A Recap of Percona University Milan: A Day of Open Source & Database Innovation in Italy’s Tech Capital!
What a day! On May 26th, we brought Percona University to the vibrant heart of Milan for a dynamic gathering of database experts, open source enthusiasts, and innovators from across Italy and Europe. Set against the backdrop of a city renowned for design and technology, the goal was simple: to connect, learn, and celebrate the power of open source. The energy was incredible, packed with inspiring talks and fantastic conversations.
For everyone who attended, grazie mille for making it such a memorable event! For those who couldn’t make it, here’s a look at what you missed.
Agenda
🕘 09:00 – 09:30
Registration & Coffee
🕤 09:30 – 10:30
Opening Talk: State of Open Source Databases
👤 Peter Zaitsev
An overview of the latest trends and challenges in the open-source database ecosystem, including the rise of cloud-native architectures, separation of storage and compute, vector search support, and the impact of license changes by major vendors. The talk emphasizes the risks of DBaaS vendor lock-in and explores how open-source solutions, like Kubernetes-based operators, can restore control and flexibility.
🕥 10:35 – 11:05
Using PMM to Monitor Production MongoDB Environments
👤 Santo Leto
Learn how to use Percona Monitoring and Management (PMM) to monitor production MongoDB replica sets and sharded clusters.
🕚 11:10 – 11:55
Backups and Restores with Percona Backup for MongoDB
👤 Corrado Pandiani
🍽️ 12:00 – 13:30
Lunch Break
🕜 13:30 – 14:00
A Brief History of Database Observability – and What’s Next
👤 Ewen Fortune
Trace the evolution of observability from simple tools to modern platforms. Explore the impact of AI-driven anomaly detection, automated remediation, and unified observability across hybrid environments.
🕑 14:05 – 14:35
How to Ease Major MySQL Upgrades
👤 Ananais Tsalouchidis
A walkthrough of strategies, tools, and Percona Toolkit utilities to manage smooth major MySQL upgrades with performance and compatibility in mind.
🕝 14:40 – 15:10
From MongoDB to Postgres: Building an Open Standard for Document Databases
👤 Peter Farkas
Explore how Postgres, with FerretDB, can serve as a flexible open standard for document databases, supporting MongoDB workloads while remaining open-source.
🕒 15:15 – 15:45
What Developers Should Know About Observability
👤 Peter Zaitsev
A practical guide to observability for developers. Topics include eBPF, OpenTelemetry, alert fatigue, and strategies for improving visibility and reliability in distributed systems.
🕓 15:50 – 16:20
Deploy a MongoDB Cluster on Kubernetes Using Percona Operator
👤 Corrado Pandiani
🕟 16:25 – 16:55
Percona Operator for MySQL on OpenShift
👤 Natale Vinto
🕠 16:55 – 17:30
Q&A and Raffle
Wrap-up session with open Q&A and prize giveaways.
Location
ALEF LAB
88 Viale Ortles, 20139 Milano
Photo Gallery
