ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL is a fully managed relational database service that runs PostgreSQL on Alibaba Cloud infrastructure. It is fully compatible with standard SQL and supports JSON, IP, and geometric data formats. Built-in features include transactions, subqueries, multi-version concurrency control (MVCC), and data integrity checks, alongside high availability, backup, and restoration — so you can focus on your application instead of database operations.
To get support for complex business requirements, purchase a support plan to access enterprise instant messaging (IM) groups, technical account managers (TAMs), and service managers.
For product details, visit the ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL product page.
Disclaimer
Some features or capabilities described in this topic may be unavailable. The specific terms and conditions in your commercial contract shall prevail. This topic is for reference only. Content is provided without warranty of any kind, expressed or implied.
Advanced features
ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL includes the following advanced features. For a full list, see Features of ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL.
Always confidential database: Encrypts data on the client side before it is transmitted to the RDS instance. Use this when your security requirements include defending against threats both inside and outside the cloud, so that only authorized users can access the data.
Read-only RDS instance: Offloads read requests from the primary RDS instance by routing them to one or more dedicated read-only instances. Use this when read-heavy workloads risk overwhelming the primary instance, or when you need to increase read throughput for your application.
Database proxy (read/write splitting): Acts as a network proxy between your application and RDS instances, and forwards all requests from the application to the RDS instances in your database system with automatic read/write splitting. Use this to enable read/write splitting without changes to your application connection logic.
Babelfish for ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL: Based on the open-source Babelfish for PostgreSQL project. After you enable it when creating an RDS instance, the instance can query and process data from Microsoft SQL Server databases and PostgreSQL databases, and parse and execute Transact-SQL (T-SQL) statements. Use this to migrate applications from Microsoft SQL Server to RDS for PostgreSQL by changing only a small amount of code, without switching your database driver or rewriting SQL statements.
Terraform: An open-source tool for previewing, configuring, and managing RDS instances as code. Use this to automate infrastructure provisioning in a repeatable, version-controlled way.
Extension: A broad library of PostgreSQL extensions covering geographic information, search and recommendation, artificial intelligence (AI), financial security, Internet of Things (IoT), and gaming use cases. Use extensions to improve the efficiency of O&M and application development without building specialized capabilities from scratch.
GanosBase: A spatio-temporal engine that provides data types, functions, and stored procedures for storing, indexing, querying, analyzing, and computing spatial and spatio-temporal data. Use GanosBase when your application handles geospatial datasets or time-series location data.
Key concepts
Instance: A database process that consumes independent physical memory resources. You specify a memory size, storage capacity, and database type when creating an instance. Instance performance scales with memory size. You can change instance specifications or delete the instance after creation.
Database: A logical unit created on an RDS instance. One instance can host multiple databases, each with a unique name within that instance.
Region and zone: A region is a physical data center location. Each region contains multiple isolated zones, each with independent power and network infrastructure. For details, see Global infrastructure of Alibaba Cloud.
General terms
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| On-premises database | A database deployed in a data center, or any database not running on an ApsaraDB RDS instance. |
| ApsaraDB RDS for XX (XX = MySQL, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, or MariaDB) | ApsaraDB RDS running a specific database engine. For example, ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL is an ApsaraDB RDS instance that runs MySQL. |
Manage your instances
Use any of the following methods to create and manage ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL instances, including network configuration, database creation, and account management:
| Method | Description |
|---|---|
| ApsaraDB RDS console | A web-based interface for managing instances visually. |
| Alibaba Cloud CLI | A command-line tool that supports all console operations. |
| SDK | Language-specific libraries that support all console operations. |
| API | Direct API calls that support all console operations. See the API reference for a full list of operations. |