Databricks today announced the general availability of Lakebase on AWS, a new database architecture that separates compute and storage. The managed serverless Postgres service is designed to help organizations build faster without worrying about infrastructure management.
When databases link compute and storage, every query must use the same CPU and memory resources. This can cause a single heavy query to affect all other operations. By separating compute and storage, resources automatically scale with the actual load. When there is no activity, the system shuts down completely. This saves costs and prevents teams from running unnecessary infrastructure.
One notable feature is instant database branching. This allows developers to create isolated copies of production data in seconds without actually copying the underlying data. This makes it possible to test safely on realistic datasets without risking the live environment.
Point-in-time recovery also offers protection against accidental deletions or bugs. Organizations can restore the database status to a specific millisecond within a configurable retention period. Automatic backups run in the background.
Integration with Unity Catalog provides uniform access control and auditing across the entire Databricks platform. Sync tables keep operational data and historical lakehouse context synchronized without teams having to maintain fragile data pipelines.
Postgres 17 and scalability up to 8TB
With general availability, Lakebase now supports Postgres 17, including the latest enhancements and extensions. Postgres 16 also remains supported. Storage capacity per instance has been scaled up to 8TB, enabling larger application workloads.
Databricks is also focusing on AI agents and apps with Lakebase. Applications run directly on the Databricks platform and share governance, security, and the data foundation already used for analytics and AI. This eliminates segmented databases, separate access controls, and data pipelines, keeping everything synchronized.
Starting today, Lakebase is available for workloads in select AWS regions. On Azure, it is running in beta in certain regions. Databricks plans general availability on Azure within a few months and on Google Cloud later this year. Compliance certifications such as SOC2 and HIPAA are planned for early 2026.
Tip: Multi-agent systems will dominate IT environments in 2026