7 things that could be improved in PostgreSQL

PostgreSQL Missing Piece: Built-In Table Compression

Table compression deserves more credit than it typically gets. Looking back at SQL Server 2008, row and page compression stood out as the most valuable additions to that platform. The argument isn't about disk speed; the reality is that most databases remain I/O bound in the vast majority of cases—around 90% of the time in current environments. That ratio could shift eventually, but it's the prevailing condition today.

Cutting I/O by a third through row compression or by four-fifths via page compression delivers substantial gains. The benefit compounds because in-memory page caches can hold far more rows with identical memory allocation. Careful tuning of the compression mix yields excellent results in practice—a feature unfortunately absent from PostgreSQL.