Replacing StatefulSets With a Custom K8s Operator in Our Postgres Cloud Platform

The platform team at Timescale has replaced StatefulSets with their own Kubernetes custom resource and operator called PatroniSets to manage customer database pods and volumes, improving stability and minimizing disruptions. They chose this approach over managing the pods and volumes directly in their main operator or using StatefulSets in "OnDelete" mode. The new system is PostgreSQL/Patroni-aware, has a declarative Custom Resource (CR), and minimizes downtime by performing actions in order to reduce customer disruption. Since its introduction, PatroniSets have provided significant improvements in stability and availability guarantees for Timescale's customers.