Operations | Monitoring | ITSM | DevOps | Cloud

According to CloudZero’s Cloud Economics Pulse, databases are often among the largest and most persistent cloud cost categories. Database costs are notoriously difficult to predict and control. Unlike stateless infrastructure that scales predictably with traffic, databases run continuously and expand behind the scenes, causing costs to rise even when usage appears stable. Because databases run continuously and expand behind the scenes, costs can rise even when usage appears stable.

At Aiven, we use and contribute to open source to build our managed data platform. In the early days of Aiven for PostgreSQL, robust cloud-native tools for high availability and streaming backups did not exist at the level we needed. So we built our own. We created pglookout to monitor replication and handle failovers, and we built pghoard for backup and restore using object storage. These tools served us and thousands of our customers well for years. But the open-source PostgreSQL ecosystem has grown.

How database partitioning works in PostgreSQL and MySQL. Range, list, and hash partitioning with SQL examples and guidance on when to partition vs shard. Prathamesh works as an evangelist at Last9, runs SRE stories - where SRE and DevOps folks share their stories, and maintains o11y.wiki - a glossary of all terms related to observability.

How database sharding works, common strategies (hash, range, directory), shard key selection, and the operational cost of running a sharded database in production. Prathamesh works as an evangelist at Last9, runs SRE stories - where SRE and DevOps folks share their stories, and maintains o11y.wiki - a glossary of all terms related to observability.

Tune PostgreSQL and MySQL for production with connection pooling, memory configuration, write path optimization, vacuum management, and lock contention fixes. Technical Product Manager at Last9.

Harness is strengthening the open Liquibase ecosystem by introducing a native MongoDB executor that removes long-standing limitations for Community Edition users. It enables teams to run MongoDB scripts, generate changelogs, and integrate database workflows into CI/CD without relying on paid extensions. The initiative reinforces open collaboration while making MongoDB-based database DevOps more accessible, consistent, and production-ready.

Find and fix slow SQL queries using execution plans, missing index detection, N+1 pattern fixes, and pagination strategies for PostgreSQL and MySQL. Product Marketing Manager.

When a database security incident happens, everyone turns to the security team. We look for a simple root cause analysis, and then we add a control, tighten a policy, and maybe even buy a silver bullet tool. We feel progress! But the incident didn’t start there. It started years earlier, when the organization made a series of perfectly reasonable decisions that quietly expanded the surface area and weakened the consistency of control.

This month’s highlights include smarter dependency handling in Flyway Desktop, and a look at how we’re starting the year strong for Oracle users. Plus: last call to share your feedback in our Flyway user survey (the prize draw closes soon!).

Deploying changes to Oracle databases can be complex from working across multiple schemas, handling dependencies, and accounting for environment differences. Flyway has been helping teams bring order and automation to Oracle development for over 15 years and in 2026 we’re accelerating that investment even further. Here’s a look at the latest enhancements available today and what’s coming next for Oracle users.