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Use Case | 5.2.2026

Hosting a database with Pukki 

With CSC’s Pukki service you can easily set up databases for other users through self-service. Pukki also backs up your databases automatically and securely.

Background

Hosting a database service manually can be challenging for inexperienced users. Also managing the backups properly can be difficult and even neglected due to lack of resources.

Solution

Pukki provides a database instance without the need of having technical expertise. Pukki is a “Database as a Service” (DBaaS), which means that it takes care of the tedious maintenance and administrative tasks.  You can grant specific users access rights to your database. Pukki also allows for seamless scaling without configuring new hardware.

For example, in collaborative projects between organisations, you can build and share a centralised database for project use, or use Pukki as a reliable backend for machine learning pipelines.

  • CSC provides the infrastructure and service to host a database easily
  • Users don’t need to manage hardware, install software, or handle backups
  • Pukki allows customers to scale up or down easily based on workload

Possible challenges and limitations in using Pukki

  • Database size can sometimes be a limiting factor (maximum database size is 200 GB per instance)
  • Not all database formats are currently supported (we cannot support the migration)
  • Only few database extensions are available by default
1

Sign-up through MyCSC.fi to get an access to Pukki

Start by creating a CSC user account in MyCSC, unless you already have one. Then create or join a CSC project and add Pukki as a service to the project. Learn about Pukki security guidelines and backups considerations from the links below.

How to create a new CSC user account About accounts, projects and billing units How to add services for a project Pukki Security Guides Pukki backups Pukki volumes
2

Create your database instance

The creation of a database on Pukki is rather simple. Beginners can deploy a database using the Web interface. The process is equivalent to the creation of a virtual machine on Pouta. Advanced users can use the Command Line tools to create a database.

Pukki Web interface Pukki Command Line tools Pukki Database sizes and prices
3

Move your data into your database instance

Migrate your data to Pukki using PostgreSQL or MariaDB. CSC can provide help on how to use these tools.

How to migrate a PostgreSQL database to Pukki PostgreSQL Backup and Restore MariaDB on Pukki still in Beta MariaDB Backup & Restore MariaDB: Restoring Data from Dump Files Guide
4

Use your database instance with other CSC services easily

Once your database is up and running, users can set their applications to use it. Many services (such as AI and Machine Learning services, geospatial services, authentication services) require a connection to a PostgreSQL database. CSC Pukki service can be used to host Large-Scale Data Storage (LSDS) like prototyping and analysis for experiments.

Accessing your Pukki PostgreSQL database from Puhti Creating a new database instance
5

Give others access to the hosted data via a web service

Later on, other maintainers may require access to the database. Access can be provided easily via the Pukki administration page, where you can add, remove and modify users. Other external tools such as pgAdmin or DBeaver may also be used as database management tool. However, any other external tools besides PostgreSQL and MariaDB are not maintained by CSC.

PostgreSQL Permissions Accessing your PostgreSQL database pgAdmin (a PostgreSQL Admin Tool) MariaDB Permissions Accessing your MariaDB database Graphical and Enhanced MariaDB Clients
6

Add extensions (optional)

If needed, the user can install extensions for example for managing different kinds of data, tracking chances or crypting data on his database hosted on Pukki. Pukki supports natively some extensions on PostgreSQL.

PostgreSQL Extensions and parameters