This paper presents the design of POSTGRES, a new database management system (DBMS) that is an extension of the INGRES relational DBMS. The primary goals of POSTGRES are to support complex objects, facilitate extension for new application domains, enable active databases and rule processing, reduce crash recovery code, and leverage new technologies. The paper discusses the query language POSTQUEL, which includes extensions for complex objects, user-defined data types, time-varying data, iteration queries, alerters, triggers, and rules. It also describes the programming language interface HITCHING POST, which allows for browsing-style applications and performance tuning. The system architecture is outlined, including process structure, query processing strategies, and storage system design. POSTGRES aims to provide a robust framework for handling complex data and applications while maintaining the relational model's simplicity and flexibility.This paper presents the design of POSTGRES, a new database management system (DBMS) that is an extension of the INGRES relational DBMS. The primary goals of POSTGRES are to support complex objects, facilitate extension for new application domains, enable active databases and rule processing, reduce crash recovery code, and leverage new technologies. The paper discusses the query language POSTQUEL, which includes extensions for complex objects, user-defined data types, time-varying data, iteration queries, alerters, triggers, and rules. It also describes the programming language interface HITCHING POST, which allows for browsing-style applications and performance tuning. The system architecture is outlined, including process structure, query processing strategies, and storage system design. POSTGRES aims to provide a robust framework for handling complex data and applications while maintaining the relational model's simplicity and flexibility.