Postgres with Builtin File Systems

Postgres with Builtin File Systems(db9.ai)

88 points by ngaut 87 days ago | 22 comments

> db9 is a PostgreSQL-compatible distributed SQL database. Your data is stored in a distributed TiKV cluster, and each database (tenant) gets its own isolated keyspace. [0]

I feel like the lede is a bit buried here, bordering on deceptive.

That or the architecture doc is wrong. Both plausible I guess, in this day and age.

[0] https://db9.ai/docs/sql

c4pt0r 87 days ago | |

Hello, the developer of db9 here. You’re right, that section is indeed a bit too brief. We will add more architecture documentation later. What I wanted to convey is that, unlike a standard PostgreSQL, db9 is more like a pg SQL-compatible layer built on top of a large distributed KV store. I also shared a brief introduction in this tweet, which might help clarify things. https://x.com/dxhuang/status/2032016443114733744

jacques_chester 87 days ago | | |

"Compatible" isn't mentioned on the homepage, though, despite multiple opportunities to do so -- "Create, manage and query serverless PostgreSQL", "Run history, status, and metadata live in Postgres", "Full Postgres. Fully typed.".

This lack of detail may cause folks to form the incorrect impression that this is PostgreSQL, or a fork of it, or some module or plugin for it. Folks will be upset to learn that they were misinformed. Some will assign deception as the cause, whether that is true or not.

I think your interests would be best served by trying to make that distinction clear and prominently so. So for example "A PostgreSQL-compatible, fully serverless database", or similar.

I hope I have explained better.

esafak 87 days ago | | |

If you're using TiKV why not use TiDB too, which is MySQL compatible?

TheTaytay 87 days ago | |

Doltgres actually is a true versioned Postgres under the hood (or MySql).

This sounds really interesting, and I like the ease with which I could spin something up here and get embeddings for sure! But I would think the actual runtime perf of this would be “fine” for some text, but nowhere near Postgres level for all sorts of other stuff, right?

I am a huge fan of Postgres as a database, and of SQL, etc. but I don’t think I understand the benefit of using Postgres’ wire format here since it’s not Postgres behind the scenes. I guess that lets you use psql as the client?

DetroitThrow 87 days ago | | |

PG compatible means if you built your application or analytics queries for PG SQL, it's very easy to migrate to XYZ database that takes PG SQL as input and returns the same results in most cases. The wire format means you can point your code at the database and get the same responses as normal SQL.

I agree with the commentary above that it's much clearer to describe something as "PG SQL/wire format compatible".

andriy_koval 84 days ago | | |

> I don’t think I understand the benefit of using Postgres’ wire format here since it’s not Postgres behind the scenes. I guess that lets you use psql as the client?

clients can continue using PG drivers, so author doesn't need to build and distribute his own drivers for N programming languages and M OSes.

anorak27 87 days ago |

You can do the same and a bit more with sqlite through agentfs

https://github.com/tursodatabase/agentfs

snthpy 87 days ago | |

This is really interesting! Thanks

hintymad 87 days ago |

I think what’s really interesting is that the first version of db9.ai is done by a single person by commanding AI. There must be tons of invaluable lessons learned.

gfygfy 87 days ago | |

AI is an instant turnoff and should be banned from HN. Unfortunately it is artificially promoted because of @sama despite not only providing no value but also making the world worse.

c4pt0r 87 days ago | |

yes, it’s quite a journey

nullpoint420 87 days ago |

The carousel overflows on mobile, extending past the screen

shixinhb 87 days ago | |

Fixed by our agent. Thank you!

jvdvegt 87 days ago | | |

It forgot all other locations where the lines are too long to read and you cannot scroll (e.g. the part about embeddings) - from Firefox on Android.

nullpoint420 86 days ago | | |

Okay.

clark1013 87 days ago |

I like the idea of combining the file system and the database. It's really useful when people don’t want to manage files and structured data separately.

agreezy 87 days ago |

I've only worked with MySQL, Sqlite up until this year. Started on Postgres since January and I'm seeing how flexible it is.

DetroitThrow 87 days ago | |

PG SQL is my favorite for many reasons after working with the other two for a decade+ at times. I can turn it into whatever database I want it to be, ultimately.