Bill,
> Any ideas of how I can cluster my database (around 800 GB
> in size so even partial replication is not really practical)?
Um, raise $150,000 to pay for a clustering implementation?
Various techniques of "shared memory clustering" have been tried with
PostgreSQL, and none work. Neither does LinuxLabs "ClusGres", which is
based on similar principles -- unfortunately. (at least, LL repeatedly
postponed the demo they said they'd give me. I've yet to see anything
working ...)
Frankly, we're waiting for a well-funded corporation to jump in and decide
they want PostgreSQL clustering. Database server clustering is a "big
ticket item" requiring roughly 1,000 hours of programming and
troubleshooting. As such, you're not likely to see it come out of the OSS
community unaided.
Oh, and FYI, MySQL's "clustering" doesn't work either. It requires your
entire database to fit into available RAM ....
--
Josh Berkus
Aglio Database Solutions
San Francisco