Rootconf 2025 Annual Conference CfP

PostgreSQL databases often start with standard INT data types, but what happens when your application outgrows those 2.1 billion limits? Our team faced this challenge head-on when our rapidly scaling platform began approaching integer constraints across multiple critical tables.

In this talk, we’ll share how we architected and executed a seamless INT to BIGINT migration affecting terabytes of data with near-zero downtime. We’ll dive into the custom copy tool we built that maintained transactional integrity while efficiently transferring massive datasets. More importantly, we’ll demonstrate our validation framework that provided real-time verification, ensuring perfect data consistency throughout the entire migration process. We’ll cover the pitfalls we encountered, how we overcame them, and how our approach evolved through test environments to production.

Key Takeaways

• A battle-tested framework for planning and executing large-scale PostgreSQL data type migrations with minimal service disruption
• Practical insights into building robust validation systems that guarantee data integrity during complex database transformations

Audience

This session is ideal for database administrators, backend engineers, and DevOps professionals who manage growing PostgreSQL deployments. Whether you’re approaching integer limits or planning other large-scale schema migrations, you’ll gain actionable strategies for maintaining reliability during critical database transformations.

Bio

Pratik Gajjar
Engineering Lead, Tri O Tech (FamApp)