How Cloudflare Supports 55 Million Requests Per Second With Only 15 Postgres Clusters

Cloudflare demonstrates how PostgreSQL can efficiently handle internet-scale traffic by supporting 55 million requests per second using just 15 Postgres clusters. This setup leverages PgBouncer for connection pooling and Stolon for cluster management, proving that a well-architected system can scale without excessive complexity.

Read the full case study here

You Should Know:

1. PostgreSQL Optimization for High Traffic

PostgreSQL can handle massive workloads when optimized correctly. Key configurations include:

Connection Pooling (PgBouncer):

Install PgBouncer 
sudo apt-get install pgbouncer

Configure PgBouncer (edit /etc/pgbouncer/pgbouncer.ini) 
max_client_conn = 10000 
default_pool_size = 200

Partitioning & Sharding:
```
-- Create a partitioned table 
CREATE TABLE logs ( 
id SERIAL, 
log_time TIMESTAMP, 
data JSONB 
) PARTITION BY RANGE (log_time);</p></li>
</ul>

<p>-- Add partitions 
CREATE TABLE logs_2023_01 PARTITION OF logs 
FOR VALUES FROM ('2023-01-01') TO ('2023-02-01'); 
```
2. Stolon for PostgreSQL High Availability

Stolon ensures failover and replication management:
```
 Install Stolon 
go get github.com/sorintlab/stolon/cmd/stolonctl

Start Stolon keeper 
stolon-keeper --cluster-name=cf-postgres --store-backend=etcd 
```
3. Monitoring & Scaling

Use pg_stat_statements to track slow queries:
```
-- Enable pg_stat_statements 
ALTER SYSTEM SET shared_preload_libraries = 'pg_stat_statements';

-- Check slow queries 
SELECT query, calls, total_time, rows 
FROM pg_stat_statements 
ORDER BY total_time DESC 
LIMIT 10; 
```
4. Load Balancing with HAProxy
```
 Configure HAProxy for PostgreSQL 
backend pg_primary 
balance roundrobin 
server pg1 10.0.0.1:5432 check 
server pg2 10.0.0.2:5432 check backup 
```
What Undercode Say:

PostgreSQL remains a powerhouse for scalable systems when optimized properly. Key takeaways:
– Connection pooling is mandatory for high traffic.
– Partitioning improves query performance on large datasets.
– Stolon & PgBouncer are critical for high availability.
– Monitoring (pg_stat_statements, EXPLAIN ANALYZE) ensures performance.

Linux & Database Commands You Should Master:
```
 Check PostgreSQL connections 
SELECT COUNT() FROM pg_stat_activity;

Kill idle connections 
SELECT pg_terminate_backend(pid) FROM pg_stat_activity WHERE state = 'idle';

Reindex a bloated table 
REINDEX TABLE large_table;

Backup with pg_dump 
pg_dump -U postgres -d mydb -f backup.sql

Restore 
psql -U postgres -d mydb -f backup.sql 
```
Windows Equivalent (PowerShell):
```
 Check PostgreSQL service 
Get-Service postgresql

Restart PostgreSQL 
Restart-Service postgresql 
```
Prediction:

PostgreSQL will continue dominating scalable architectures, especially with tools like PgBouncer, Stolon, and Citus (for sharding). Expect more enterprises to adopt it over NoSQL for transactional workloads.

Expected Output:

A scalable PostgreSQL setup with:

✔ Connection pooling

✔ Automated failover

✔ Partitioning & sharding

✔ Real-time monitoring

Reference: Cloudflare Engineering Blog

References:

Reported By: Nk Systemdesign – Hackers Feeds
Extra Hub: Undercode MoN
Basic Verification: Pass ✅

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You Should Know:

1. PostgreSQL Optimization for High Traffic

2. Stolon for PostgreSQL High Availability

Stolon ensures failover and replication management:

3. Monitoring & Scaling

Use pg_stat_statements to track slow queries:

4. Load Balancing with HAProxy

What Undercode Say:

Linux & Database Commands You Should Master:

Windows Equivalent (PowerShell):

Prediction:

Expected Output:

A scalable PostgreSQL setup with:

✔ Connection pooling

✔ Automated failover

✔ Partitioning & sharding

✔ Real-time monitoring

References:

Join Our Cyber World:

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