New and changed in Vertica 24.4

New features and changes in Vertica 24.4.

1: Health Watchdog
2: Upgrading Vertica on Kubernetes
3: Sandboxing on Kubernetes
4: Save restore points from Kubernetes

1 - Health Watchdog

Health Watchdog is an automated mechanism that detects and block queries during bad health conditions on the server.

Health Watchdog

A Health Watchdog has been implemented that automatically detects and blocks queries during bad health conditions on ther server. For more details on Heal Watchdog, see Health Watchdog.

2 - Upgrading Vertica on Kubernetes

The operator automates Vertica server version upgrades for a custom resource (CR).

Online upgrade

The current online upgrade policy has been renamed to ReadOnlyOnline, and we now have a new approach for online upgrades. This updated mechanism ensures the database remains active and capable of continuous writes through replication. Additionally, we implemented session transfer to further improve the upgrade experience.

For more information about the upgrade policies, see Upgrading Vertica on Kubernetes.

3 - Sandboxing on Kubernetes

Sandboxing on Kubernetes allows you to create isolated testing environments without the need to set up a new database or reload data, making it easier to test Vertica features in new versions.

Subcluster sandboxing on Kubernetes

Sandboxing in Kubernetes lets you quickly set up separate testing environments without the need to create a new database or reload data. This makes it easier to test Vertica features in new versions. You can stay connected to the main cluster while the upgrade is done in the sandbox. Once the upgrade is finished, you can easily bring the sandbox back into the main cluster.

For more information about sandboxing, see Sandboxing on K8s.

4 - Save restore points from Kubernetes

Enables you to save a restore point from Kubernetes

Save restore points using VerticaDB Operator

Previously, you could save a restore point using vsql in Vertica, but now there's an alternate method using the VerticaDB operator in Kubernetes, which is more aligned with Kubernetes environments. For more details on creating an archive and saving a restore point, see VerticaRestorePointsQuery custom resource definition.