OpenEBS for PostgreSQL

    OpenEBS is deployed under PostgreSQL for a variety of reasons discussed below. The basics are that PostgreSQL is typically deployed as a on Kubernetes and requires persistent storage for each instance of PostgreSQL StorageManager. OpenEBS provides persistent volumes on the fly when StorageManagers are scaled up.

    Advantages of using OpenEBS for PostgreSQL database:

    • No need to manage the local disks, they are managed by OpenEBS
    • Large size PVs can be provisioned by OpenEBS and PostgreSQL
    • Start with small storage and add disks as needed on the fly. Sometimes PostgreSQL instances are scaled up because of capacity on the nodes. With OpenEBS persistent volumes, capacity can be thin provisioned and disks can be added to OpenEBS on the fly without disruption of service
    • If required, OpenEBS can be used to take backups of the PostgreSQL data periodically and back them up to S3 or to any object storage or to other PVs backed by OpenEBS so that restoration of the same data is possible to the same or any other Kubernetes cluster

    Note: PostgreSQL can be deployed both as deployment or as . When PostgreSQL deployed as statefulset, you would not typically also replicate the data at OpenEBS level. When PostgreSQL is deployed as a , consider 3 OpenEBS replicas, and choose your the StorageClass accordingly.

    Deployment model

    As shown above, OpenEBS volumes need to be configured with single replica. This configuration works fine when the nodes (hence the OpenEBS cStor pool) is deployed across Kubernetes zones.

    1. Install OpenEBS

      If OpenEBS is not installed in your K8s cluster, this can done from . If OpenEBS is already installed, go to the next step.

    2. Connect to Kubera (Optional) : Connecting the Kubernetes cluster to Kubera provides good visibility of storage resources. Kubera has various support options for enterprise customers.

    3. If cStor Pool is not configured in your OpenEBS cluster, this can be done from . As PostgreSQL is a StatefulSet application, it requires single storage replication factor. During cStor Pool creation, make sure that the maxPools parameter is set to >=3. If cStor pool is already configured, go to the next step. Sample YAML named openebs-config.yaml for configuring cStor Pool is provided in the Configuration details below.

    4. Create Storage Class

      You must configure a StorageClass to provision cStor volume on cStor pool. In this solution we are using a StorageClass to consume the cStor Pool which is created using external disks attached on the Nodes. The storage pool is created using the steps provided in the Step 3. In this solution,PostgreSQL is a deployment. Since it requires replication at the storage level so cStor volume replicaCount is 3. Sample YAML named openebs-sc-disk.yaml to consume cStor pool with cStorVolume Replica count as 3 is provided in the configuration details below.

    5. Launch and test PostgreSQL

      Install PostgreSQL deployment on OpenEBS volume using the following command.

      This will create a PostgreSQL deployment with 3 replica of cStor volume with a PVC size of 8Gi. More details can be read from here.

    Reference at openebs.ci

    A live deployment of PostgreSQL using OpenEBS volumes can be seen at the website

    Deployment YAML spec files for PostgreSQL and OpenEBS resources are found here

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    Monitor OpenEBS Volume size

    It is not seamless to increase the cStor volume size (refer to the roadmap item). Hence, it is recommended that sufficient size is allocated during the initial configuration. However, an alert can be setup for volume size threshold using Kubera.

    Monitor cStor Pool size

    In some cases the cStor pool may not be dedicated to only the PostgreSQL database. It is recommended to watch the pool capacity and add more disks to the pool before it hits 80% threshold. See cStorPool metrics.

    Configuration Details

    openebs-config.yaml

    openebs-sc-disk.yaml