# Provision a Database

## Choose a resource tier

Each tier fixes the CPU, memory, and starting storage for the instance. Pick the smallest tier that comfortably fits your workload — you can scale up later.

| Tier | vCPU | Memory | Storage |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Micro | 0.1 | 0.6 GiB | 1 GB |
| Small | 0.3 | 1.7 GiB | 2 GB |
| Standard | 1 | 3.75 GiB | 5 GB |
| Large | 2 | 8 GiB | 10 GB |
| X-Large | 4 | 16 GiB | 100 GB |
| 2X-Large | 8 | 32 GiB | 250 GB |

Every tier is billed hourly; the current per-tier price is shown when you select it. See the [Billing Dashboard](https://salus.cloud/docs/account-and-billing/billing-dashboard/) for how usage is charged.

## Name the instance and its admin user

-   **Instance name** — starts with a letter, 3–30 characters, using lowercase letters, digits, and hyphens (no underscores).
-   **Admin username** — starts with a letter, 3–30 characters, using letters, digits, and underscores (no hyphens).

Choose the target **environment** and the **PostgreSQL version** for the instance as part of creation.

## Save the admin password

Heads up

The admin password is shown **only once, at creation time.** Salus never displays it again — later views of the database mask it. Copy it immediately and store it as a secret. If you lose it, [rotate the password](https://salus.cloud/docs/deployments/databases/manage/) to set a new one.

The new instance starts in **Provisioning** and becomes **Active** when it’s ready to accept connections — see [the database lifecycle](https://salus.cloud/docs/deployments/databases/). Next, [connect it to a project](https://salus.cloud/docs/deployments/databases/connect/).