west_lightning_talks/ While recently seeking feedback on the conference schedule from Josh Berkus and David Fetter I was asked, "Are there going to be lightning talks?". To which I replied, "What?". http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/09/pg_conference_west_lightning_talks/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/09/west_conference_shaping_up_nicely/ Mon, 15 Sep 2008 09:49:40 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/09/west_conference_shaping_up_nicely/ Once again West this year is running on a truncated calendar. <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/west08/register">Registration is now open!</a>. We had originally planned on announcing and organizing from June till end of conference. Unfortunately that didn't work out as planned and we are back on the 6-8 week time line. Nothing like Just in Time delivery! http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/09/west_conference_shaping_up_nicely/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/08/postgresql_conference_west_october_10th-12th_call_for_papers/ Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:39:53 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/08/postgresql_conference_west_october_10th-12th_call_for_papers/ The second annual PostgreSQL Conference: West is being held on October 10th through October 12th 2008 in the The Native American Student & Community Center at Portland State University. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/08/postgresql_conference_west_october_10th-12th_call_for_papers/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/07/postgresql_leads_oscon_again/ Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:21:26 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/07/postgresql_leads_oscon_again/ For the what seems like yet another year (can't we slow these guys down?), OSCON has proven to be the PostgreSQL stomping ground. Per our usual supply of great community members including, Selena, Gabrielle, Michael, Greg, Robert and the other Robert we had what seemed liked an endless supply of quality support and community reaction to all comers. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/07/postgresql_leads_oscon_again/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/05/postgresql_042408_thru_050108/ Thu, 01 May 2008 12:23:28 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/05/postgresql_042408_thru_050108/ As I digg and slashdot my way through the weary set of tubes that connects us all, I have stumbled across a number of interesting (good and bad) posts in the last week. The first of which comes from our friends doing <a href="http://railsforum.com/viewtopic.php?pid=61157#61157">Ruby on Rails development</a>. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/05/postgresql_042408_thru_050108/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/04/is_that_performance_i_smell_ext2_vs_ext3_on_50_spindles_testing_for_postgresql/ Wed, 23 Apr 2008 10:31:07 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/04/is_that_performance_i_smell_ext2_vs_ext3_on_50_spindles_testing_for_postgresql/ There are few things I like better than when a customer says to the team, "I want the best machine I can buy for XXX dollars". It inspires a certain sense of joy not unlike the feeling an average Slashdot reader gets when they walk into the local gadget store. It is particularly special because you know as much as you <strong>could</strong> make use of such a machine, you <strong>know</strong> you would never justify the expense. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/04/is_that_performance_i_smell_ext2_vs_ext3_on_50_spindles_testing_for_postgresql/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/04/in_the_news_again_today__but_for_something_technical/ Fri, 18 Apr 2008 13:54:25 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/04/in_the_news_again_today__but_for_something_technical/ Command Prompt made news today at the grace of our very good partners in the PostgreSQL Community, <a href="http://www.truviso.com/">Truviso</a>. We are working with Truviso to implement some very cool vacuum features that will help with long running transactions. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/04/in_the_news_again_today__but_for_something_technical/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/04/additional_comments_about_my_talk_at_mysqlcon/ Fri, 18 Apr 2008 10:27:47 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/04/additional_comments_about_my_talk_at_mysqlcon/ Colin Charles blogged about <a href="http://www.bytebot.net/blog/archives/2008/04/17/what-mysql-can-learn-from-postgresql">my talk at MySQLCon</a>. I wanted to clear a few things up that he mentioned. I noted in my talk: EnterpriseDB is the opposite, they’re closing up more and more. I spoke with Bob Zurek who is the CTO of EnterpriseDB. I was not correct in my EnterpriseDB comment. My reference came <a href="http://www.enterprisedb.com/products/postgres_plus_as.do">from this page</a> which is very difficult to tell which is Open Source and which is not. I still think they would benefit more if they would be to just open everything. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/04/additional_comments_about_my_talk_at_mysqlcon/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/04/what_mysql_and_really_sun_can_learn_from_postgresql/ Thu, 17 Apr 2008 20:23:57 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/04/what_mysql_and_really_sun_can_learn_from_postgresql/ I spent April 17th, 2008 flying to San Jose, Ca only to arrive 30 minutes before my talk, "<a href="/files/mysql_learn.pdf">What MySQL can learn from PostgreSQL</a>", jump in a cab and literally walk into the door of the room I was assigned, "right on time". I think the talk went over fairly well. I opened with the statement, "This is not about MySQL AB, this is about MySQL and the community." I think it help set the tone for the presentation. I didn't want people to feel like I was attacking a profit model or a company. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/04/what_mysql_and_really_sun_can_learn_from_postgresql/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/04/and_finally_here_is_the_keynote/ Fri, 11 Apr 2008 23:11:41 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/04/and_finally_here_is_the_keynote/ Selena and I are a bit behind getting content up on the <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/">PostgreSQL Conference East</a> site, so I thought I would get my keynote out there. <a href="http://www.commandprompt.com/files/keynote_east.pdf">Keynote PDF</a> http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/04/and_finally_here_is_the_keynote/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/03/at_east_keynote_went_well/ Sat, 29 Mar 2008 08:48:25 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/03/at_east_keynote_went_well/ I delivered the Keynote for <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/">East</a> this morning. It seemed to go very well, with a full discussion on expanding the community. I spoke on using mentoring contacts as well as organizing the community for free work shops. There is a surprising and well received number of new community members here. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/03/at_east_keynote_went_well/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/03/only_3_days_left_for_postgresql_conference_east/ Tue, 25 Mar 2008 08:12:26 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/03/only_3_days_left_for_postgresql_conference_east/ Online registration ends for PostgreSQL Conference East on March 26th at 5:00pm PST. PostgreSQL Conference: East is being held at the Univerisity of Maryland, College Park in the CSIC building. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/03/only_3_days_left_for_postgresql_conference_east/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/03/read_only_templates_pdxpug_march_20th_2008/ Fri, 21 Mar 2008 13:14:45 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/03/read_only_templates_pdxpug_march_20th_2008/ I was at <a href="http://pugs.postgresql.org/pdxpug">PDXPUG</a> last night. While everyone was introducing themselves, they also mentioned one of their least favorite items about PostgreSQL. It was interesting to hear everyone's experiences. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/03/read_only_templates_pdxpug_march_20th_2008/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/03/less_than_two_weeks_to_go_until_east/ Wed, 19 Mar 2008 14:28:30 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/03/less_than_two_weeks_to_go_until_east/ Calling all Elephant herders! On March 29th and 30th 2008, The PostgreSQL Community Conference: East is set to unleash the preeminent source of community interaction, knowledge exchange and learning to ever land on the East Coast! Not since the Founding Fathers sat huddled around candles extolling the virtues of declaring Independence from our taxation without representation overlords has a single more important event be presented to the general populous. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/03/less_than_two_weeks_to_go_until_east/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/03/postgresqldocsorg_and_3_weeks_left_until_postgresql_conference_east/ Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:08:42 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/03/postgresqldocsorg_and_3_weeks_left_until_postgresql_conference_east/ Its been a busy community season for me over here. A couple weeks back Greg Smith started down the path of getting a documentation wiki up for PostgreSQL. CMD offered to host and the rest is as they say, history. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/03/postgresqldocsorg_and_3_weeks_left_until_postgresql_conference_east/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/02/no_i_am_not_a_dirty_hippy_in_other_words_on_licensing/ Thu, 21 Feb 2008 15:30:31 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/02/no_i_am_not_a_dirty_hippy_in_other_words_on_licensing/ I find for many things the BSD License, leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Not all things of course but some. To me it allows theft of work product. I know this is not the legal interpretation, it is a philosophical one and CMD is just as guilty of this theft as others in the PostgreSQL community including EDB and GreenPlum. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/02/no_i_am_not_a_dirty_hippy_in_other_words_on_licensing/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/02/postgresql_at_scale_day_2/ Sun, 10 Feb 2008 10:38:13 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/02/postgresql_at_scale_day_2/ It's the second day of the Southern California Linux Expo (well third, but second for PostgreSQL) and things are looking good so far. When walking the floor yesterday I was greeted by the pleasant surprise a customer,(<a href="http://www.randrinc.com">Randr</a>) has a booth at the show. I am glad to see that their Open Source business (based on PostgreSQL of course) is doing so well. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/02/postgresql_at_scale_day_2/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/02/postgresql_at_southern_california_linux_expo/ Sat, 09 Feb 2008 11:45:20 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/02/postgresql_at_southern_california_linux_expo/ I am currently staffing the PostgreSQL booth at the <a href="http://www.socallinuxexpo.org/">Southern California Linux Expo</a>. Initially the show was a little slow but I as kindly reminded as I reminisced about the high traffic days of OSCON that the Keynote for the show actually takes place mid morning. Once the key note ended traffic increased and with traffic increases comes new and old community members. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/02/postgresql_at_southern_california_linux_expo/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/01/thoughts_on_the_postgresql_eu_non_profit/ Fri, 25 Jan 2008 12:03:06 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/01/thoughts_on_the_postgresql_eu_non_profit/ I was talking with a peer about the particular PGEU problem that I am currently arguing on the <a href="http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-eu-general/2008-01/msg00128.php">following thread.</a> I wanted to see if I could explain my position outside of the thread to allow the thread to stay productive. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/01/thoughts_on_the_postgresql_eu_non_profit/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/01/call_for_papers_postgresql_conference_east/ Wed, 02 Jan 2008 19:09:08 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/01/call_for_papers_postgresql_conference_east/ The call for papers went out tonight for PostgreSQL Conference East which is being held in College Park Maryland on March 29th and 30th. At West, we only had one day and a series of 9 talks. This time around, we have two days and three rooms... http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2008/01/call_for_papers_postgresql_conference_east/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/12/phew_handling_postgresql_conference_east_08/ Mon, 17 Dec 2007 13:52:47 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/12/phew_handling_postgresql_conference_east_08/ When Selena and I started with the Fall Conference last October we had no idea what a success it was going to be. O.k., Selena swears she knew but I was surprised. After Fall there was zero question that we were going to do an East. The community demand was just too high and we have a volume of not only contributors but also general community on the East coast. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/12/phew_handling_postgresql_conference_east_08/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/11/postgresql_conference_east_08_updated/ Mon, 19 Nov 2007 15:57:45 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/11/postgresql_conference_east_08_updated/ It's that time, after a wildly successful conference last October in Portland, Oregon we are now beginning to ramp up for the East Coast 08 conference! The current plan is to host a two day conference of Tutorials (new) and Talks on March 28th and 29th. The currently designated location for the conference is the Univserity of Maryland. This will be confirmed within two weeks. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/11/postgresql_conference_east_08_updated/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/11/postgresql_logging_time_for_a_change/ Sat, 10 Nov 2007 10:38:08 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/11/postgresql_logging_time_for_a_change/ I have often thought that PostgreSQL logging although very flexible is also unwieldy. PostgreSQL has so many logging options, it is difficult if not impossible to find the "right" logging setting without a lot of trial and error. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/11/postgresql_logging_time_for_a_change/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/10/postgresql_conference_fall_2007_my_wrap_up/ Wed, 31 Oct 2007 14:42:12 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/10/postgresql_conference_fall_2007_my_wrap_up/ We had a great time at the conference and subsequent party. If you are ever in PDX and want some great food and interesting accommodations I strongly suggest the Paramount Hotel and Dragon Fish cafe. They treated all of us very well and had great food! The conference did well above expectations, signing on 10 sponsors, some at the last minute (LinuxFund). Our original goal was only 4. And as has been mentioned in other places already, we had well over the 35 attendees we expected, topping out at 60+. That is a great day for our community! Further because of our sponsors and our attendees, we were in a single day able to raise over 5000.00 dollars for the community. Not bad considering we only had 8 weeks to prepare and it is the first conference that the team had done together. The money of course all went to SPI our affiliated 501c3. The money raised will be used to continue our community growth including sponsoring speakers for other shows, purchasing new shirts and the upcoming live CD for 8.3. Of course the team isn't sleeping until next year, we are already busy on our other upcoming conferences. We are having a PostgreSQL Web Technologies mini-conf in February 08. This will be attached to SCALE and will be similar in format to our PGDay last July. We are also having a PostgreSQL Conference East 08! This show is being held in late Winter, early Spring. We are very excited about this conference as we have a swell of community members in the area. It is going to be held in the D.C./Maryland area, likely be 1.5 days and we are hoping for over 100 community members to attend. Make sure you watch for the call for speakers for both of these upcoming shows. Lastly the conference website: <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org">www.postgresqlconference.org</a> has all the audio from the talks up. We also have "some" of the slides (more forthcoming) and the video will be up in a couple of weeks! Thanks to everyone again for their support of this conference series. It is great to see the community growing and supporting each other. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/10/postgresql_conference_fall_2007_my_wrap_up/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/10/postgresql_conference_good_lord_twice_as_many_as_we_expected/ Fri, 19 Oct 2007 15:49:46 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/10/postgresql_conference_good_lord_twice_as_many_as_we_expected/ When Selena Deckelmann and I decided to start a PostgreSQL Conference series, we believed that a small, regional, technically specific conference was appropriate. We considered that at most, we would get around 35 people and it would essentially be a large user group meeting that had a series of talks and was good for the community. That was the end of July. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/10/postgresql_conference_good_lord_twice_as_many_as_we_expected/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/10/plphp_135_beta_1_released/ Mon, 15 Oct 2007 10:22:25 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/10/plphp_135_beta_1_released/ Not much to say here but plphp 1.3.5 Beta1 supports named parameters and PostgreSQL 8.3 Beta1. Enjoy :) <a href="http://projects.commandprompt.com/public/plphp">PL/php website</a> http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/10/plphp_135_beta_1_released/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/10/postgresql_gotcha_default_timestamps_are_not_exact/ Tue, 09 Oct 2007 15:54:35 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/10/postgresql_gotcha_default_timestamps_are_not_exact/ If you are compiling PostgreSQL from source you have a configure option called: <pre> --enable-integer-datetimes </pre> Now Debian/Ubuntu wisely turn this option on by default, unfortunately the RPM provided by PostgreSQL.Org and the RPM provided by RedHat/Fedora do not. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/10/postgresql_gotcha_default_timestamps_are_not_exact/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/10/the_easy_but_harder_than_i_thought_road_to_postgresql_conference_fall_2007/ Mon, 01 Oct 2007 11:35:37 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/10/the_easy_but_harder_than_i_thought_road_to_postgresql_conference_fall_2007/ The PostgreSQL Conference Fall 2007 has given me a knew appreciation for the little things. If it wasn't for <a href="http://pugs.postgresql.org/pdx">PDXPUG</a> leader Selena Deckelmann the conference would not have the complimentary breakfast/social nor would it have the synopsis of the talks on the <a href="http://www.postgresqlconference.org/">conference website.</a> The hard work of Selena, myself and the speakers appears to be paying off. We have a strong list of sponsors as well as a very strong list of speakers. See for yourself: http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/10/the_easy_but_harder_than_i_thought_road_to_postgresql_conference_fall_2007/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/09/log_level_correlations/ Fri, 21 Sep 2007 10:06:21 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/09/log_level_correlations/ There was a <a href="http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-general/2007-09/msg00972.php">post recently on using Syslog with PostgreSQL on pgsql-general.</a> As you can see, Tom Lane kindly replied in the thread. I decided that it might be a good idea to submit a <a href="http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2007-09/msg00305.php">DOC patch.</a> I only received on comment on the patch, so I don't know if it will be applied or not. The comment, caused me to consider creating a table for the docs that correlated the different log levels between PostgreSQL, Syslog and Eventlog. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/09/log_level_correlations/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/09/postgresql_conference_fall_07/ Thu, 13 Sep 2007 14:32:31 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/09/postgresql_conference_fall_07/ When sitting in the booth with the Army of Smurfs (tm) at OSCON 2007, I was struck by the idea that having PostgreSQL Conference(s) (yes plural) could be a great way to insure the growth of our community. Check -- duh! You would think that this is obvious. In fact I would think this is obvious. This is why the community had the Anniversary two years ago and Dan Langille was successful with his PgCon last May. However, I foresaw what I concluded was a fatal flaw in the traditional trade show, in that... only those in the know, actually attend and only those who can expense it, will normally travel for them. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/09/postgresql_conference_fall_07/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/08/postgresql_83_its_faster_really_it_is/ Thu, 23 Aug 2007 21:51:17 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/08/postgresql_83_its_faster_really_it_is/ I downloaded the latest check out of PostgreSQL 8.3 (not even beta yet) just to see how things are progressing. Of particular interest to me was a recent conversation about sequential scans I had with Jeff Davis. In short, in 8.3 sequential scans should be faster. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/08/postgresql_83_its_faster_really_it_is/ PostgreSQL http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/08/how_many_rows_do_i_have_anyway/ Thu, 23 Aug 2007 12:19:39 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/08/how_many_rows_do_i_have_anyway/ Have you ever wondered how many tuples you have in a relation? Normally to find out how many tuples you have you would do something like: <pre>SELECT count(1) FROM rows; count ------- 10002</pre> http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/08/how_many_rows_do_i_have_anyway/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/08/surrogate_versus_natural_primary_keys/ Thu, 09 Aug 2007 10:54:07 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/08/surrogate_versus_natural_primary_keys/ This is a constant source of argument, flame and general discomfort with any database design. On the PostgreSQL lists it comes up occasionally and it is always a long drawn out thread with people arguing on each side about which one is correct. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/08/surrogate_versus_natural_primary_keys/ PostgreSQL http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/08/lewisc_and_the_postgresql_vs_enterprisedb_hypocritical_crap/ Wed, 08 Aug 2007 11:54:43 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/08/lewisc_and_the_postgresql_vs_enterprisedb_hypocritical_crap/ Yet another round of EDB PR came out today and of course, some in the community disagreed with it. This time I was not a big objector although I do think their PR was a little misleading, I think it was generally a reasonable release and that the community needs to relax a bit. <a href="http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-advocacy/2007-08/msg00120.php"> You can see that thread here.</a> http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/08/lewisc_and_the_postgresql_vs_enterprisedb_hypocritical_crap/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/07/oscon_2007_postgresql_army_of_smurfs/ Fri, 27 Jul 2007 09:58:55 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/07/oscon_2007_postgresql_army_of_smurfs/ OSCON 2007 was a huge success for the PostgreSQL community. Of course, OSCON is usually a good conference for PostgreSQL but this year was different. So what was different about this year than other years? How did we stand out from other community booths? What about MySQL? http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/07/oscon_2007_postgresql_army_of_smurfs/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/07/pgday_portland_a_huge_success/ Mon, 23 Jul 2007 18:59:49 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/07/pgday_portland_a_huge_success/ On July 22nd, PostgreSQL.Org held a single day conference in Portland Oregon preceding OSCON 2007. This conference, although short notice was a huge success. We had solid attendance from new and old community members. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/07/pgday_portland_a_huge_success/ PostgreSQL OpenSource http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/07/for_the_record_enterprisedb_and_command_prompt_inc/ Tue, 17 Jul 2007 10:45:49 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/07/for_the_record_enterprisedb_and_command_prompt_inc/ I recently made a post on the pgsql-advocacy list about a press release that EnterpriseDB put out that was less than flattering about PostgreSQL [1]. This thread was long and a little tiring. To make matters worse an Oracle blogger [2] picked up the thread and blogged an incorrect assessment of what happen. I would like to take a moment and set the record straight. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/07/for_the_record_enterprisedb_and_command_prompt_inc/ PostgreSQL OpenSource Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/06/from_the_field_on_joshs_rules_of_database_contracting/ Wed, 27 Jun 2007 10:09:42 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/06/from_the_field_on_joshs_rules_of_database_contracting/ Josh Berkus wrote an excellent bullet point list of things to do and not do when doing <a href="http://networking.ittoolbox.com/r/rss.asp?url=http://blogs.ittoolbox.com/database/soup/archives/joshs-rules-of-database-contracting-17253">Database Contracting.</a> I would like to expand on that list and add some comments to a couple of his points: http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/06/from_the_field_on_joshs_rules_of_database_contracting/ PostgreSQL Business http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/06/training_hot_seat_style/ Mon, 18 Jun 2007 12:57:59 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/06/training_hot_seat_style/ We have been stewing here at CMD for some time over training. Command Prompt actually does quite a bit of PostgreSQL Training. In the 12 months preceding April of 2007 we had taught a dozen classes on PostgreSQL. These classes have always been directed at on-site training, meaning that someone from CMD would travel to the customer site to train their employees. We did this for two reasons. One, because CMD is a widely dispersed corporation without any central location. Two, because we felt that our other training partners (namely <a href="http://www.otg-nc.com/">OTG</a> and <a href="http://www.bignerdranch.com">Big Nerd Ranch</a>) were better suited to classroom style training. We still believe that and thus Command Prompt, will not be offering any classroom style training in the foreseeable future. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/06/training_hot_seat_style/ PostgreSQL http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/06/postgresql_party_july_22nd/ Tue, 12 Jun 2007 15:48:37 -0700 http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/06/postgresql_party_july_22nd/ Command Prompt is working with the PostgreSQL community to have a PostgreSQL party on July 22nd. For those not calendar aware, that is the Sunday before OSCON starts in Portland. For more information please visit <a href="http://www.postgresqlparty.org">www.postgresqlparty.org</a>. http://www.commandprompt.com/blogs/joshua_drake/2007/06/postgresql_party_july_22nd/ PostgreSQL OpenSource