Personal blog of Yzmir Ramirez

Innodb Cluster or ClusterSet topologies already have secondary instances that can act as a failover for primary or also offload read requests. However, with MySQL 8.4, we now have the feasibility of adding a separate async replica to the cluster for serving various special/ad-hoc queries or some reporting purposes. This will also help offload read traffic away […]

Indexing is one of PostgreSQL’s most effective tools for improving query performance, but like any powerful tool, it can cause real problems when overused. A while ago, my colleague Jobin wrote a blog post exploring the negative side effects of over-indexing in PostgreSQL: PostgreSQL Indexes Can Hurt Performance: Exploring the Negative Effects and the Costs […]

It is generally known and established that different database versions provide different sets of features and performance rates. Along with the binary versions, MongoDB has a property called Feature Compatibility Value, which allows administrators to run a binary version without enabling any features that are incompatible with the previous one. This property is generally helpful […]

One of our customers recently reported that MongoDB’s diagnostic metrics—collected via FTDC (Full-Time Diagnostic Data Capture)—had stopped updating. As a result, no metrics were being collected, either through diagnostic data files or the getDiagnosticData command. Key metrics such as uptime were no longer progressing. While the cluster remained fully operational, the lack of observability introduced a […]

Remember when running databases in Kubernetes felt like a gamble? When unpredictable storage performance and complex state management made stability a constant battle? Thankfully, those days are largely behind us. With better tools, smarter operators, and field-tested strategies, you can now confidently deploy PostgreSQL on Kubernetes, especially when you need scale, automation, and platform consistency. […]

Evolution is one of the inherent traits of modern software. Many people reach out to product teams daily, asking to add more functionality to the software products they use and love. This is understandable: there will always be ways to make a product better by adding more features to the users’ delight so they can […]

In Percona Server for MySQL 8.0.41 / 8.4.4, we significantly re-designed the Data Masking Component. In particular, we made the following changes: Changed the user on behalf of whom we execute internal queries for dictionary operations. Introduced an in-memory dictionary term cache that allows significant speed-up of dictionary operations. Introduced masking_dictionaries_flush() User Defined Function. Introduced […]

If you’re using MongoDB, whether it’s the Community Edition, Enterprise Advanced, or Atlas, you’ve probably asked yourself at some point: what is this actually costing us? And the answer isn’t always easy to pin down. The reality is that there’s no one-size-fits-all price tag. Your infrastructure, usage patterns, and team setup all factor in. That’s […]

As more organizations move their PostgreSQL databases onto Kubernetes, a common question arises: Which storage solution best handles its demands? Picking the right option is critical, directly impacting performance, reliability, and scalability. For stateful workloads like PostgreSQL, storage must offer high availability and safeguard data integrity, even under intense, high-volume conditions. To address these concerns, […]

Kubernetes is becoming a popular choice for running containerized applications. While the core idea is to have a single container running the application in a Pod, there are many cases where one or more containers need to run alongside the application container, such as containers for capturing logs, metrics, etc. This approach is typically referred […]