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PostgreSQL Internals Mastery: A Comprehensive Guide

Volume I: Foundations & Core Concepts

Giovanni Martinez

"It’s 3 AM, your database just hit 500 connections, and everything has ground to a halt. Do you know why?"

Most database outages aren't mysterious—they are architectural. Stop treating PostgreSQL as a black box and start understanding the mechanical "why" behind the engine. PostgreSQL Internals Mastery: Volume I is a modular deep dive designed for senior engineers who need to bridge the gap between writing SQL and architecting high-performance systems. From the process-per-connection model to the groundbreaking Asynchronous I/O (AIO) features of PostgreSQL 18, learn the internals that separate database architects from administrators. Don't just tune knobs; understand the machine.

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About

About

About the Book

PostgreSQL Internals Mastery

Volume I: Foundations & Core Concepts

Stop treating PostgreSQL as a black box. Whether you are troubleshooting a production outage at 3 AM or designing a system to handle 10,000 transactions per second, you cannot optimize what you do not understand.

PostgreSQL Internals Mastery is a modular curriculum designed for senior engineers who need to understand the mechanical "why" behind database behavior. This first volume establishes the critical mental model required for all advanced performance tuning and architectural decision-making.

Why a Modular 5-Volume Series?

Traditional database books are often too shallow for experts or too academic for practitioners. By breaking this knowledge into five focused volumes, we allow you to:

  • Master one layer at a time: Focus deeply on foundations before moving to query optimization or high availability.
  • Just-in-time expertise: Buy only the volume you need for your current project or production bottleneck.
  • Stay current: Receive free updates as PostgreSQL 18 and future versions evolve.

What You Will Learn in Volume I

  • The Process Model: Why PostgreSQL uses processes instead of threads and how this impacts connection scaling.
  • Memory Architecture: Mastering the crucial split between shared_buffers and per-process memory like work_mem.
  • Physical Storage: How data lives in 8kB pages and how the system manages Free Space Maps (FSM) and Visibility Maps (VM).
  • MVCC Foundations: The engine behind multi-version concurrency and how snapshots provide isolation without locking readers.
  • PostgreSQL 18 Highlights: Get a first look at the new Asynchronous I/O (AIO) subsystem and how it overlaps disk I/O with computation.

Who This Book Is For

This series is written for database professionals who require an architectural understanding of the engine:

  • Database Administrators responsible for reliability and optimization.
  • Platform Engineers designing infrastructure at scale.
  • Senior Backend Developers needing to understand how code interacts with internals.
  • SREs troubleshooting complex performance stalls.

The Series Roadmap

  • Volume I: Foundations & Core Concepts (Available Now)
  • Volume II: Concurrency & Maintenance (Coming Soon)
  • Volume III: Query Execution & Optimization
  • Volume IV: Indexes & Advanced Topics
  • Volume V: Case Studies & Real Scenarios

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Author

About the Author

Giovanni Martinez

Giovanni Martinez is a database professional with over a decade of experience navigating the complexities of high-concurrency environments. His journey began in the trenches as a Database Administrator (DBA), where he developed a deep respect for the mechanical realities of data storage and the "3 AM" outages that occur when those realities are ignored.


Over the last 10+ years, Giovanni has evolved his practice to specialize in DevOps and database management, focusing on how automated pipelines and intelligent tooling can prevent architectural failures before they reach production. He is the creator and lead maintainer of IQtoolkit.ai, an open-source project dedicated to bringing intelligent troubleshooting and management tools to the database ecosystem.


In PostgreSQL Internals Mastery, Giovanni distills his 10+ years of experience into a practical guide for engineers who want to move beyond "tuning blindly". By focusing on the engine at the process and memory level , he empowers readers to build systems that aren't just theoretically sound, but mechanically resilient.


Giovanni shares his knowledge through:

  • The PostgreSQL Internals Mastery book series
  • The IQtoolkit YouTube channel
  • Technical writing and open-source contributions

Learn more at iqtoolkit.ai

Contents

Table of Contents

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