Thread: How many processes running on the server side?

The known ones are postmaster and one backends per connection. There is a
service process forked by postmaster periodically. What does it do? Does the
system use sperate processes to detect and recollect freed buffers?

"xin" <shenxin@sympatico.ca> writes:
> The known ones are postmaster and one backends per connection. There is a
> service process forked by postmaster periodically. What does it do?

Checkpoint, probably.  In 7.2 the checkpointer should identify itself
via ps status.
        regards, tom lane