Improved DB Slaves, with love from EY PDX

### It may be cold and rainy but our database enhancements are hot! We're happy to announce that Engine Yard Cloud database support just got better! We've made several database functionality improvements that make scaling your application easier than ever. You can now provision slave instances that are smaller or larger than your database master. Also, you have new snapshot and volume options when creating database slaves. You can provision slaves with a larger storage volume than their master, and soon you'll be able to use an existing snapshot to speed up slave creation. ### Larger DB Volumes for Database Slaves It is now possible to provision a database slave with a larger volume size than your db master. This, again, makes it easier to upgrade to a larger db master (or specialized slave!). There is a caveat with regard to db volume increases: the db partition needs to be re-sized after the instance boots. If your stack is up-to-date, this will happen automatically. If not, you can click ‘Upgrade' or have support enlarge the db partition for you. ### Larger Instance Sizes for Database Slaves It is now possible to provision a database slave using a larger AWS instance size than its current master. This lets you add a beefy slave, allowing you to get one step closer to that larger database master you've always wanted. There are some restrictions (it is the real world, after all). When using PostgreSQL you can't use a snapshot created on a 32-bit instance when building a 64-bit instance and, vice-versa. Don't worry, we won't let you accidentally make a mistake. The instance sizes you are offered are the ones that will work with your database master. ### Smaller Slaves Also Possible Save $$! You can now boot a database slave using a smaller instance size than the database master. This is particularly handy if you just want a smaller slave to back-up from, but not serve reads or be a candidate for failover. Not all combinations work equally well, however. We don't recommend creating a Small replica for a High Memory 4XL. Here are our recommendations for minimum sizes. [Please refer to the documentation for more information](http://docs.engineyard.com/database-environments.html). ### PDX Update We hope you are as excited as we are about these new features. The PDX team worked tirelessly to get this very important feature out in record time. Speaking of PDX! We just passed our three-month anniversary at the new office space on December 1st. It's been a very busy few months, with a steady stream of visiting SF developers, designers, and guests dropping in to work from the comfort of our couches. We're still looking to round out the PDX office with a couple of stellar support peeps. Support Engine Yard style, aka people who are passionate about web technology, love to solve different problems, and get pleasure in helping others. We (PDX developers) are particularly looking forward to having support staff on site, to easily chat about what our customers might most want and need. ###