Replicas

SMLL databases support up to 3 replicas for high availability and read scaling. Replicas are streaming replicas that stay in sync with the primary via PostgreSQL's built-in replication.

How replicas work

• Replicas are read-only copies of your primary database
• Changes on the primary are streamed to replicas in near real-time (typically < 1 second lag)
• If the primary fails, a replica is automatically promoted
• Each replica runs on separate infrastructure for fault isolation

Configuring replicas

During creation

When creating a database, set the Replicas count to 2 or 3.

After creation

1. Navigate to your database's Settings tab
2. Under Replicas, increase the replica count
3. Click Save — the new replica provisions in the background

Automatic failover

If the primary instance fails:

1. A healthy replica is automatically promoted to primary
2. Remaining replicas reconfigure to follow the new primary
3. Connection endpoints are updated automatically
4. The failed instance is replaced in the background

This process typically completes in under 30 seconds.

Read replicas for scaling

To distribute read queries across replicas, use the replica connection endpoint shown on your database's Overview tab. This is useful for:

• Analytics queries that shouldn't impact production
• Read-heavy workloads
• Geographic distribution of reads

Pricing

Replicas use the same compute and storage pricing as the primary:

• Compute: $4/vCPU + $2/GB RAM per month, per replica
• Storage: Each replica maintains its own copy of the data