>> I have been pushing for 3 years to upgrade this database, and with some
>> upcoming projects, I am going to do another push with management to upgrade
>> this database.
>
> Push hard. They'll thank you later.
No they won't. They have been running this way fine for years - if they
haven't crashed so far, why would they stop driving home sans-seatbelts
after a knocking back a few at the nightly bar bash now? But introduce a
big change and all problems and frustrations involved in the change will
reflect on you.
It takes some upfront work, but I would write up a proposal. First,
scour the release notes and document all the security and data-eating
bugs that have been fixed. Mention that support for 7.2 long-since ended.
Second, identify features that have been added that would be of use in
your business or which would make development of your upcoming projects
easier. Include features that make maintenance and operation easier as
well (stuff like autovacuum).
Third, point out that the substantial performance improvements through
the versions will allow you to use less expensive hardware than would
otherwise be required.
Finally, be upfront about the fact that upgrading will require effort
and could introduce some initial glitches. But point out that long-term
you will be much better off tweaking your app to run on the latest
version of PG and developing from there than digging your hole deeper by
writing even more code tied to the old, old version.
Then it's their decision. If they say no, you have a document you can
refer to when things go bad (but with luck you will have found a new job
by then). If they say yes, you will have the same document pointing out
that they should expect some initial difficulties in the process.
Good luck.
Cheers,
Steve