Managed PostgreSQL

Assistance-operated PostgreSQL for production applications, analytics, and SaaS platforms

Managed PostgreSQL is a supporting infrastructure add-on for teams that want PostgreSQL’s power without making database operations a side job for application engineers. Assistance operates the database platform inside an agreed consulting or services boundary 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; 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

Managed Prometheus — Metrics, alerting, and SLO dashboards
Managed OpenSearch — Search and log analytics around application data
Managed MySQL — Alternative relational database operations
Managed Certificates — TLS and certificate hygiene for database connections

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.