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oam/knowledge base/database lab.md
2024-06-06 00:16:59 +02:00

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# Database Lab
Database Lab Engine is an open-source platform developed by Postgres.ai to create instant, full-size clones of
production databases.<br/>
Use cases of the clones are to test database migrations, optimize SQL, or deploy full-size staging apps.
The website <https://Postgres.ai/> hosts the SaaS version of the Database Lab Engine.
1. [Clones](#clones)
1. [Further readings](#further-readings)
1. [Sources](#sources)
## Clones
Database clones comes in two flavours:
- _Thick_ cloning: the regular way to copy data.<br/>
It is also how data is copied to Database Lab the first time a source is added.
Thick clones can be:
- _Logical_: do a regular dump and restore using `pg_dump` and `pg_restore`.
- _Physical_: done using `pg_basebackup` or restoring data from physical archives created by backup tools such as
WAL-E/WAL-G, Barman, pgBackRest, or pg_probackup.
> Managed PostgreSQL databases in cloud environments (e.g.: AWS RDS) support only the logical clone type.
The Engine supports continuous synchronization with the source databases.<br/>
Achieved by repeating the thick cloning method one initially used for the source.
- _Thin_ cloning: local containerized database clones based on CoW (Copy-on-Write) spin up in few seconds.<br/>
They share most of the data blocks, but logically they look fully independent.<br/>
The speed of thin cloning does **not** depend on the database size.
As of 2024-06, Database Lab Engine supports ZFS and LVM for thin cloning.<br/>
With ZFS, the Engine periodically creates a new snapshot of the data directory and maintains a set of snapshots. When
requesting a new clone, users choose which snapshot to use as base.
## Further readings
- [Website]
- [Main repository]
- [Documentation]
- [`dblab`][dblab]
### Sources
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