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Tag: Architecture

  • Why Are People Who Leave Big Tech So Useless?

    By Ruohang Feng In Cloud-Exit 3289 words 16 min

    Ruohang FengCloudSoftware EngineeringArchitectureCareer

    Why Are People Who Leave Big Tech So Useless?

    A cutting remark supposedly from Sam Altman has been making the rounds online: by the time people leave a big company, their ambition, aspiration, and capacity to think have withered to almost nothing. Tell one of them about something that could …

    A cutting remark supposedly from Sam Altman has been making the rounds online: by the time people leave a big company, their ambition, aspiration, and capacity to think have withered to almost nothing. Tell one of them about something that could …

  • Scaling Postgres to the next level at OpenAI

    By Bohan Zhang In Database 2708 words 13 min

    Bohan ZhangPostgreSQLCodexPerformanceArchitecture

    Scaling Postgres to the next level at OpenAI

    At PGConf.Dev 2025, Bohan Zhang from OpenAI shared a session titled Scaling Postgres to the next level at OpenAI, giving us a peek into the database usage of a top-tier unicorn. “At OpenAl, we’ve proven that PostgreSQL can scale to support massive …

    At PGConf.Dev 2025, Bohan Zhang from OpenAI shared a session titled Scaling Postgres to the next level at OpenAI, giving us a peek into the database usage of a top-tier unicorn. “At OpenAl, we’ve proven that PostgreSQL can scale to support massive …

  • Database as Business Architecture

    By Ruohang Feng In Database 1830 words 9 min

    Ruohang FengPostgreSQLDatabaseArchitecturePG Ecosystem

    Database as Business Architecture

    Databases are the core of business architecture - this is self-evident consensus. But what if we go further and treat databases as business architecture itself, putting business logic, web servers, and even entire front and back ends into databases? …

    Databases are the core of business architecture - this is self-evident consensus. But what if we go further and treat databases as business architecture itself, putting business logic, web servers, and even entire front and back ends into databases? …

  • Database in K8S: Pros & Cons

    By Ruohang Feng In Database 2421 words 12 min

    Ruohang FengDatabaseContainersArchitecture

    Database in K8S: Pros & Cons

    Medium |Wechat Whether databases should be housed in Kubernetes/Docker remains highly controversial. While Kubernetes (k8s) excels in managing stateless applications, it has fundamental drawbacks with stateful services, especially databases like …

    Medium |Wechat Whether databases should be housed in Kubernetes/Docker remains highly controversial. While Kubernetes (k8s) excels in managing stateless applications, it has fundamental drawbacks with stateful services, especially databases like …

  • Back to Basics: Tech Reflection Chronicles

    By Ruohang Feng In Database 820 words 2 min

    Ruohang FengBack to BasicsCloudDatabaseArchitectureCommentary

    Back to Basics: Tech Reflection Chronicles

    Recently, there have been some hotly debated topics in the tech community: Are cloud databases an IQ tax? Is public cloud a pig-killing scam? Are distributed databases a false need? Are microservices a stupid idea? Do you still need ops and DBAs? Is …

    Recently, there have been some hotly debated topics in the tech community: Are cloud databases an IQ tax? Is public cloud a pig-killing scam? Are distributed databases a false need? Are microservices a stupid idea? Do you still need ops and DBAs? Is …

  • Database Demand Hierarchy Pyramid

    By Ruohang Feng In Database 1660 words 8 min

    Ruohang FengDatabaseArchitectureSoftware Engineering

    Database Demand Hierarchy Pyramid

    Similar to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, user demands for databases also have a progressive hierarchy. User demands for databases can be divided into eight levels from bottom to top, corresponding to human needs: Physiological Needs: Functionality - …

    Similar to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, user demands for databases also have a progressive hierarchy. User demands for databases can be divided into eight levels from bottom to top, corresponding to human needs: Physiological Needs: Functionality - …

  • Database Cluster Management Concepts and Entity Naming Conventions

    By Ruohang Feng In PGSQL 1497 words 8 min

    Ruohang FengPostgreSQLPG AdminArchitecture

    Database Cluster Management Concepts and Entity Naming Conventions

    Author: Vonng (@Vonng) “Once named, it can be spoken; once spoken, it can be acted upon.” Concepts and their naming are very important. Naming style reflects an engineer’s understanding of system architecture. Poorly defined concepts lead to …

    Author: Vonng (@Vonng) “Once named, it can be spoken; once spoken, it can be acted upon.” Concepts and their naming are very important. Naming style reflects an engineer’s understanding of system architecture. Poorly defined concepts lead to …

  • PostgreSQL Common Replication Topology Plans

    By Ruohang Feng In PGSQL 575 words 3 min

    Ruohang FengPostgreSQLPG AdminArchitecture

    PostgreSQL Common Replication Topology Plans

    Replication is one of the core issues in system architecture. Cluster Topology Suppose we use a standard 4-unit configuration: primary, synchronous replica, delayed backup, and remote replica, identified by letters M, S, O, R respectively. M: Master, …

    Replication is one of the core issues in system architecture. Cluster Topology Suppose we use a standard 4-unit configuration: primary, synchronous replica, delayed backup, and remote replica, identified by letters M, S, O, R respectively. M: Master, …

  • Is running postgres in docker a good idea?

    By Ruohang Feng In Database 2587 words 13 min

    Ruohang FengDatabaseContainersArchitecture

    Is running postgres in docker a good idea?

    For stateless app services, containers are an almost perfect devops solution. However, for stateful services like databases, it’s not so straightforward. Whether production databases should be containerized remains controversial. From a developer’s …

    For stateless app services, containers are an almost perfect devops solution. However, for stateful services like databases, it’s not so straightforward. Whether production databases should be containerized remains controversial. From a developer’s …

  • UUID Properties, Principles and Applications

    By Ruohang Feng In PGSQL 1678 words 8 min

    Ruohang FengPostgreSQLPG DevelopmentArchitecture

    UUID Properties, Principles and Applications

    A recent project needed to generate business transaction IDs with the following requirements: IDs must be generated in a distributed manner, cannot depend on central node allocation while ensuring global uniqueness. IDs must contain timestamps and …

    A recent project needed to generate business transaction IDs with the following requirements: IDs must be generated in a distributed manner, cannot depend on central node allocation while ensuring global uniqueness. IDs must contain timestamps and …