Alexander Belanger, Hatchet,
postgresqldatabase operationssql performancestartups
Alexander Belanger's guide is useful because it connects ordinary application decisions to the database behaviors they eventually expose: schemas, query shape, index ordering, connection pressure, autovacuum, long-running writes, and lock-aware queue work. It is practical without pretending that every slow query needs an index, and the EXPLAIN (ANALYZE, BUFFERS) habit is exactly the one to cultivate before improvising a fix.
The Hacker News thread supplies an important amendment to the word "survival": a production database also needs proven backups, restore drills, and clear recovery ownership. Tuning plans and avoiding bloat keep the service healthy; they do not recover a lost or corrupt system. The best reading of this guide is as a strong operating playbook that sits beside, not ahead of, a tested recovery plan.