Table management

A database schema defines how the tables and indexes in your database are organized. Using a schema that is appropriate for your workload can result in significant performance improvements. Conversely, using a poorly suited schema can result in significant performance degradation.

If you are working with semi-structured data, such as readings from IoT sensors that collect varying measurements, you might need a flexible schema. In this case, you can use PostgreSQL JSON and JSONB data types.

Timescale supports all table objects supported within PostgreSQL, including data types, indexes, and triggers. However, when you create a hypertable, set the datatype for the time column as timestamptz and not timestamp. For more information, see PostgreSQL timestamp.

This section explains how to design your schema, how indexing and tablespaces work, and how to use PostgreSQL constraint types. It also includes examples to help you create your own schema, and learn how to use JSON and JSONB for semi-structured data.