Multiple Instances

Raymond <support@bigriverinfotech.com> writes:

I would like to create a default pgsql directory in etc/skel (rh72) and have
a postgres instance with unique port number available for each user.
Although I am reasonably sure this is technically possible, what are the
resource implications of a few dozen instances of Postgres on a single
machine???

You could do that, but why not give each user a database within a single
postgres instance, instead?

With separate instances, you have to size each instance for the user's
peak resource consumption; with a shared instance you can assume that
not everyone will be pushing the limit at the same time.

AFAICS, the only drawback of a shared instance is that backend crashes
affect all users not just one. If your users are doing server-side code
development then that might be sufficient reason for partitioning them
into separate instances. But under ordinary usage, backend crashes
shouldn't happen.

regards, tom lane