Tag: Database
AWS Acquires DuckDB: The Duck Flies into the Amazon Rainforest
Original on WeChat | August 26, 2026 On August 26, Amazon made it official: AWS has signed a definitive agreement to acquire DuckLabs, the company behind DuckDB. The deal is expected to close in early September; the price was not disclosed. The team …
Original on WeChat | August 26, 2026 On August 26, Amazon made it official: AWS has signed a definitive agreement to acquire DuckLabs, the company behind DuckDB. The deal is expected to close in early September; the price was not disclosed. The team …
How a Word Dies
A brief history of credibility inflation in China’s tech industry Introduction The phrase “far, far ahead” can no longer be used with a straight face. Put it in a technical document or a serious review, and readers will laugh. The phrase was used, …
A brief history of credibility inflation in China’s tech industry Introduction The phrase “far, far ahead” can no longer be used with a straight face. Put it in a technical document or a serious review, and readers will laugh. The phrase was used, …
Did AI Rewrite PostgreSQL in Rust? Not Quite
pgrust recently hit the front page of Hacker News. With AI, its author had ported PostgreSQL to Rust and passed the core regression suite. The obvious headline was: “AI rewrote PostgreSQL in Rust.” The repository tells a sharper story. A clean-room …
pgrust recently hit the front page of Hacker News. With AI, its author had ported PostgreSQL to Rust and passed the core regression suite. The obvious headline was: “AI rewrote PostgreSQL in Rust.” The repository tells a sharper story. A clean-room …
Fifty Years of Love and War: File Systems, Databases, and the Agent-Era Storage Endgame
Prologue: Several Database People Independently Built File Systems Something curious has happened in agent infrastructure over the past six months: several veteran database people have started building “file systems for AI agents.” Timescale’s …
Prologue: Several Database People Independently Built File Systems Something curious has happened in agent infrastructure over the past six months: several veteran database people have started building “file systems for AI agents.” Timescale’s …
MySQL 9.7: Same Old Leftovers, Reheated
Two years ago, I wrote MySQL Is Dead, Long Live PostgreSQL. MySQL 9.0 had just shipped, and Oracle had unveiled a VECTOR data type with great fanfare, billing it as “MySQL for the AI era.” One look was enough: it was a BLOB in a cheap disguise. No …
Two years ago, I wrote MySQL Is Dead, Long Live PostgreSQL. MySQL 9.0 had just shipped, and Oracle had unveiled a VECTOR data type with great fanfare, billing it as “MySQL for the AI era.” One look was enough: it was a BLOB in a cheap disguise. No …
The Three-Way Endgame: Why Agent Memory Frameworks Are a Dead End
A few months ago, I wrote The OS Moment for AI Agents. I made a prediction there: the next frenzy in agent infrastructure would be memory. Startups and open-source projects would swarm around the question of how agents should remember things. Capital …
A few months ago, I wrote The OS Moment for AI Agents. I made a prediction there: the next frenzy in agent infrastructure would be memory. Startups and open-source projects would swarm around the question of how agents should remember things. Capital …
Why PostgreSQL Won in the AI Era
I recently did a recorded livestream on PostgreSQL and AI. The host asked a lot of good questions, and I gave some answers. The recording goes out Tuesday night. I am publishing the fuller written version of my views here, including quite a bit I did …
I recently did a recorded livestream on PostgreSQL and AI. The host asked a lot of good questions, and I gave some answers. The recording goes out Tuesday night. I am publishing the fuller written version of my views here, including quite a bit I did …
Palantir's Ontology Narrative
I. Two Kinds of Faces By late 2025, Palantir’s market cap had blown past $400 billion — a 20x run in just two years. Every roadshow, every whitepaper, every tech blog from this company hammers the same word: Ontology. The word has been packaged as …
I. Two Kinds of Faces By late 2025, Palantir’s market cap had blown past $400 billion — a 20x run in just two years. Every roadshow, every whitepaper, every tech blog from this company hammers the same word: Ontology. The word has been packaged as …
I Finished Translating the Second Edition of DDIA: An Eight-Year Parable About AI
This morning, I ran ten Codex sessions in parallel and, in less than half a day, translated the final four newly released chapters of DDIA’s second edition. The results surprised me. Formatting, terminology, footnotes, and anchors were nearly perfect …
This morning, I ran ten Codex sessions in parallel and, in less than half a day, translated the final four newly released chapters of DDIA’s second edition. The results surprised me. Formatting, terminology, footnotes, and anchors were nearly perfect …
New Programmers in the AI Era: Where Do You Go?
The Window Is Closing Recently I was chatting with a few friends in tech, and we landed on a question that silenced everyone: “Should we still hire fresh grads?” Nobody could answer. Not because they didn’t want to — because they didn’t dare. AI …
The Window Is Closing Recently I was chatting with a few friends in tech, and we landed on a question that silenced everyone: “Should we still hire fresh grads?” Nobody could answer. Not because they didn’t want to — because they didn’t dare. AI …
Data 2025: The year in review with Mike Stonebraker
Transcription of Data 2025: The year in review with Mike Stonebraker Data 2025: The Year in Review with Mike Stonebraker & Andy Pavlo Recorded on December 10, 2025 A conversation between Mike Stonebraker (MIT CSAIL, Turing Award Winner, Creator of …
Transcription of Data 2025: The year in review with Mike Stonebraker Data 2025: The Year in Review with Mike Stonebraker & Andy Pavlo Recorded on December 10, 2025 A conversation between Mike Stonebraker (MIT CSAIL, Turing Award Winner, Creator of …
What Kind of Database Do AI Agents Need?
When we talk about “databases for the AI era,” it is easy to fall into a familiar trap: assuming the shift requires a brand-new storage engine, a revolutionary index structure, or a disruptive query language. But a clear-eyed look at the problem …
When we talk about “databases for the AI era,” it is easy to fall into a familiar trap: assuming the shift requires a brand-new storage engine, a revolutionary index structure, or a disruptive query language. But a clear-eyed look at the problem …
MySQL and Baijiu: The Internet’s Obedience Test
1. Two Painful Shots Remember your first sip of baijiu? It scorched down your throat like a wire of fire. Your face contorted, eyes watered, stomach flipped. Every instinct screamed: this isn’t food, it’s poison. The senior at the table grinned: …
1. Two Painful Shots Remember your first sip of baijiu? It scorched down your throat like a wire of fire. Your face contorted, eyes watered, stomach flipped. Every instinct screamed: this isn’t food, it’s poison. The senior at the table grinned: …
MinIO Is Dead. Who Picks Up the Pieces?
MinIO announced maintenance mode two days ago. I ranted in “MinIO Is Dead” and immediately got flooded with “so what now?” The usual suspects: Ceph, RustFS, SeaweedFS, Garage. I packaged all of them for Linux (RPM/DEB) and ran them through the …
MinIO announced maintenance mode two days ago. I ranted in “MinIO Is Dead” and immediately got flooded with “so what now?” The usual suspects: Ceph, RustFS, SeaweedFS, Garage. I packaged all of them for Linux (RPM/DEB) and ran them through the …
MinIO is Dead
December 3, 2025 was a day to mark in open-source software history. MinIO’s team updated the project status on GitHub, announcing the MinIO open-source project was entering “maintenance mode.” This basically declared the death of MinIO as an …
December 3, 2025 was a day to mark in open-source software history. MinIO’s team updated the project status on GitHub, announcing the MinIO open-source project was entering “maintenance mode.” This basically declared the death of MinIO as an …
Why PostgreSQL Will Dominate the AI Era
In the Agent era, the underlying logic of software architecture has changed. Over the past decade, we’ve built microservices and “polyglot persistence” to accommodate the collaboration boundaries of human teams, fragmenting our systems into scattered …
In the Agent era, the underlying logic of software architecture has changed. Over the past decade, we’ve built microservices and “polyglot persistence” to accommodate the collaboration boundaries of human teams, fragmenting our systems into scattered …
DDIA 2nd Edition, Chinese Translation
The new DDIA—Designing Data-Intensive Applications, 2nd Edition—has published its first ten chapters. With Claude Code Max 20× on my side, it took two days to translate the released chapters into Chinese and re-render them via Hugo + Hextra for a …
The new DDIA—Designing Data-Intensive Applications, 2nd Edition—has published its first ten chapters. With Claude Code Max 20× on my side, it took two days to translate the released chapters into Chinese and re-render them via Hugo + Hextra for a …
Column: Database Guru
WeChat Sovereignty & Self-Reliance Build a China-rooted, world-facing PG distribution Supply-chain trust: I won’t bet on absentee maintainers PG “export controls” and supply-chain trust Any domestic DBs that actually deliver? Stop embarrassing us …
WeChat Sovereignty & Self-Reliance Build a China-rooted, world-facing PG distribution Supply-chain trust: I won’t bet on absentee maintainers PG “export controls” and supply-chain trust Any domestic DBs that actually deliver? Stop embarrassing us …
Dongchedi Just Exposed “Smart Driving.” Where’s Our Dongku-Di?
I rented a car today, drove from Shanghai back to Ningbo. Yesterday I watched Dongchedi’s autonomous-driving showdown—closed highway + real city roads + 30+ “smart driving” models. Everyone faceplanted except Tesla. The episode aired and every Tesla …
I rented a car today, drove from Shanghai back to Ningbo. Yesterday I watched Dongchedi’s autonomous-driving showdown—closed highway + real city roads + 30+ “smart driving” models. Everyone faceplanted except Tesla. The episode aired and every Tesla …
Where Will Databases and DBAs Go in the AI Era?
The day before yesterday at the HOW 2025 conference roundtable, Chairman Xiao asked some interesting questions about AI, databases, and DBAs. Here are Feng’s views, organized and published. OLTP / OLAP: Who Gets Revolutionized First? Question: In …
The day before yesterday at the HOW 2025 conference roundtable, Chairman Xiao asked some interesting questions about AI, databases, and DBAs. Here are Feng’s views, organized and published. OLTP / OLAP: Who Gets Revolutionized First? Question: In …
Stop Arguing, The AI Era Database Has Been Settled
This morning, the industry exploded with news of an acquisition. Following Databricks’ $1 billion acquisition of Neon, its rival Snowflake immediately followed by acquiring CrunchyData. According to insiders, this deal was priced at $250 million. …
This morning, the industry exploded with news of an acquisition. Following Databricks’ $1 billion acquisition of Neon, its rival Snowflake immediately followed by acquiring CrunchyData. According to insiders, this deal was priced at $250 million. …
How Many Shops Has etcd Torched?
A few days ago Yingshi Hurricane shared their Pigsty/PostgreSQL HA incident. The root cause? etcd hit its default 2 GB limit because auto-compaction wasn’t enabled. As @ayanamist put it on X: “Let’s see how many companies this stupid 2 GB design can …
A few days ago Yingshi Hurricane shared their Pigsty/PostgreSQL HA incident. The root cause? etcd hit its default 2 GB limit because auto-compaction wasn’t enabled. As @ayanamist put it on X: “Let’s see how many companies this stupid 2 GB design can …
In the AI Era, Software Starts at the Database
WeChat The future stack is “Agent + Database.” No front-end/back-end toll booths—agents talk CRUD straight to storage. Database skills hold their value, and PostgreSQL is the database of the agent era. SaaS is dead? Software begins with the DB GenAI …
WeChat The future stack is “Agent + Database.” No front-end/back-end toll booths—agents talk CRUD straight to storage. Database skills hold their value, and PostgreSQL is the database of the agent era. SaaS is dead? Software begins with the DB GenAI …
MySQL vs. PostgreSQL @ 2025
In 2025, PostgreSQL has opened a clear lead over MySQL on features, correctness, performance, and ecosystem—and the gap keeps widening. Here’s the panoramic view. Features Release cadence MySQL just dropped “Innovation” 9.3 (release notes), yet the …
In 2025, PostgreSQL has opened a clear lead over MySQL on features, correctness, performance, and ecosystem—and the gap keeps widening. Here’s the panoramic view. Features Release cadence MySQL just dropped “Innovation” 9.3 (release notes), yet the …
Database Planet Collision: When PG Falls for DuckDB
When I published “PostgreSQL Is Eating the Database World” last year, I tossed out this wild idea: Could Postgres really unify OLTP and OLAP? I had no clue we’d see fireworks so quickly. The PG community’s now in an all-out frenzy to stitch DuckDB …
When I published “PostgreSQL Is Eating the Database World” last year, I tossed out this wild idea: Could Postgres really unify OLTP and OLAP? I had no clue we’d see fireworks so quickly. The PG community’s now in an all-out frenzy to stitch DuckDB …
Comparing Oracle and PostgreSQL Transaction Systems
Original by Laurenz Albe. Translation and commentary by Feng Ruohang. Transactions sit at the heart of relational databases. They guarantee data integrity for applications. SQL defines some transactional behavior but leaves plenty unspecified, so …
Original by Laurenz Albe. Translation and commentary by Feng Ruohang. Transactions sit at the heart of relational databases. They guarantee data integrity for applications. SQL defines some transactional behavior but leaves plenty unspecified, so …
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? …
Solving the 24-Point Card Game with a Single SQL Query
Here is the challenge: Database Programming Contest: Solve the 24-Point Card Game with One SQL Query, hosted by the database tooling platform NineData. There is a table named cards. Its auto-incrementing numeric primary key is id, and it has 4 …
Here is the challenge: Database Programming Contest: Solve the 24-Point Card Game with One SQL Query, hosted by the database tooling platform NineData. There is a table named cards. Its auto-incrementing numeric primary key is id, and it has 4 …
7 Databases in 7 Weeks (2025)
Author: Matt Blewitt, Original: 7 Databases in 7 Weeks (2025) Translator: Feng Ruohang, database veteran, cloud computing mudslide https://matt.blwt.io/post/7-databases-in-7-weeks-for-2025/ For a long time, I’ve been running Databases-as-a-Service, …
Author: Matt Blewitt, Original: 7 Databases in 7 Weeks (2025) Translator: Feng Ruohang, database veteran, cloud computing mudslide https://matt.blwt.io/post/7-databases-in-7-weeks-for-2025/ For a long time, I’ve been running Databases-as-a-Service, …
Self-Hosting Supabase on PostgreSQL
Supabase is great, but having your own Supabase is even better. Pigsty helps you build enterprise-grade Supabase on your own servers (physical/virtual machines/cloud servers) with one-click deployment — more extensions, better performance, deeper …
Supabase is great, but having your own Supabase is even better. Pigsty helps you build enterprise-grade Supabase on your own servers (physical/virtual machines/cloud servers) with one-click deployment — more extensions, better performance, deeper …
Optimize Bio Cores First, CPU Cores Second
Optimize Bio Cores First, Silicon Cores Second A big part of the reason that companies are going ga-ga over AI right now is the promise that it might materially lower their payroll for programmers. If a company currently needs 10 programmers to do a …
Optimize Bio Cores First, Silicon Cores Second A big part of the reason that companies are going ga-ga over AI right now is the promise that it might materially lower their payroll for programmers. If a company currently needs 10 programmers to do a …
MongoDB Has No Future: Good Marketing Can't Save a Rotten Mango
These past few days, MongoDB’s marketing stunts have been dazzling: “MongoDB Declares War on PostgreSQL”, “MongoDB Defeats PostgreSQL to Win $30 Billion Project”, and the original article from The Register “MongoDB Prepares to Pummel PostgreSQL After …
These past few days, MongoDB’s marketing stunts have been dazzling: “MongoDB Declares War on PostgreSQL”, “MongoDB Defeats PostgreSQL to Win $30 Billion Project”, and the original article from The Register “MongoDB Prepares to Pummel PostgreSQL After …
MongoDB: Now Powered by PostgreSQL?
Preface Tomorrow I’ll publish an article criticizing MongoDB, as a response to their recent malicious marketing that provocatively targets PostgreSQL. But before that, I want to share a brilliant article from 2015 that exposes some of MongoDB’s dark …
Preface Tomorrow I’ll publish an article criticizing MongoDB, as a response to their recent malicious marketing that provocatively targets PostgreSQL. But before that, I want to share a brilliant article from 2015 that exposes some of MongoDB’s dark …
The $20 Brother PolarDB: What Should Databases Actually Cost?
WeChat Public Account Yesterday, a bidding news attracted attention and heated discussion: “The IT industry is broken… 16.1 million dollar contract… 2.9 million (won)… maintenance fee 0.01 yuan… PolarDB unit price 130 yuan”. When I first saw this …
WeChat Public Account Yesterday, a bidding news attracted attention and heated discussion: “The IT industry is broken… 16.1 million dollar contract… 2.9 million (won)… maintenance fee 0.01 yuan… PolarDB unit price 130 yuan”. When I first saw this …
Can Chinese Domestic Databases Really Compete?
WeChat Public Account Friends often ask me, can Chinese domestic databases really compete? To be honest, it’s a question that offends people. So let’s try speaking with data - I hope the charts provided in this article can help readers understand …
WeChat Public Account Friends often ask me, can Chinese domestic databases really compete? To be honest, it’s a question that offends people. So let’s try speaking with data - I hope the charts provided in this article can help readers understand …
Redis Going Non-Open-Source is a Disgrace to "Open-Source" and Public Cloud
Recently, Redis changed its license, causing controversy: starting from version 7.4, it uses RSALv2 and SSPLv1, no longer meeting OSI’s definition of “open source software.” But don’t get it wrong: Redis “going non-open source” is not a disgrace to …
Recently, Redis changed its license, causing controversy: starting from version 7.4, it uses RSALv2 and SSPLv1, no longer meeting OSI’s definition of “open source software.” But don’t get it wrong: Redis “going non-open source” is not a disgrace to …
MySQL's ACID is a real mess
MySQL was once the world’s most popular open-source relational database. However, popularity doesn’t mean advanced, and popular things can have big problems. JEPSEN’s evaluation of MySQL’s isolation levels pierced through this veneer — in …
MySQL was once the world’s most popular open-source relational database. However, popularity doesn’t mean advanced, and popular things can have big problems. JEPSEN’s evaluation of MySQL’s isolation levels pierced through this veneer — in …
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 …
Are Specialized Vector Databases Dead?
Vector storage and retrieval is a real need, but specialized vector databases are already dead. The ecological niche left for specialized vector databases might support one company’s survival, but trying to build an industry around AI stories is …
Vector storage and retrieval is a real need, but specialized vector databases are already dead. The ecological niche left for specialized vector databases might support one company’s survival, but trying to build an industry around AI stories is …
Are Databases Really Being Strangled?
WeChat | Zhihu If “cloud databases” can be considered passable products with slightly underwhelming cost ROI, then many “domestic databases” are simply shoddy, inferior products that can’t be helped. Xinchuang OS/databases are essentially IT …
WeChat | Zhihu If “cloud databases” can be considered passable products with slightly underwhelming cost ROI, then many “domestic databases” are simply shoddy, inferior products that can’t be helped. Xinchuang OS/databases are essentially IT …
Which EL-Series OS Distribution Is Best?
Many users have asked me what operating system is best for running databases. Especially considering that CentOS 7.9 will reach EOL next year, many users should need to upgrade their OS, so today I’m sharing some experience. TL;DR In short, if you’re …
Many users have asked me what operating system is best for running databases. Especially considering that CentOS 7.9 will reach EOL next year, many users should need to upgrade their OS, so today I’m sharing some experience. TL;DR In short, if you’re …
What Kind of Self-Reliance Do Infra Software Need?
WeChat | Zhihu Original When we talk about self-reliance and control, what are we really talking about? For infrastructure software (operating systems/databases), does self-reliance and control mean: developed, distributed, and controlled by Chinese …
WeChat | Zhihu Original When we talk about self-reliance and control, what are we really talking about? For infrastructure software (operating systems/databases), does self-reliance and control mean: developed, distributed, and controlled by Chinese …
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
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 - …
NewSQL: Distributive Nonsens
WeChat Column As hardware technology advances, the capacity and performance of standalone databases have reached unprecedented heights. In this transformative era, distributed (TP) databases appear utterly powerless, much like the “data middle …
WeChat Column As hardware technology advances, the capacity and performance of standalone databases have reached unprecedented heights. In this transformative era, distributed (TP) databases appear utterly powerless, much like the “data middle …
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 …
Understanding Time - Leap Years, Leap Seconds, Time and Time Zones
A few days ago, we encountered the quadrennial leap year February 29th. Every time this day comes around, some poorly written software experiences major failures. If you’re unlucky, this type of problem might take four years to surface. For example, …
A few days ago, we encountered the quadrennial leap year February 29th. Every time this day comes around, some poorly written software experiences major failures. If you’re unlucky, this type of problem might take four years to surface. For example, …
Understanding Character Encoding Principles
Programmers deal with Code (both programming code and encoding), and character encoding is the most fundamental type of encoding. The problem of how to represent characters using binary numbers - this character encoding problem is not as simple as it …
Programmers deal with Code (both programming code and encoding), and character encoding is the most fundamental type of encoding. The problem of how to represent characters using binary numbers - this character encoding problem is not as simple as it …
Concurrency Anomalies Explained
Concurrent programs are hard to write correctly and even harder to write well. Many programmers haven’t truly figured out these problems - they just dump them all on the database. Concurrency anomalies aren’t just theoretical problems: these …
Concurrent programs are hard to write correctly and even harder to write well. Many programmers haven’t truly figured out these problems - they just dump them all on the database. Concurrency anomalies aren’t just theoretical problems: these …
Blockchain and Distributed Databases
The essence, intended functionality, and evolutionary direction of blockchain is distributed databases. To be precise, it’s a Byzantine Fault Tolerant (resistant to malicious node attacks) distributed (leaderless replication) database. If this …
The essence, intended functionality, and evolutionary direction of blockchain is distributed databases. To be precise, it’s a Byzantine Fault Tolerant (resistant to malicious node attacks) distributed (leaderless replication) database. If this …
Consistency: An Overloaded Term
The term consistency is heavily overloaded, representing different things in different contexts and situations: In the context of transactions, such as the C in ACID, it refers to the usual Consistency In the context of distributed systems, such as …
The term consistency is heavily overloaded, representing different things in different contexts and situations: In the context of transactions, such as the C in ACID, it refers to the usual Consistency In the context of distributed systems, such as …
Why Study Database Principles
Our school offers a database systems principles course. But I’m still confused. From the first few classes, the teacher started with a bunch of mind-numbing terms and concepts. I thought knowing “how to design and build tables” and “how to perform …
Our school offers a database systems principles course. But I’m still confused. From the first few classes, the teacher started with a bunch of mind-numbing terms and concepts. I thought knowing “how to design and build tables” and “how to perform …