PlanetScale Postgres with CEO Sam Lambert

22/09/2025 1h 6min Episodio 22
PlanetScale Postgres with CEO Sam Lambert

Listen "PlanetScale Postgres with CEO Sam Lambert"

Episode Synopsis


Sam Lambert, my former boss at PlanetScale, talks to me about PlanetScale moving from a MySQL company to now also having a Postgres offering. Sam shares why PlanetScale decided to move to Postgres, how MySQL and Postgres are different at a technical level, and how the change has impacted the company culture. Stay to the end for a special surprise!PlanetScale Metal Episode: https://youtu.be/3r9PsVwGkg4Join the waitlist to be notified of the MySQL for Developers release on Database School: https://databaseschool.com/mysqlFollow Sam: PlanetScale: https://planetscale.comTwitter: https://twitter.com/isamlambertFollow Aaron:Twitter:  https://twitter.com/aarondfrancis LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aarondfrancisWebsite: https://aaronfrancis.com - find articles, podcasts, courses, and more.Database School: https://databaseschool.comDatabase School YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@UCT3XN4RtcFhmrWl8tf_o49g (Subscribe today)Chapters:00:00 - Inaugural episode on this channel01:46 - Introducing Sam Lambert and his background03:04 - How PlanetScale built on MySQL and Vitess06:10 - Explaining the layers of PlanetScale’s architecture09:57 - Node lifecycles, failover, and operational discipline12:02 - How Vitess makes sharding work14:21 - PlanetScale’s edge network and resharding19:02 - Why downtime is unacceptable at scale20:04 - From Metal to Postgres: the decision process23:06 - Why Postgres vibes matter for startups27:04 - How PlanetScale adapted its stack for Postgres34:38 - Entering the Postgres ecosystem and extensions41:02 - Permissions, security, and reliability trade-offs45:04 - Building Ni: a Vitess-style system for Postgres53:33 - Why PlanetScale insists on control for reliability1:02:05 - Competing in the broader Postgres landscape1:08:33 - Why PlanetScale stays “just a database”1:12:33 - What GA means for Postgres at PlanetScale1:17:43 - Call to action for new Postgres users1:18:49 - Surprise!1:22:21 - Wrap-up and where to find Sam