Klio Overview v0.0.12

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Klio is a cloud-native solution for enterprise-grade backup and recovery of PostgreSQL databases managed by CloudNativePG on Kubernetes. It is designed to handle:

  • The Write-Ahead Log (WAL) archive for a given PostgreSQL Cluster resource, within the same Kubernetes namespace as the Klio deployment
  • The catalog of physical base backups for that same cluster
  • Optionally, multiple PostgreSQL clusters

These critical backup artifacts are stored across two distinct storage tiers:

  • Tier 1 – Local Volume: A local Persistent Volume (PV) within the same namespace as the associated Cluster resource. It offers immediate, high-throughput access for backup and recovery operations. Also referred to as the Main Tier or Klio Server.

  • Tier 2 – Secondary Storage: An external object storage system where data from Tier 1 is asynchronously replicated. This tier typically resides outside the Kubernetes cluster, enabling geographical redundancy and enhancing disaster recovery (DR) resilience.

Multi-tiered architecture overview

Key Features

Note

Some of the following features are currently aspirational and under active development.

WAL Management

  • Native WAL streaming from the primary, eliminating the need for archive_command, with support for:
    • Partial WAL file handling
    • WAL file compression
    • WAL file encryption using user-provided keys
    • Controlled replication slot advancement to ensure uninterrupted streaming
    • Synchronous replication
  • WAL archive storage on a local PVC (Tier 1)
  • Extension of base backup retention policy enforcement to WAL files
  • Asynchronous WAL relay to Tier 2 object storage
Important

Klio's WAL management utilizes the READ_REPLICATION_SLOT streaming replication command, which was introduced in PostgreSQL 15. Therefore, Klio requires PostgreSQL version 15 or greater to function properly.

Base Backup Catalog

  • Physical online base backups from the primary node to Tier 1, with support for:
    • Data deduplication for efficient remote incremental backups
    • Compression to optimize storage usage
    • Encryption using user-provided keys for data confidentiality
  • Backup catalog stored on a file system Persistent Volume Claim (PVC) in Tier 1
  • Integration with CloudNativePG Kubernetes Volume Snapshots (Tier 0), enabling asynchronous offload to Tier 1 using the same physical backup process1
  • Retention policy enforcement
  • Asynchronous replication of base backups to Tier 2 object storage for long-term durability and disaster recovery
Important

Kubernetes Volume Snapshot integration (Tier 0) is only available for storage classes that support volume snapshots.

General Capabilities

  • End-to-end encryption: both in-transit and at-rest
  • Designed for seamless integration with Kubernetes-native data protection tools such as Veeam Kasten, Velero, and others1
  • Delivered as a CNPG-I plugin, with an accompanying Kubernetes Operator
  • Available as a Certified Red Hat OpenShift Operator1
  • Distributed via a Helm chart for streamlined deployment

1\: Not yet available; planned for a future release.