Cluster Management

Crunchy Bridge helps you manage your clusters through a variety of Cluster Management operations. These operations are forms of maintenance that keep your clusters operational and secure.

A brief service interruption is required to perform Cluster Management operations. Please ensure that your applications are able to automatically reconnect to the database.

When required to ensure the health of your cluster, we may schedule these on your behalf (for example, Cluster Resizes or Minor Version upgrades).

See the Cluster Settings page for details about enabling or disabling cluster settings like the Protected flag, maintenance window, or High Availability (HA).

Overview of Cluster Management

During Cluster Management operations, Crunchy Bridge will execute the following steps:

1. Create replica of current cluster

2. Migrate existing data (duration is relative to data size)

3. Complete any additional operation-specific steps

4. Switch cluster over

Important Notes:

• You can cancel cluster management operations at any time before the cluster switchover occurs.
• A cluster switchover causes a service interruption that should last no longer than a few minutes.
• If you have no maintenance window set, cluster switchover will occur as soon as the new cluster is populated and ready.
• If you need assistance scheduling maintenance, or are concerned about a maintenance in progress, please contact support.

Available Operations

Cluster Refresh – Replace instance, update to latest minor version, enable newest features

Cluster Resize – Change the instance size or storage size of the cluster

Postgres Upgrade – Upgrade the Postgres Major version

Cluster Suspend/Resume – Spin down Postgres server but retain data on disk

Cluster Refresh

You can refresh your cluster instance at anytime using the “Start Maintenance Now” button in the Cluster Settings tab, or using cb maintenance create --cluster CLUSTER_ID on the CLI. This is a simple way to perform a minor version upgrade or to enable the newest Crunchy Bridge features on your cluster.

Note: Using the “Start Maintenance Now” button for a Cluster Refresh will currently cause the switchover to commence as soon as the replacement is ready.

Cluster Resize

Crunchy Bridge supports in-place resizing with minimal impact (only a short connection interruption) and no changes to your connection string. During a cluster resize, you can change the instance tier and size, and you can increase the amount of storage.

You can change the instance size and/or increase the storage size of your cluster using the Dashboard, cb upgrade start on the CLI, or by using the Cluster Upgrade API endpoint.

If you would like to decrease the storage size of your cluster, please contact support and we’d be happy to assist you.

Postgres Upgrade

Crunchy Bridge allows you to schedule your major version upgrades through the Dashboard, cb upgrade start on the CLI, or by using the Upgrade Cluster API endpoint. When scheduling a major version upgrade, you’ll be prompted to choose the new Postgres version.

Postgres major version upgrades work differently than other Cluster Management operations. Once you initiate the process, Crunchy Bridge will execute the following steps:

1. Create a replica of your current cluster

2. Migrate existing data (duration is relative to data size)

3. When your maintenance window arrives:

• Lock primary cluster to prevent writes
• Upgrade the new cluster (duration depends on the number of objects in your database, not data size)
• Switch cluster over once the upgrade is complete

Important Notes:

• Major Version changes can affect application compatibility. We recommend testing your application against the new PostgreSQL version before upgrading.
• Read Replicas are not automatically upgraded when performing a major version upgrade. They will be detached and you’ll need to recreate fresh Read Replicas.
• If you have no maintenance window set, the upgrade will commence as soon as the new cluster is populated and ready.
• This operation creates a service interruption that should last no longer than a few minutes.
• If an upgrade fails, your cluster will automatically revert to the original cluster and you will be notified by email.
• Contact support if your upgrade is taking longer than expected or fails to complete.

Minor Version Upgrade

A minor version upgrade can be done simply with a Cluster Refresh. For non-critical fixes, we automatically update clusters to the latest point release gradually through:

• Updating HA standbys
• Installing the latest minor version during other Cluster Management operations

We examine all security-related issues and bugs with every Postgres release. For any issues that are deemed critical, we will prioritize your upgrade to ensure your data is safe.

If an emergency update is required, we will perform that update on your behalf during your cluster’s next maintenance window.

Cluster Suspend and Resume

Crunchy Bridge allows you to suspend your cluster. You can perform this action through the Dashboard, cb suspend on the CLI, or by using the Suspend Cluster API endpoint.

Suspending a cluster will deactivate the virtual machine it’s running on but keep its disk image in storage so that it can later be resumed. Normal billing for the cluster is suspended, but storage costs will continue to accrue. The existing 10 days’ worth of backups are also retained.

You can resume your cluster at any time. The time it takes to resume a cluster depends on the instance and the size of the dataset. When you resume a cluster, normal billing and backups will also recommence.