Asynchronous IO in Postgres 18

Postgres 18 just dropped with a bunch of new goodies—think UUIDv7, an “over explain” module, composite index skip scans—and the crown jewel: true asynchronous IO. In this show, we kick off with a quick primer on sync vs async calls, revisit how Postgres 17 handled IO synchronously, then dive into the nitty-gritty of 18’s async modes: the worker-based method, the new io_uring path, and even the fallback sync option.

We wrap up by teasing what’s still cooking: backend writer support, further tweaking of the worker IO model, and direct IO capabilities on the horizon. If you’re hungry for a behind-the-scenes tour of how Postgres is leveling up its disk-IO game, this episode’s your ticket.

Watch on YouTube