Mean vs p99 episode artwork

EPISODE · Jun 13, 2025 · 38 MIN

Mean vs p99

from Postgres FM · host Nikolay Samokhvalov and Michael Christofides

Nikolay and Michael discuss looking at queries by mean time — when it makes sense, why ordering by a percentile (like p99) might be better, and the merits of approximating percentiles in pg_stat_statements using the standard deviation column. Here are some links to things they mentioned:Approximate the p99 of a query with pg_stat_statements (blog post by Michael) https://www.pgmustard.com/blog/approximate-the-p99-of-a-query-with-pgstatstatementspg_stat_statements https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/pgstatstatements.html Our episode about track_planning https://postgres.fm/episodes/pg-stat-statements-track-planning pg_stat_monitor https://github.com/percona/pg_stat_monitorstatement_timeout https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/runtime-config-client.html#GUC-STATEMENT-TIMEOUT~~~What did you like or not like? What should we discuss next time? Let us know via a YouTube comment, on social media, or by commenting on our Google doc!~~~Postgres FM is produced by:Michael Christofides, founder of pgMustardNikolay Samokhvalov, founder of Postgres.aiWith credit to:Jessie Draws for the elephant artwork

Nikolay and Michael discuss looking at queries by mean time — when it makes sense, why ordering by a percentile (like p99) might be better, and the merits of approximating percentiles in pg_stat_statements using the standard deviation column. Here are some links to things they mentioned:Approximate the p99 of a query with pg_stat_statements (blog post by Michael) https://www.pgmustard.com/blog/approximate-the-p99-of-a-query-with-pgstatstatementspg_stat_statements https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/pgstatstatements.html Our episode about track_planning https://postgres.fm/episodes/pg-stat-statements-track-planning pg_stat_monitor https://github.com/percona/pg_stat_monitorstatement_timeout https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/runtime-config-client.html#GUC-STATEMENT-TIMEOUT~~~What did you like or not like? What should we discuss next time? Let us know via a YouTube comment, on social media, or by commenting on our Google doc!~~~Postgres FM is produced by:Michael Christofides, founder of pgMustardNikolay Samokhvalov, founder of Postgres.aiWith credit to:Jessie Draws for the elephant artwork

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Mean vs p99

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This episode was published on June 13, 2025.

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Nikolay and Michael discuss looking at queries by mean time — when it makes sense, why ordering by a percentile (like p99) might be better, and the merits of approximating percentiles in pg_stat_statements using the standard deviation column. Here...

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