DBLab Engine
🛠️ Build powerful dev/test environments.
🔃 Cover 100% of DB migrations with CI tests.
💡 Quickly verify ChatGPT ideas to get rid of hallucinations.
Available for any PostgreSQL, including self-managed and managed* like AWS RDS, GCP CloudSQL, Supabase, Timescale.
Can be installed and used anywhere: all clouds and on-premises.
*For managed PostgreSQL cloud services like AWS RDS or Heroku, direct physical connection and PGDATA access aren't possible. In these cases, DBLab should run on a separate VM within the same region. It will routinely auto-refresh its data, effectively acting as a database-as-a-service solution. This setup then offers thin database branching ideal for development and testing.
Why DBLab?
- Build dev/QA/staging environments using full-scale, production-like databases.
- Provide temporary full-size database clones for SQL query analysis and optimization (see also: SQL optimization chatbot Joe).
- Automatically test database changes in CI/CD pipelines, minimizing risks of production incidents.
- Rapidly validate ChatGPT or other LLM concepts, check for hallucinations, and iterate towards effective solutions.
For example, cloning a 1 TiB PostgreSQL database takes just about 10 seconds. On a single machine, you can have dozens of independent clones running simultaneously, supporting extensive development and testing activities without any added hardware costs.
Try it yourself right now:
- Visit Postgres.ai Console, set up your first organization and provision a DBLab Standard Edition (DBLab SE) to any cloud or on-prem
- Pricing (starting at $62/month)
- Doc: How to install DBLab SE
- Demo: https://demo.aws.postgres.ai:446/instance (use the token
demo_tokento access) - Looking for a free version? Install DBLab Community Edition by following this tutorial
How it works
Thin cloning is fast because it is based on Copy-on-Write (CoW). DBLab employs two technologies for enabling thin cloning: ZFS (default) and LVM.
Using ZFS, DBLab routinely takes new snapshots of the data directory, managing a collection of them and removing old or unused ones. When requesting a fresh clone, users have the option to select their preferred snapshot.
Read more:
Where to start
- DBLab tutorial for any PostgreSQL database
- DBLab tutorial for Amazon RDS
- How to install DBLab SE using Postgres.ai Console
- How to install DBLab SE using AWS Marketplace
Case studies
Features
- Speed & scale
- Support & technologies
- Postgres containers
- Source database requirements
- Location flexibility: self-managed Postgres, AWS RDS, GCP CloudSQL, Azure, etc. No source adjustments needed
- No ZFS or Docker requirements for source databases
- Data provisioning & retrieval
- Physical (pg_basebackup, WAL-G, pgBackRest) and logical (dump/restore) provisioning
- Partial data retrieval in logical mode (specific databases/tables)
- Continuous update in physical mode
- Periodic full refresh in logical mode without downtime
- Recovery & management
- Fast Point in Time Recovery (PITR) for physical mode
- Auto-deletion of unused clones
- Snapshot retention policies in DBLab configuration
- Clones
- "Deletion protection" for preventing clone deletion
- Persistent clones withstand DBLab restarts
- "Reset" command for data version switching
- Resource quotas: CPU, RAM
- Monitoring & security
/healthzAPI endpoint (no auth), extended/statusendpoint (API docs)- Netdata module for insights
How to contribute
Support us on GitHub/GitLab
The simplest way to show your support is by giving us a star on GitHub or GitLab! ⭐
Spread the word
- Shoot out a tweet and mention @Database_Lab
- Share this repo's link on your favorite social media platform
Share your experience
If DBLab has been a vital tool for you, tell the world about your journey. Use the logo from the ./assets folder for a visual touch. Whether it's in documents, presentations, applications, or on your website, let everyone know you trust and use DBLab.
HTML snippet for lighter backgrounds:
<a href="http://databaselab.io">
<img width="400" src="https://postgres.ai/assets/powered-by-dle-for-light-background.svg" />
</a>For darker backgrounds:
<a href="http://databaselab.io">
<img width="400" src="https://postgres.ai/assets/powered-by-dle-for-dark-background.svg" />
</a>Propose an idea or report a bug
Check out our contributing guide for more details.
Participate in development
Check out our contributing guide for more details.
Reference guides
How-to guides
More you can find in the "How-to guides" section of the docs.
Miscellaneous
- DBLab Docker images
- Extended Docker images for PostgreSQL (with plenty of extensions)
- SQL Optimization chatbot (Joe Bot)
- DB Migration Checker
License
DBLab source code is licensed under the OSI-approved open source license Apache 2.0.
Reach out to the Postgres.ai team if you want a trial or commercial license that does not contain the GPL clauses: Contact page.
Community & Support
- "Database Lab Engine Community Covenant Code of Conduct"
- Where to get help: Contact page
- Community Slack
- If you need to report a security issue, follow instructions in "Database Lab Engine security guidelines"
Many thanks to our amazing contributors!
Translations
Making DBLab more accessible to engineers around the globe is a great help for the project. Check details in the translation section of contributing guide.
This README is available in the following translations: