PostgreSQL Advanced Edition
Last verified 17 Sep 2026
PostgreSQL is an open source, object-relational database built for extensibility, data integrity, and speed. Its concurrency support makes it fully ACID-compliant, and it supports dynamic loading and catalog-driven operations to let users customize its data types, functions, and more.
DigitalOcean PostgreSQL Advanced Edition is a Managed PostgreSQL architecture with a consensus-based HA manager for cluster coordination and a connection pooler for routing. It supports highly available workloads and vertical and horizontal scaling of database nodes.
Advanced Edition supports PostgreSQL v16, v17, and v18. New Advanced Edition clusters default to PostgreSQL v18.
High Availability Architecture
PostgreSQL Advanced Edition runs PostgreSQL on managed cluster nodes. A consensus-based HA manager runs on the nodes, tracks cluster membership, automatically elects the primary after failures, and coordinates failover.
PostgreSQL Advanced Edition uses a connection pooler to provide clients with a single, stable service endpoint. The pooler sits in front of the database nodes, tracks which are healthy, pools connections, and routes them to the current primary. When the HA manager moves the primary after a failover, it shifts routing so that the hostname and port can stay the same while the backing node changes.
During a failover, active connections to the former primary may be interrupted, but applications that reconnect to the same endpoint are routed to the new primary automatically.
Key Differences
The following table shows the key differences between PostgreSQL Standard and Advanced Edition clusters.
| Feature | PostgreSQL Advanced Edition | PostgreSQL Standard Edition |
|---|---|---|
| Replication model | Streaming replication with consensus-based leader election | Primary-replica streaming replication |
| Failover | Automatic leader election using consensus protocol; connection pooler detects the new primary and routes traffic to it without a DNS cutover wait | Automatic primary promotion; same connection settings; some clients may still reach a former primary until DNS updates propagate (TTL) |
| Connection endpoint | Connection pooler fronts the cluster; the backing node can change without the client changing parameters | Same hostname and parameters; which node those names resolve to after failover depends on DNS timing (possible stale answers or unreachable database until propagation completes) |
| TLS verification | Requires TLS for all connections and supports verify-full. Uses the system trust store; libpq clients (version 16 or later) require sslrootcert=system. See How to Connect to PostgreSQL Database Clusters and Increase TLS Verification with sslmode. |
Requires TLS for all connections and supports verify-full with a downloaded CA certificate. |
| Topology | HA-managed cluster with connection pooler | Primary-replica |
| Node configurations | 1-, 2-, or 3-node | 1-, 2-, or 3-node |
| Best for | Workloads that benefit from pooled, proxy-fronted endpoints and managed HA | General-purpose managed PostgreSQL workloads |
To create an Advanced Edition cluster, see How to Create PostgreSQL Database Clusters. For limits and features, see PostgreSQL Limits and PostgreSQL Features.