This topic describes the features, applicability, and enabling procedures of the new custom endpoint (including custom endpoint and columnar endpoint) for PolarDB-X.
Background information
In real-world business, workloads such as online point queries, analytical SQL, and background batch processing consume resources very differently. If all workloads share the same endpoint, a hotspot in analytical or batch SQL can easily starve online queries of connections and compute resources, causing response time (RT) jitter or even cascading failures.
The new custom endpoint allows you to enable dedicated endpoints for different business scenarios within the same instance, routing traffic to dedicated compute nodes (CNs). The application only needs to switch the connection string, without any code changes, to achieve CN-level traffic isolation. The custom endpoint itself provides CN isolation, while the underlying data nodes (DNs) are still shared. To further achieve DN isolation, you can combine this feature with capabilities such as Locality or Follower read.
PolarDB-X provides two types of dedicated endpoints that can be enabled for free, addressing different isolation needs:
Custom endpoint: Has dedicated CNs and shares the DNs of the primary instance. This endpoint fits scenarios that require both read and write capability and CN isolation from the primary workload. When combined with Locality (which distributes data of different workloads to different DNs), it achieves both CN and DN isolation, enabling full resource isolation for TP workloads. When combined with follower read (which routes queries to follower nodes), it isolates query, data extraction, and online workloads without additional storage cost.
Columnar endpoint: Has dedicated CNs and does not share the DNs of the primary instance. Queries directly access columnar data stored in Object Storage Service (OSS). Analytical SQL consumes CN resources heavily, and using a columnar endpoint fully offloads analytical traffic from the primary instance without adding any pressure or extra cost.
When you enable a new custom endpoint, 2 CN nodes are provided free of charge by default, and the node specification is the same as that of the primary instance.
Scope of application
Only local-disk Enterprise Edition instances are supported.
Instance version: must be version 2.5.0, and the specific build must be
polardb-2.5.0_5.4.21-20260414or later.Note-
For information about the instance version naming rules, see Release notes.
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For information about how to view the version of an instance, see View and update the engine version of a PolarDB for Xscale instance.
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Enable a custom endpoint
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Log on to the PolarDB-X console.
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In the top navigation bar, select the region where the instance is deployed.
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On the Instances page, click the PolarDB-X 2.0 tab.
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Find the instance that you want to manage and click its ID.
In the left-side navigation pane, click Connection Management.
On the Cluster Endpoint tab, click Create Free Custom Address.
Wait 5 to 10 minutes until the instance state becomes Running.
(Optional) Enable a columnar endpoint
If you want to fully offload analytical SQL traffic from the primary instance, enable a columnar endpoint.
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Log on to the PolarDB-X console.
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In the top navigation bar, select the region where the instance is deployed.
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On the Instances page, click the PolarDB-X 2.0 tab.
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Find the instance that you want to manage and click its ID.
In the left-side navigation pane, click Column Storage Engine.
Click Enable Free Column Store Endpoint.
Wait 5 to 10 minutes until the instance state becomes Running.
Monitor endpoints
After you enable a new custom endpoint, you can go to the page of the target instance and switch between endpoints to monitor them.