Introducing PGD quick starts
============================

Quick start
-----------

EDB Postgres Distributed (PGD) is a multi-master replicating
implementation of Postgres designed for high performance and
availability. You can create database clusters made up of many
bidirectionally synchronizing database nodes. The clusters can have a
number of proxy servers that direct your query traffic to the most
available nodes, adding further resilience to your cluster
configuration.

..  Note Fully managed BigAnimal::
   If you prefer to have a fully managed EDB Postgres Distributed experience, PGD is now available as an option on BigAnimal, EDB's cloud platform for Postgres. Read more about  :ref:`BigAnimal distributed high-availability clusters <An Overview of Durability options>`  . PGD is very configurable. To quickly evaluate and deploy PGD, use this quick start. It'll get you up and running with a fully configured PGD cluster using the same tools that you'll use to deploy to production. This quick start includes:

-  A short introduction to Trusted Postgres Architect (TPA) and how it
   helps you configure, deploy, and manage EDB Postgres Distributed

-  A guide to selecting Docker, Linux hosts, or AWS quick starts

-  The Docker quick start

-  The Linux host quick start

-  The AWS quick start

-  Connecting applications to your cluster

-  Further explorations with your cluster including

-  Conflicts

-  Failover

Introducing PGD and TPA
-----------------------

PGD is a multi-master replicating implementation of Postgres designed
for high performance and availability. The installation of PGD is
orchestrated by TPA.

We created TPA to make installing and managing various Postgres
configurations easily repeatable. TPA orchestrates creating and
deploying Postgres.

These quick starts are designed to let you quickly get a single region
cluster.

In these quick starts, you install TPA first. If you already have TPA
installed, you can skip those steps. TPA is more of a tool than a simple
installer. You can use the same installation of TPA to deploy many
different configurations of Postgres clusters.

You’ll use TPA to generate a configuration file for a PGD demonstration
cluster. This cluster will have three replicating database nodes,
cohosting three high-availability proxies and one backup node.

You will then use TPA to provision and deploy the required configuration
and software to each node.

Selecting Docker, Linux hosts, or AWS quick starts
--------------------------------------------------

Three quick starts are currently available:

-  Docker — Provisions, deploys, and hosts the cluster on Docker
   containers on a single machine.

-  Linux hosts — Deploys and hosts the cluster on Linux servers that you
   have already provisioned with an operating system and SSH
   connectivity. These can be actual physical servers or virtual
   machines, deployed on-premises or in the cloud.

-  AWS — Provisions, deploys, and hosts the cluster on AWS.

Docker quick start
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The Docker quick start is ideal for those looking to initially explore
PGD and its capabilities. This configuration of PGD isn’t suitable for
production use but can be valuable for testing the functionality and
behavior of PGD clusters. You might also find it useful when
familiarizing yourself with PGD commands and APIs to prepare for
deploying on cloud, VM, or Linux hosts.

-  :ref:`Begin the Docker quick start <Deploying an EDB Postgres Distributed example cluster on Docker>` 

Linux host quick start
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The Linux hosts quick start is suited for those looking to install PGD
on their own hosts, where they have complete control of the hardware and
software, or in a private cloud. The overall configuration is similar to
the Docker configuration but is more persistent over system restarts and
closer to a single-region production deployment of PGD.

-  :ref:`Begin the Linux host quick start <Deploying an EDB Postgres Distributed example cluster on Linux hosts>` 

AWS quick start
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The AWS quick start is more extensive and deploys the PGD cluster onto
EC2 nodes on Amazon’s cloud. The cluster’s overall configuration is
similar to the Docker quick start. However, instead of using Docker
containers, it uses t3.micro instances of Amazon EC2 to provide the
compute power. The AWS deployment is more persistent and not subject to
the limitations of the Docker quick start deployment. However, it
requires more initial setup to configure the AWS CLI.

-  :ref:`Begin the AWS quick start <Deploying an EDB Postgres Distributed example cluster on AWS>` 

Further explorations with your cluster
--------------------------------------

-  :ref:`Connect applications to your PGD cluster <Connecting to your database>` 

-  :ref:`Find out how a PGD cluster stands up to downtime of data nodes or proxies <Exploring failover handling with PGD>` 

-  :ref:`Learn about how EDB Postgres Distributed manages conflicting updates <Exploring conflict handling with PGD>` 

-  :ref:`Moving beyond the quick starts <Next Steps with PGD>` 

.. toctree::
  :maxdepth: 3

  Get_Started--quickstart--quick_start_docker
  Get_Started--quickstart--quick_start_linux
  Get_Started--quickstart--quick_start_aws
  Get_Started--quickstart--quick_start_cloud
  Get_Started--quickstart--connecting_applications
  Get_Started--quickstart--further_explore_failover
  Get_Started--quickstart--further_explore_conflicts
  Get_Started--quickstart--next_steps
