Metrics
Introduction
Who I am, and what I work on
I am Ruohang Feng, generally known online as Vonng. I build databases, I run databases, and I write about databases.
In 2018 I started Pigsty — a battery-included open source PostgreSQL distribution. It packages high availability, point-in-time recovery, connection pooling, a full monitoring stack and four hundred-odd extensions into an RDS you can run yourself, so that anyone can have cloud-database capability on their own servers without paying the cloud premium.
Before that I worked as an architect, DBA and full-stack engineer at Alibaba, TanTan and Apple, where I ran hundreds of PostgreSQL clusters and made most of the mistakes worth making.
Outside of work I translated DDIA (Designing Data-Intensive Applications) and PostgreSQL Internals into Chinese, maintain pg_exporter and a handful of other open source tools, and keep writing here.
I also hike, travel and play games. Those show up in Travel Notes and Miscellaneous.
Projects
Code
The things I build and keep running.
PigstyA battery-included PostgreSQL distribution — the local-first, free and open source RDS.
SILOThe community-maintained MinIO fork that keeps S3-compatible storage open source.
OINKA local-first Hugo theme for engineering docs — the one this site runs on.
PIGOne command, any extension — across EL, Debian and Ubuntu.
SOWStore once, serve everywhere — building and mirroring APT and YUM repositories.
PG ExporterPostgreSQL observability expressed in SQL — 600+ metrics, declarative collectors.
Capslock EnhancementTurn the mostly useless CapsLock key into a fifth modifier.
PGEXT.CLOUDAn index, catalog and metadata for 2200+ PostgreSQL extensions, plus download, install and build matrices for 570+ of them.
PGSTYThe team behind Pigsty, and the open source and services around it.Publications
And books
Translations, libraries and papers.
DDIADesigning Data-Intensive Applications, translated into Chinese.
PostgreSQL InternalsPostgreSQL Internals, translated into Chinese.
pg.centerA complete Chinese mirror of postgresql.org, including the PG 18 manual.
pgsql.ccAn aggregate operations library for PostgreSQL and the components around it.
Paper: D-Bot DB Diagnosis with LLMsDatabase Diagnosis System using Large Language Models, VLDB 2024.
Paper : Unified DB Access LayerA unified access layer over heterogeneous databases through PostgreSQL FDW.
Cyber DharmaSeven traditions orbiting one machine — notes on technology and belief.
Empire of AIDreams and nightmares inside OpenAI, translated into Chinese.
The Product-Minded EngineerA book on engineering with a product mind, translated into Chinese.Columns
And prose
Articles here are grouped into columns, each with its own RSS feed.
Database Guru
65posts
News, insights, and best practices from the database industry.
Cloud-Exiter
61posts
Cloud-exit and self-hosting — deep dives and cost analyses.
AI Agent Explorer
63posts
Agents, LLMs, and everything between AI and databases.
Postgres Mage
111posts
Blogs about PG ecosystem, admin, development and operations.
Travel Notes
10posts
Trips, hikes and the things seen along the way.
Miscellaneous
33posts
The things that are not about technology, or not only about it.
Questions, or just want to talk?Leave a comment under any article, or reach me directly.