Databases
Provision a PostgreSQL database
StackBlaze managed PostgreSQL runs on a Kubernetes StatefulSet with a dedicated PersistentVolumeClaim. Unlike ephemeral pods, StatefulSets maintain a stable identity and storage across restarts, your data survives pod rescheduling, node failures, and cluster upgrades.
The database is never exposed to the public internet. A Kubernetes Service provides a stable internal DNS name (postgres.internal) that your application services resolve automatically within the project network.
Architecture
Auto-injected connection string
# Automatically set when you attach the database
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://sb_user:s3cr3tP4ss!@postgres.internal:5432/mydb
# postgres.internal resolves via Kubernetes Service DNS
# Only accessible from within your project namespace
Running migrations
$ npx prisma migrate deploy
Prisma schema loaded from prisma/schema.prisma
Datasource "db": PostgreSQL database "mydb"
at postgres.internal:5432
3 migrations found in prisma/migrations
✔ 20240101000000_init
✔ 20240215000000_add_users_table
✔ 20240310000000_add_posts_index
✓ All migrations have been applied
Under the hood
- StatefulSet — ensures the Postgres pod gets a stable hostname and retains its PVC across restarts. Kubernetes won't schedule a replacement pod until the original terminates cleanly, preventing split-brain.
- PersistentVolumeClaim — backed by the cluster's default StorageClass (typically network block storage). The PVC outlives the pod — you can scale to zero and scale back without losing data.
- Kubernetes Service: a ClusterIP Service named after your database creates the stable DNS entry (
postgres.internal) that survives pod restarts and rescheduling. - Daily backups: StackBlaze takes automated daily snapshots and retains them for 7 days. Point-in-time recovery (PITR) is available on paid plans and captures WAL logs every 5 minutes.
Step by step
Create a database from the dashboard
Click "New service" → "Database" → "PostgreSQL". Choose a Postgres version (15 or 16), storage size (1 GB to 500 GB), and a plan. StackBlaze provisions a Kubernetes StatefulSet with a PersistentVolumeClaim in seconds.
Attach the database to a service
Navigate to your web service or worker, go to the "Environment" tab, and click "Attach database". Select the Postgres instance. StackBlaze automatically adds DATABASE_URL as an injected secret. The hostname, postgres.internal, resolves via Kubernetes Service DNS.
Run your migrations
Trigger a deploy and use a start command that runs migrations before starting the server, or run them manually via the StackBlaze CLI. For Prisma, use "npx prisma migrate deploy". For Django, "python manage.py migrate". Both connect using DATABASE_URL automatically.
Query in production
Your service connects to Postgres over the internal cluster network. No public internet exposure, no firewall rules to configure. The connection string includes a random password generated at provision time and rotated when you trigger a credential rotation from the dashboard.