1 Introduction

EDB Ark automatically provisions PostgreSQL or EDB Postgres Advanced Server databases in single instances, high-availability clusters, or application development sandboxes. EDB Ark allows service providers and organizations to offer elastic and highly scalable database-as-a-service (DBaaS) environments while freeing DBAs and application developers from the rigors of setting up and administering modern and robust database environments.

In minutes, EDB Ark configures a cluster of database machines with:

•	Streaming replication

•	Connection pooling

•	Load balancing

•	Automatic failover (transaction or recovery time preferred)

•	Secure data encryption

•	Rotating user-scheduled backups

•	Point-in-time recovery

•	Elastic storage

•	Elastic scale out

EDB Ark's automatic scaling of storage resources and scale out of read replicas when a database cluster reaches user-defined thresholds is especially worth noting - this functionality provides unattended, around-the-clock responsiveness to unpredictable load demands on your database infrastructure.

This document will demonstrate how to use the EDB Ark console successfully in your cloud-based database management activities:

•	EDB Ark - Overview – Section 2 provides information about EDB Ark functionality and architecture.

•	Accessing the Ark Console – Section 3 provides details about connecting to the Ark console.

•	Using the Ark Console – Section 4 introduces you to the EDB Ark graphical user interface, and provides an overview of the functionality offered by the user interface controls.

•	Creating a New Server Cluster – Section 5 walks you through how to create a server cluster, and how to create a developer sandbox.

•	Connecting an Application – Section 6 describes how to locate connection information for your server nodes, so your client applications can access your cluster.

•	Managing Backups and Recovery - Section 7 describes how to backup or restore a database hosted on EDB Ark.

•	Automatic Failover – Section 8 discusses EDB Ark failover functionality.

•	Manual Scaling – Section 9 describes how to manually scale up your database cluster by adding replica nodes or memory.

•	Automatic Scaling – Section 10 discusses how to set the automatic scale up thresholds for your database.

•	Load Balancing – Section 11 discusses how to use load balancing to optimize client performance.

•	Customizing Your Cluster - Section 12 discusses some of the ways you can customize your Ark cluster.

•	Database Management – Section 13 provides information about performing administrative tasks on an Ark cluster.

•	Troubleshooting – Section 14 provides helpful troubleshooting resources, and detailed information about how to recover from a console failure.

This document provides an introduction to EDB Ark and is written to acquaint you with the process of configuring and using the product's core features; it is not a comprehensive guide to using EnterpriseDB database products. Depending on your operating environment, there may be differences in EDB Ark features and functions.

For more information about using EnterpriseDB products, please visit the EnterpriseDB website at:

http://www.enterprisedb.com/documentation

This document uses Postgres to mean either the PostgreSQL or EDB Postgres Advanced Server database.