A critical environment running PostgreSQL began to fail. Alerts, crashes, and slowdowns took over operations. With no clear visibility into the root cause, the IT team went into emergency mode. The solution? Calling in a specialized consulting firm that managed, in record time, to diagnose and fix the bottlenecks pushing the cluster to the brink of collapse.
Cases like this, although dramatic, are more common than you might think—especially in medium and large companies with data-intensive operations but lacking a solid database infrastructure management strategy. In this article, you’ll understand why specialized PostgreSQL consulting can be the difference between stability and imminent disaster.
The challenge: a robust but mismanaged PostgreSQL
The company featured in this real-world case relied on PostgreSQL as its main DBMS for financial applications. With a growing volume of transactions, integrations, and services, the database quickly transitioned from a stable environment to one plagued by frequent performance issues.
Even while recognizing the importance of maintaining a healthy database, the organization chose to manage PostgreSQL using internal resources. The team, though competent, was small and wore many hats. The result? Reactive maintenance, lack of fine-tuning, and a growing history of intermittent failures.
Warning signs that preceded the collapse
In the weeks leading up to the crisis, several signs were overlooked:
- Continuous increase in average response time for critical queries
- Frequent deadlock and lock alerts becoming the norm
- Uncontrolled growth of tables without partitioning strategies
- Storage nearing its limit across multiple cluster nodes
- Lack of explain plan analysis for slow queries
- Obsolete indexes taking up space and degrading performance
Worst of all: despite all these alerts, the environment was “walking a tightrope” with no consulting partner or dedicated team focused exclusively on observability and PostgreSQL optimization.
When HTI Tecnologia stepped in
Realizing that the cluster could collapse at any moment, the company brought in HTI Tecnologia, a Brazilian consulting firm specialized in SQL and NoSQL databases, with deep expertise in PostgreSQL environments.
With years of experience in critical systems, HTI deployed a team of specialists in under 24 hours to launch an emergency diagnostic and recovery plan for the cluster.
Full diagnosis within the first 24 hours
HTI followed a structured approach aimed at identifying, prioritizing, and mitigating the main PostgreSQL failure points.
Initial steps:
- Collection and historical analysis of metrics: CPU, memory, I/O, and query behavior
- Inspection of PostgreSQL’s internal catalog: identifying table and index bloat
- Audit of active queries: identifying heavy processes, locks, and uncontrolled concurrent operations
- Review of PostgreSQL configuration: tuning critical parameters like
work_mem,max_connections,autovacuum,checkpoint_timeout, and others
Based on this data, HTI mapped out key bottlenecks and began implementing a structured recovery plan.
The turnaround: how consulting saved the cluster
1. Fine-tuning the PostgreSQL instance
HTI’s team adjusted key PostgreSQL settings based on the actual workload:
- Increased memory allocation for temporary operations (
work_mem) - Tuned
checkpoint_completion_targetto reduce checkpoint impact - Optimized
autovacuumfrequency and efficiency
These changes brought immediate performance gains, drastically reducing the response time of major queries.
2. Partitioning of critical tables
Tables containing tens of millions of records—slowing down joins and filters—were restructured with partitioning by date and business keys. The result: up to 80% performance improvement in specific queries.
3. Query rewrites and strategic indexing
The 20 slowest queries—responsible for over 70% of the database load—were rewritten based on execution plans. Composite and partial indexes were created to match the application’s real access patterns.
4. Security and permissions review
The consulting team also uncovered excessive permissions granted to certain users and applications, increasing the risk of production disruptions. New role and access policies were defined following best practices.
5. Implementation of continuous monitoring
HTI deployed a full monitoring stack using Prometheus and Grafana, along with alert integrations into the company’s internal communication channels. This ensured real-time visibility into PostgreSQL’s key performance indicators.
The result: restored stability and confidence
After just one week of intervention, the PostgreSQL cluster—once on the verge of collapse—returned to stable operation, even under peak loads. The technical outcomes were clear:
- 68% reduction in average query response time
- 90% decrease in prolonged lock events
- 35% disk space reclaimed through reindexing and cleanup
- Tangible performance gains noticed by end-users and business teams
Beyond solving the immediate problem, HTI left the company with a future-ready foundation and the security of having a specialized consulting partner by its side.
Why invest in PostgreSQL consulting?
Efficient database management—especially in mission-critical environments—requires deep expertise, adherence to best practices, and ongoing monitoring. Achieving this is nearly impossible with overloaded internal teams.
Outsourcing PostgreSQL operations to a consulting firm like HTI brings tangible advantages:
- Fast, accurate diagnosis of complex issues
- Customized best-practice implementation
- Reduced operational risk and unplanned outages
- Failure prevention through proactive maintenance
- Access to a multidisciplinary team with SQL and NoSQL expertise
HTI doesn’t just fix problems—it prevents them. That’s the hallmark of a true consulting partner.
HTI Tecnologia: your PostgreSQL partner and beyond
With over 15 years of experience, HTI Tecnologia is a leading Brazilian consulting firm in database management, offering solutions such as:
- PostgreSQL support on-premises and in the cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP)
- 24/7 managed services with expert teams
- Performance tuning, high availability, and disaster recovery projects
- Strategic consulting for database modernization and migration
- Proactive monitoring with intelligent alerts and custom dashboards
We serve medium and large companies with complex environments and high-performance demands.
Don’t wait for a collapse. Talk to HTI today
If your PostgreSQL environment is showing signs of instability, recurring failures, or your internal team is overwhelmed, don’t wait for a crisis to strike.
Talk to those who truly understand data infrastructure.
Schedule a meeting with a specialist at HTI Tecnologia and learn how our consulting team can transform your data operations into a secure, scalable, and high-performance environment.
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