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Latest posts from Joe Conway

  • 25 min read

    PostgreSQL Deep Dive: PostgreSQL Defaults and Impact on Security - Part 1

    Joe Conway

    Recently I gave a "deep dive" talk on the topic of PostgreSQL security, and I wanted to capture one part of that content into a blog since this format is both better for making that content stand on its own and for expanding on it a bit. Specifically, in this two-part blog, we will cover a PostgreSQL extension that I wrote called crunchy_check_access -- the motivation behind it and what it does -- and then use that extension to probe and understand the consequences of the default, out of the...

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  • PostgreSQL Deep Dive: How Your Data Model Affects Storage

    Joe Conway

    I want to take a few minutes for a deep dive into the effect your data model has on storage density when using PostgreSQL . When this topic came up with a customer, I explained my thoughts on the matter, but I realized at the time that I had never done a reasonably careful apples-to-apples test to see just exactly what the effect is, at least for a model sample size of one. So here it is. Let's start out with a presumed use-case. I have two tables: one is a parent table and the other a detail t...

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  • 8 min read

    Using R Analytic Functions in PostGIS

    Joe Conway

    This is the third and final post of the series intended to introduce PostgreSQL users to PL/R, a loadable procedural language that enables a user to write user-defined SQL functions in the R programming language . The information below provides sample use of R Functions against the NDVI dataset. As introduced in the previous posts, the combination of PostgreSQL and R provides users with the ability to leverage the power and efficiency of PostgreSQL and the rich analytic functionality of R. When...

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  • 15 min read

    Preprocessing Data for Spatial Analysis with PostGIS and PL/R

    Joe Conway

    This is the second in a series of posts intended to introduce PostgreSQL users to PL/R , a loadable procedural language that enables a user to write user-defined SQL functions in the R programming language .  This post builds on the example introduced in the initial post by demonstrating the steps associated with preprocessing the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ( NDVI ) satellite raster data in preparation for spatial analytics. The first post in this series provided users with an...

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  • 10 min read

    Spatial Analytics with PostGIS, PL/R and R

    Joe Conway

    This is the first in a series of posts intended to introduce PostgreSQL users to PL/R, a loadable procedural language that enables a user to write user-defined SQL functions in the R programming language . When further combined with PostGIS, the geospatial extender for PostgreSQL, users can perform powerful spatial analytics within the PostgreSQL database. This initial post introduces PL/R and R, provides set up instructions for following the Spatial Analytics example to be used in this series...

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  • 3 min read

    Announcing the PostgreSQL STIG

    Joe Conway

    Crunchy Data recently announced the publication of the PostgreSQL Security Technical Implementation Guide ( STIG ) by the United States Defense Information Systems Agency ( DISA ), making PostgreSQL the first open source database to provide a published STIG. While the STIG was authored for the benefit of the U.S. Government, the DISA PostgreSQL STIG offers security-conscious enterprises a comprehensive guide for the configuration and operation of open source PostgreSQL. Enterprises can ref...

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