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Abstract

While many organizations reach for specialized streaming systems like Apache Kafka for high-throughput event processing, RudderStack chose a different path: PostgreSQL. This talk chronicles six years of battle-tested lessons learned while scaling PostgreSQL from a simple queue to a system processing 100,000 events per second, and delivering total 6.7T events. I'll share specific configuration values, query patterns, and architectural decisions that enabled PostgreSQL to compete with and often outperform dedicated messaging systems, while providing the operational simplicity and transactional guarantees that only PostgreSQL can offer.

Key Takeaways

• Actionable PostgreSQL tuning parameters for high-throughput systems

• Query optimization techniques beyond basic indexing

• Operational patterns for managing large-scale PostgreSQL deployments

• Evidence-based decision framework for when PostgreSQL can replace specialized queue systems

Speaker Bio

Rohith CS is a Senior Software Engineer at RudderStack with hands-on PostgreSQL expertise, specializing in scaling real-time data systems that process millions of events daily. An IIT Madras alumnus (B.Tech and M.Tech), Rohith has pushed the boundaries of Postgres in production environments—from using it as a high-performance queue to optimizing complex data pipelines for throughput and reliability. He brings deep technical knowledge in building data infrastructure with Golang, combined with practical experience in database performance tuning, distributed systems, and applying machine learning techniques to solve real-world data engineering challenges.

Why PGConf attendees will love it

This isn't theoretical advice—it's production-tested wisdom from a system that processes billions of events monthly. Author presented this talk in a local Postgres meetup (at Hyderabad) and it received a huge appreciation and curiosity from the attendees. Also an engineering blog post on the same topic received huge mindshare organically by podcasts, newsletters, online communities, etc. - here’s the link to the blog https://www.rudderstack.com/blog/scaling-postgres-queue/

This will be my first time presenting this topic in front of a larger audience and I am prepared for it.