I have a question regarding max_connections in postgresql.conf.
In the Postgresql documentation, it says it determines the maximum number of concurrent connections to the database server. Does it literally mean users connected to it? or am I missing something?
It is the number of connections. It is not the number of users, as one user can have many connections concurrently and each one counts against max_connections. And you can also have many more users than connections, as long as users are not permanently connected.
A database connection consists of a TCP (or UNIX socket) network connection to the database machine and a server process on the database machine that serves client queries. You can see active connections in the view pg_stat_activity.
That is what is limited by max_connections.
Do not confuse concurrent users in your application with concurrent database connections. If you use connection pooling as you should, a database connection can handle requests from many application users.
