Managed PostgreSQL
Assistance-operated PostgreSQL for production applications, analytics, and SaaS platforms
Managed PostgreSQL is for teams that want PostgreSQL’s power without making database operations a side job for application engineers. Assistance operates the database platform while your team keeps ownership of schema design, application behavior, and product data decisions.
Best-fit use cases#
| Use case | Why PostgreSQL fits |
|---|---|
| SaaS application database | Strong consistency, transactions, JSON support, extensions, and mature operational tooling |
| Internal business systems | Reliable relational model, reporting queries, row-level security options, and broad ecosystem support |
| Analytics-adjacent workloads | Materialized views, partitioning, extensions, and predictable SQL access patterns |
| Geospatial applications | PostGIS support for maps, routing, proximity search, and spatial analytics |
| Migration from self-hosted Postgres | Clear path to managed backups, monitoring, patching, and documented recovery |
What Assistance operates#
| Area | Included managed service responsibility |
|---|---|
| Provisioning | PostgreSQL cluster setup, sizing recommendation, secure network placement, parameter baseline, and connection details |
| Reliability | HA topology where required, failover procedure, backup schedules, retention policy, restore validation, and runbooks |
| Maintenance | Minor updates, patch planning, version lifecycle guidance, maintenance windows, and rollback planning |
| Performance | Query visibility, slow-query review, index recommendations, vacuum/autovacuum review, connection pooling with PgBouncer when appropriate |
| Security | TLS, encryption options, role model recommendations, audit logging options, least-privilege access, and credential rotation support |
| Observability | Dashboards, alerts, replication lag monitoring, storage growth, connection usage, and backup status |
| Support | Scoped support channel, severity definitions, escalation path, and post-incident notes for platform issues |
PostgreSQL stays a shared responsibility
Assistance operates the PostgreSQL service. Your team owns schema changes, ORM behavior, query patterns introduced by application releases, and business rules around data correctness. We can advise on those areas, but they remain application ownership unless explicitly contracted.
Ownership boundary#
| Responsibility | Assistance | Customer team |
|---|---|---|
| Database runtime | Install, configure, monitor, patch, back up, restore, and operate PostgreSQL | Consume the database safely from applications |
| Schema and migrations | Review risky patterns when scoped, advise on rollout strategy | Own DDL, migration scripts, data validation, rollback compatibility |
| Credentials and users | Provide access model, service roles, rotation guidance | Approve users, manage application secret consumption, maintain internal access reviews |
| Availability | Operate HA/failover design inside agreed topology | Design application retry behavior, connection handling, and deployment timing |
| Data protection | Implement agreed backups and restore process | Define retention, legal requirements, classification, and application-level recovery acceptance |
Deployment options#
| Option | When to choose it |
|---|---|
| Assistance-operated physical servers | Development, test, CI, staging, or steady internal workloads that benefit from flat-rate dedicated hardware |
| PostgreSQL in your cloud account | Production workloads needing proximity to application services, cloud networking, compliance controls, or regional placement |
| Hybrid | Development and CI databases on Assistance infrastructure with production PostgreSQL in your cloud account |
| Migration project | Move from self-hosted PostgreSQL, RDS, Cloud SQL, Azure Database, or another provider into the selected managed model |
Reliability and recovery model#
The production design is based on measurable recovery targets rather than vague promises.
| Topic | Managed PostgreSQL approach |
|---|---|
| Availability target | Defined per deployment tier, topology, and operational control boundary |
| Backups | Automated backups with retention and point-in-time recovery targets scoped during onboarding |
| Restore validation | Restore tests or evidence checks scheduled for production services where recovery assurance is required |
| Failover | Documented promotion and routing behavior for HA deployments |
| Incident response | Severity-based response targets agreed in the support plan; 24/7 critical response available for covered services |
Onboarding#
1. Database assessment#
We review current database size, traffic, extensions, query profile, backup posture, downtime tolerance, compliance requirements, and deployment target.
2. Target architecture#
We define topology, instance sizing, storage, HA, backups, PITR, retention, connection pooling, monitoring, maintenance windows, and access model.
3. Migration or fresh provisioning#
Assistance provisions the service and either migrates existing data or prepares a fresh database for application onboarding. Larger migrations use staged replication or rehearsed cutover plans.
4. Go-live and operations#
After cutover, we monitor service health, backup status, storage growth, query behavior, and replication/failover indicators. Runbooks and escalation details are handed over.
PostgreSQL capabilities we support#
- PostgreSQL 16, 15, 14, and supported lifecycle versions by agreement
- PgBouncer connection pooling
- Common extensions such as PostGIS, pg_stat_statements, pgcrypto, uuid-ossp, hstore, pg_trgm, and TimescaleDB where licensed and appropriate
- Read replicas for reporting or read-heavy workloads
- Partitioning and retention strategies for large tables
- Logical replication for migration and integration scenarios
Not included by default#
- Rewriting application queries or ORM usage
- Owning product data correctness rules
- Guaranteeing performance for unreviewed application releases
- Unlimited data retention or backup storage outside the agreed plan
- Compliance certification claims that require separate audit scope
Related products#
- Managed Redis — Cache, sessions, queues, and rate limits near PostgreSQL
- Managed Prometheus — Metrics, alerting, and SLO dashboards
- Managed OpenSearch — Search and log analytics around application data
- Managed MySQL — Alternative relational database operations
Getting started#
Request a database assessment. We will review your workload, define the operating boundary, and propose a PostgreSQL topology with backup, recovery, support, and migration details.
Request database assessment →Frequently asked questions#
Can Assistance manage PostgreSQL in our existing cloud account? Yes. We can operate PostgreSQL in your AWS, Azure, GCP, Oracle Cloud, or private environment when access, networking, and responsibilities are clearly scoped.
Do you support zero-downtime migration? For suitable workloads, yes. We assess size, write rate, extension compatibility, and application cutover requirements before recommending dump/restore, logical replication, or phased migration.
What availability do you guarantee? Availability is scoped to the selected deployment tier and architecture. We define the measurement window, exclusions, response model, and recovery targets before production go-live.
Can you help with slow queries? Yes. Performance review is included for platform health and can include slow-query analysis, indexing recommendations, connection pooling, and capacity tuning. Application rewrites are scoped separately.
Who controls database users and production access? Your organization remains the approval authority. Assistance implements the access model, service accounts, and rotation procedure inside the managed boundary.