Item: MongoDB
Rating: 10
Author: Kendal Droddy

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

In my organization, we use MongoDB as a temporary mid-size storage database. We have very large databases and process a massive amount of data per day. Throughout the day we identify notable events and records and need to extract them for continued analysis. This is where our MongoDB environment comes into play. We roll all of these detected records into MongoDB for further use.

Pros and Cons

Very simple with easy to learn and understand syntax.
Offers great flexibility as their is no predetermined schema.
Scalable - handles all our our data very effectively even as we scale up.

Data duplication can be a problem - have to make a concerted effort to avoid this.
Memory usage can be an issue depending on infrastructure.
Certain commands that may work well in something like MySQL may not in MongoDB, such as join commands.

Return on Investment

Speed at which we can store and query noteworthy data.
Reduced downtime due to high availability.
Save time due to quick setup and deployment.

Alternatives Considered

MySQL

The environment I work in is somewhat unique in that we use both MySQL and MongoDB. However, each is used for specific purposes that the other is not well suited for. MongoDB is not a relational database like MySQL, so it serves as the perfect place to dump key bits of data for quick retrieval later. This is something we can't easily do with MySQL. On this smaller database, MongoDB also lets us retrieve data more quickly with its fast and efficient querying.

Key Insights

Do you think MongoDB delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with MongoDB's feature set?

Yes

Did MongoDB live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of MongoDB go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy MongoDB again?

Yes

Other Software Used

ServiceNow IT Service Management, Splunk User Behavior Analytics (UBA), Microsoft Azure

Usability

No tool is perfect but MongoDB hits quite close to that mark. Setup and deployment are a breeze compared to other similar tools. Since no predefined schema is required setup is reduced even further. It is high-performing so querying the database is quick and efficient. Quick query time is a key to good usability - no one wants to wait on their results to return. And there's also good documentation - which isn't a direct part of the tool, but certainly helps with its overall usability of it.

Support Rating

MongoDB is an open-source tool. As such support is, in a sense, nearly unlimited. There are thousands upon thousands of articles, pieces of documentation, tutorials, questions answered on forums, and so much more out there on the internet. The GitHub repo for MongoDB has over 66,000 commits from over 600 different contributors. Every change is detailed and easy to follow. And as I've already noted, the official documentation is packed with great information. Overall I can't give anything but a 10 for overall support.

Likelihood to Recommend

If asked by a colleague I would highly recommend MongoDB. MongoDB provides incredible flexibility and is quick and easy to set up. It also provides extensive documentation which is very useful for someone new to the tool. Though I've used it for years and still referenced the docs often. From my experience and the use cases I've worked on, I'd suggest using it anywhere that needs a fast, efficient storage space for non-relational data. If a relational database is needed then another tool would be more apt.

MongoDB - A Stellar NoSQL Database

Overall Satisfaction with MongoDB