Item: Couchbase Server
Rating: 10
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Couchbase was chosen to integrate mobile data from online/offline data collection apps right into our backend. Right now, due to the coronavirus pandemic and its repercussions, the project has been aborted. It was used in one department.

Pros and Cons

Data synchronization between mobile apps and backend
Querying stored data
Database monitoring
Document structured mobile data storing

Transactions support
Documentation. We used Couchbase views just to find out they were not recommended due to our use case size. There was no mention of that in Couchbase documentation.
Improvements in Couchbase Light query support to provide all capabilities found in Couchbase Server
Windows environment support

Return on Investment

Fast development lifecycle
Large number of concurrent user sessions
Close to real-time reporting

Performance

Handling high data volume was not as easy as we expected there are a lot of tricks in the data model for providing proper data visualization functionalities. Views didn't work as expected and we found out that we shouldn't be using it after we'd already invested, even though documentation didn't advise on the scenarios where it shouldn't be used.

Alternatives Considered

MongoDB and Oracle Berkeley DB

None of the products mentioned above provided a seamless synchronization strategy that could be available on-premises at the time.

Other Software Used

Microsoft SQL Server, SQLite

Likelihood to Recommend

Couchbase synchronization works like a charm in an online/offline mobile app scenario. Querying is flexible enough and the functionalities associated with Couchbase server allow its usage for developing detailed close to real-time operation support systems. It is not a good solution for keeping large datasets for auditing considering Couchbase memory capabilities (cost was prohibitive). In-depth knowledge was necessary to fine-tune the data model. Couchbase also doesn't provide triggers. Events capabilities provide some support but still lack control.

Couchbase: Data synchronization made simple

Overall Satisfaction with Couchbase