Summary

There are almost 200 values you might adjust in a PostgreSQL database's configuration, and getting them all right for your application can be quite a project. The guidelines here should get you into the general area where you should start at though, avoid the most common pitfalls, and give you an idea what settings are more likely to be valuable when you do run into trouble.

• The default values in the server configuration file are very short on logging information and have extremely small memory settings. Every server should get at least a basic round of tuning to work around the worst of the known issues.
• The memory-based tunables, primarily shared_buffers and work_mem, need to be adjusted carefully and in unison to make sure your system doesn't run out of memory altogether.
• The query planner needs to know about the memory situation and have good table statistics in order to make accurate plans.
• The autovacuum process is also critical to make sure the query planner...