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Introducing the NoSQL MongoDB database

Flexibility

Article from ADMIN 84/2024

By Michael Höller

This overview of the basic concepts, features, and applications of MongoDB emphasizes the advantages offered by this established NoSQL database.

The MongoDB document database stores structured or unstructured data in a JSON-style format that can be mapped directly to native objects in most modern programming languages. It offers developers a modicum of convenience because they don't need to worry about normalizing data. MongoDB is also a good choice for large volumes of data and scales both vertically and horizontally.

The company behind the database, MongoDB Inc., was founded in 2007 with the aim to develop a modern database that meets the requirements of agile, scalable applications. The first version was launched in 2009, and the database has seen continuous improvements and extensions ever since. Milestones include functions such as sharding for horizontal scaling, replica sets for high availability, and the on-going advancement of query functions and proprietary tools.

Variants

MongoDB comes in two primary variants:

MongoDB Community Server or Enterprise Server
MongoDB Atlas

The MongoDB Community Server is the open source version of the database that you can install and manage on your own servers. It provides all the basic database functionality, such as replication, sharding, and query processing. However, you are responsible for provisioning, scaling, safeguarding, and maintaining the database infrastructure.

In contrast, the extended feature set of MongoDB Enterprise Server appeals to those with a need for features that are primarily aimed at optimizing security, administration, and performance, including Kerberos and LDAP authentication, auditing and encryption at rest, management and monitoring tools, automated backups, the use of in-memory storage engines, and advanced compression algorithms.

MongoDB Atlas is the fully managed, cloud-based database-as-a-service (DBaaS) platform. Atlas automates management tasks (i.e., provisioning, scaling, updating, backup, and

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