devopsy.kinsta.cloud

Tag: document database

  • MongoDB, Storj Labs Work to Reduce Data Security Costs

    MongoDB, Storj Labs Work to Reduce Data Security Costs

    MongoDB Inc. and Storj Labs announced today they have jointly created a backup service for the open source MongoDB database that leverages a global network for excess storage capacity.

    Storj Labs has created a Tardigrade Decentralized Cloud Storage Service based on an open source object storage system that is compatible with the S3 application programming interface (API) defined by Amazon Web Services (AWS). That object storage system distributes 80 slices of a file across a subset of thousands of nodes that each contain only a slice of the data required to reconstruct that file when needed. Only 29 of those slices are needed to reconstruct a file, which enables IT teams to secure data without having to manage encryption keys.

    Via a connector from Storj Labs, the Tardigrade Decentralized Cloud Storage Service now can be invoked via MongoDB DevOps Manager, which is made available in the commercially supported enterprise edition of the open source databases provided by MongoDB Inc.

    Storj Labs CEO Ben Golub said the Tardigrade Decentralized Cloud Storage Service provides a less expensive alternative to backup and recovery platforms based on the cloud, as excess capacity on devices ranging from servers to individual desktops is readily available, The challenge has been finding a way to marshal all that excess capacity in a way that makes it simple for IT organizations to consume, he said.

    IT organizations, Golub said, should expect Storj Labs to build additional connectors to databases and other platforms that require a less expensive approach to data protection. In the wake of the economic downturn brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, he noted, more organizations than ever are open to innovative approaches to reducing storage costs.

    Of course, most IT teams are well-used to employing a range of data protection platforms to back up and recover data. The Tardigrade Decentralized Cloud Storage Service is likely to be viewed as one more option that might find traction at a time when the number and types of databases being deployed across the enterprise continue to expand rapidly. Developers are especially fond of adopting open source document databases that don’t require a database administrator (DBA) to get approval for a license from a central purchasing organization. It’s usually not too long, however, before developers look for help from central IT to manage all those databases, especially after an application is deployed in a production environment.

    Naturally, not all those applications are of equal value, so given the current economic climate, there might be a greater willingness to at the very least experiment with alternative approaches to data protection.

    Regardless of platform, however, the one thing that is clear is data protection alongside the rest of IT infrastructure is being driven more by APIs. As such, responsibility for data protection is also being pushed further left toward DevOps teams, who have the expertise required to continuously automate back up and recover using APIs. That might not always sit well with traditional IT administrators who have been using tools based on graphical user interfaces (GUIs) for decades. Nevertheless, IT times are clearly changing.

  • MongoDB Addresses Host of DevOps Issues

    MongoDB Addresses Host of DevOps Issues

    At its MongoDB Europe conference this week, MongoDB updated its open-source document database with the addition of MongoDB Ops Manager to simplify management of distributed instances of version 3.6 of its database.

    In addition, the company has added a capability that enables all updates to the database to be automatically reflected in the application in real time without having to take the database offline.

    Additional new capabilities include a MongoDB Compass tool to analyze schemas and a governance capability that makes it easier to apply and tune data governance polices before and after an application is deployed.

    The company has added an aggregation pipeline that allows users to perform real-time analytics directly in the database to improve performance. Developers and analysts now can write queries combining data from multiple collections for complex analytics. Its Connector for BI, which can now be deployed and managed by its Ops Manager, has been updated to support this new query capability.

    Finally, in the event of a system failure or network outage, MongoDB says it now automatically will replay any writes to the database when those services come back online.

    Brooks Circhlow, vice president of product for MongoDB, says developers have embraced document databases as an alternative to other database platforms because of their flexibility. Unlike, for example, relational databases, a document database doesn’t impose a schema that must be crafted by a database administrator. But as more instances of document databases proliferate across the enterprise, DevOps challenges start to manifest.

    In fact, Circhlow notes that IT organizations are also making extensive use of cross-replication capabilities across multiple database clusters that they manage or are managed on their behalf via the MongoDB Atlas managed service. In many of those instances, DevOps teams are responsible for both the applications and the document databases they run on.

    MongoDB is also moving to address a DevSecOps issue stemming from a wave of attacks aimed at misconfigured instances of its database. Circhlow says the most widely used installer for MongoDB limits network access by binding to localhost by default. With version 3.6, binding to the localhost is now extended to all MongoDB packages across all platforms. In addition, with new IP whitelisting support, administrators can configure MongoDB to only accept external connections on approved IP addresses.

    Document databases such as MongoDB arguably have been a primary catalyst for DevOps. Once developers began to bypass database administrators by downloading instances of document databases, it became clear that traditional approaches to IT operations were starting to erode. Most organizations would prefer their developers to write code than manage databases, so some new means for managing databases that doesn’t compromise the dexterity that document databases provide developers was required. Once those processes get established, the next question then becomes how to make traditional database administration involving other classes of databases part of that process. Most IT organizations are still working through those processes. But it’s clear database administration will never be the same.

    — Mike Vizard