Snowflake Postgres¶

About Snowflake Postgres¶

Snowflake Postgres lets you create, manage, and use Postgres instances directly from Snowflake. Each instance runs a Postgres database server on a dedicated virtual machine managed by Snowflake. You connect directly to your instances using any Postgres client. Snowflake Postgres brings the reliable and trusted transactional database capabilities of Postgres to the Snowflake data platform.

About Postgres¶

PostgreSQL (also referred to as Postgres) is a mature, open-source relational database management system that has been actively developed for nearly 40 years. As a general-purpose transactional database, Postgres is designed for operational applications that require highly-concurrent read/write operations, and low-latency data processing. Postgres offers a wide array of data types, including JSONB, and sophisticated indexing capabilities. Postgres is increasingly becoming the database of choice for a wide range of use cases, and is supported by an ecosystem of community-sponsored developer tools and extensions that offer enhanced capabilities. With its proven reliability and performance, and active developer community, Postgres is a great addition to the Snowflake data platform that supports an expanded set of customer workloads.

Architecture¶

Postgres is a 30-year-old, battle-tested database known for its reliability and performance, but it follows a more traditional architectural model than the rest of the Snowflake platform. To bring Postgres into Snowflake, we designed an approach that preserves its operational strengths while integrating it with Snowflake’s security, management, and connectivity capabilities.

Snowflake Postgres provisions a dedicated Postgres instance with attached disks to deliver best-in-class transactional performance. This differs from the virtual warehouse model with separated compute and storage. Each Postgres instance runs in a fully isolated private network and supports private connectivity via firewall rules or PrivateLink. We also offer built-in connection pooling via PgBouncer to support high-concurrency application workloads.

Because Snowflake Postgres is not a Postgres fork, so it is fully compatible with existing Postgres tooling and workloads, enabling you to lift-and-shift applications to Snowflake with no code changes.

Regional availability¶

Snowflake Postgres is available in the following regions.

Postgres major versions¶

Postgres major versions 16-18 are currently available. We will automatically use the latest minor version when creating a new instance.

When to use Postgres¶

Choose Postgres when you need a high-throughput, high-concurrency operational database, you have a use case that can benefit from specific Postgres capabilities, or have an existing Postgres application. Snowflake Postgres can support your most demanding transactional applications within the Snowflake AI Data Cloud.

Customer Configurable Security Controls¶

Customers are responsible for managing the following controls to ensure a level of security appropriate to the particular content of their Postgres instances:

• Securing, keeping confidential, and rotating Postgres instance credentials, including passwords and connection strings.

• Maintaining appropriate password uniqueness, length, complexity, and expiration; and

• Configuring user and role-based access controls, including scope and duration of user access.