I want to migrate my Nextcloud instance from MariaDB over to PostgreSQL. I already have a PostgreSQL service running for Lemmy. And I’m pretty starved for RAM.

Would it be better to just have one PostgreSQL service running that serves both Nextcloud and Lemmy? Or should every service have its own PostgreSQL instance?

I’m pretty new to PostgreSQL. But in my mind I would tend towards one service to serve them all and let it figure out by itself how to split resources between everything. Especially when I think that in the long run I will probably migrate more services over to PostgreSQL (and upgrade the RAM).

But maybe I am overlooking something.

Edit: Thanks guys, I’ve settled for a single instance for now. And after a little tuning everything seems to be running better than ever, with room to spare.

  • magikmwEnglish
    191·
    4 months ago

    If you’re the only user and just want it working without much fuss, use a single db instance and forget about it. Less to maintain leads to better maintenance, if performance isn’t more important.

    It’s fairly straightforward to migrate a db to a new postgres instance, so you’re not shooting yourself in a future foot if you change your mind.

    Use PGTune to get as much as you can out of it and adjust if circumstances change.

    • Björn Tantau@swg-empire.deOPEnglish
      6·
      4 months ago

      It’s fairly straightforward to migrate a db to a new postgres instance, so you’re not shooting yourself in a future foot if you change your mind.

      That’s what I needed to hear. I’ll just try it out and see what works best for me. Stupid me didn’t even think of that.

      I’m not really bothered about services going down all at once. The server is mostly just used by me and my family. We’re not losing money if it’s out for an hour or so.

      • Dark Arc@social.packetloss.ggEnglish
        2·
        4 months ago

        Remember that databases were designed to host multiple databases for multiple users… As long as you’re working with maintained software (and you are) it should be pretty trivial to run on the latest version of Postgres and have everything just work using one instance if you’re resource constrained.

        Definitely a good point about being able to migrate as well. Postgres has excellent tools for this sort of thing.

      • magikmwEnglish
        31·
        4 months ago

        In a hobby it’s easy to get carried away into doing things according to “best practices” when it’s not really the point.

        I’ve done a lot of redundant boilerplate stuff in my homelab, and I justify it by “learnding”. It’s mostly perfectionism I don’t have time and energy for anymore.