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Host a PostgreSQL database on a high-memory plan

Sizing, the settings worth changing, and a restore you have actually tested.

Last updated 1 August 2026

The goal is simple: keep the working set in memory and keep enough free disk for the write-ahead log to grow between checkpoints.

Settings worth changing

Starting points on a 32 GB plan
Setting	Value	Why
shared_buffers	8GB	Roughly a quarter of memory.
effective_cache_size	24GB	A hint about what the kernel caches.
work_mem	32MB	Per sort or hash node, so raise it carefully.
maintenance_work_mem	2GB	Speeds up VACUUM and index builds.

bash

pg_dump --format=custom --file=/var/backups/app.dump app

A backup you have not restored is a guess

Restore into a scratch database at least once, and time it. That number is your recovery objective, whatever your notes say.

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