This Week in Databases: PostgreSQL 18 RC Released, MeiliSearch v1.20.0 Launches, and Apache Doris 3.1.0 Debuts

Explore the latest database advancements! PostgreSQL announces the release of version 18 RC 1, bringing exciting updates for users. MeiliSearch rolls out v1.20.0 with performance enhancements, while Apache Doris unveils version 3.1.0 for improved capabilities. In the world of timeseries data, TimescaleDB reaches milestone version 2.22.0, and Redis introduces quantization and dimensionality reduction thanks to its new Query Engine. Additionally, take a look at the latest features in InfluxDB 3.4, and discover how VespaAI optimizes costs with cloud resource suggestions! Plus, find out how Tetragon enhances performance through its migration to Elastic Cloud Serverless. Stay tuned for the hottest database trends!

• Kafka

  • Introducing Apache Kafka® 4.1.0: What’s New and How to Upgrade

• Redis

  • Redis earns ISO/IEC 42001 certification for responsible AI practices

• MeiliSearch

  • v1.20.0 🦟 - A new feature of displaying the progressTrace in in-progress batches and bug fixes

• PostgreSQL

  • PostgreSQL 18 RC 1 Released! - this includes bug fixes like

    • Skip vacuuming virtual generated columns when using vacuumdb --missing-stats-only

    • Added recommendation on when to reindex full-text search and pg_trgm indexes after using pg_upgrade

  • Apache Cloudberry (Incubating) 2.0.0 Released - MPP Database for Analytics & AI

• Doris

  • Apache Doris 3.1.0 Release - this includes various features like

    • Sparse Columns and Sub-columns With Vertical Compaction

    • Inverted Index Storage Format V3

    • New Tokenizers

    • and more

• Timescale

  • 2.22.0 (2025-09-02) - with the main highlights

    • Sparse indexes on compressed hypertables can now be explicitly configured via ALTER TABLE rather than relying only on internal heuristics. Users can define indexes on multiple columns to improve query performance for their specific workloads.

    • [Tech Preview] Continuous aggregates now support the timescaledb.invalidate_using option, enabling invalidations to be collected either via triggers on the hypertable or directly from WAL using logical decoding. Aggregates inherit the hypertable’s method if none is specified.

    • UUIDv7 compression and vectorization are now supported. The compression algorithm leverages the timestamp portion for delta-delta compression while storing the random portion separately. The vectorized equality/inequality filters with bulk decompression deliver ~2× faster query performance. The feature is disabled by default (timescaledb.enable_uuid_compression) to simplify the downgrading experience, and will be enabled out of the box in the next minor release.

    • Hypertables can now be partitioned by UUIDv7 columns, leveraging their embedded timestamps for time-based chunking. We’ve also added utility functions to simplify working with UUIDv7, such as generating values or extracting timestamps - e.g., uuid_timestamp() returns a PostgreSQL timestamp from a UUIDv7.

    • SkipScan now supports multi-column indexes in not-null mode, improving performance for distinct and ordered queries across multiple keys.

• Redis

  • Quantization and dimensionality reduction are now available in Redis Query Engine

• InfluxDB

  • What’s New in InfluxDB 3.4: Simpler Cache Management, Provisioned Tokens, and More

• VespaAI

  • Case study: Using Vespa Cloud Resource Suggestions to optimize costs

• Elastic

  • Tetragon migrates to Elastic Cloud Serverless for enhanced performance

• DuckDB -> +367 stars

• SeaweedFS -> +201 stars

• Milvus -> +144 stars

• ClickHouse -> +139 stars

• MeiliSearch -> +121 stars

• Grafana -> +116 stars

• K8s -> +114 stars

• Pocketbase -> +102 stars

• Redis -> +92 stars