13 tips to improve PostgreSQL Insert performance

Ingest performance optimization for PostgreSQL and TimescaleDB is critical for applications that require fast data ingestion, such as application monitoring, analytics, IoT monitoring, and more. To improve ingest performance in vanilla PostgreSQL, consider using indexes in moderation, reconsidering foreign key constraints, avoiding unnecessary UNIQUE keys, using separate disks for WAL and data, and choosing performant disks. For TimescaleDB, use parallel writes, insert rows in batches, properly configure shared buffers, run Docker images on Linux hosts, write data in loose time order, avoid "too large" chunks, and watch row width to achieve better ingest performance. By implementing these techniques, users can improve the speed of ingesting new data into their databases.