Deciding when to use third-party tools

Not every PostgreSQL cluster is as advanced as the example we used in the introduction, yet some are far larger. How do we decide when a cluster architecture becomes unsafe to manage by hand? How do we integrate backups, WAL archival, and streaming targets without overloading the primary server? Are the included PostgreSQL tools sufficient, or do we need something more advanced?

There are a lot of questions to ask, and thanks to the PostgreSQL community, we have answers for many of them. This recipe will act as a worksheet to asses the interconnections between all of the various necessary servers. Once we've properly summarized the intricacy involved, we can decide if outside assistance is needed.

Getting ready

We will be filling out a very short spreadsheet inventory of our PostgreSQL servers. Be sure to have access to a spreadsheet program before continuing. We also strongly recommend a diagram of all PostgreSQL servers for each segment of your database...