With Cloud Application Manager, you can easily deploy a self replicating MongoDB cluster in just a few minutes. In order to accommodate Cloud Application Manager’s data needs, we rely on MongoDB clusters that run on two public clouds and one private data center.

This way we can provide redundancy, high availability and excellent read and write performance around the world. Using Cloud Application Manager, and our concept of Boxes, which are application or infrastructure components made available as a service, we can consistently deploy a MongoDB cluster in just a matter of minutes on any of our Cloud Providers.

To get started deploying MongoDB clusters on Cloud Application Manager, sign up today for our free account! If you’re interested in other resources on MongoDB, check out how you can easily use Splunk to monitor MongoDB using Cloud Application Manager.

The Basics

What is MongoDB? MongoDB is an open-source document store database.

Why would you want to cluster MongoDB? To provide redundancy and high-availability for production deployments.

How We Use MongoDB

In our case, MongoDB is using a replica set model. A replica set is a group of MongoDB instances that host the same data set. One MongoDB, the primary, receives all write operations. All other instances, secondaries, apply operations from the primary so that they have the same data set.

The primary accepts all write operations from clients. Replica sets can have only one primary. Because only one member can accept write operations, replica sets provide strict consistency.

Deploying MongoDB through Cloud Application Manager

Cloud Application Manager provides a default MongoDB box that’s available to the public. It deploys a standalone instance of the MongoDB server. Our MongoDB production box very closely resembles the default box, minus a few configuration settings required for our production scenario.

While the default MongoDB box configuration is suited for development purposes, it needs to be configured further to use in production. To configure the MongoDB default box for production use, follow the steps below:

Step 1. Create a new box called MongoDB Replica. Add a box variable for the MongoDB Server (this is to use the default box settings).

Step 2. Add a text variable REPLICA_SET to hold the replica set name. This value must be shared between all the members of the cluster.

Step 3. Expand the MongoDB Server box. Edit its file variable COMMON_YAML and paste the following:

mongodb::replica_set: {{ REPLICA_SET }}

mongodb::key_file: /etc/mongod.key

This file will be used by hiera to pass arguments to puppet automatically without modifying the existing puppet default.pp file.

Step 4. Add a binding named primary of type MongoDB Replica (the box you just created).

Step 5. Add an install script. Get the script here.

Step 6. Add a start script. Get the script here.

When you deploy the box without a binding, it creates a cluster for you with an initial configuration. On the other hand, if you bind to an existing instance, it adds the instance to the existing cluster!

There, you have it, a MongoDB cluster in a few easy steps!

Want to Learn More About Cloud Application Manager?

Cloud Application Manager is a powerful, scalable platform for deploying applications into production across any cloud infrastructure – private, public or hosted. It provides interactive visualization to automate application provisioning, including configuration, deployment, scaling, updating and migration of applications in real-time.

Visit the Cloud Application Manager product page to learn more.