MongoDB Best Practices with Tessell Database Service

Managing a MongoDB database can be complex, but it does not have to be. Our managed service removes the burden, allowing you to focus on your business operations. This document outlines our comprehensive strategy, ensuring optimal performance, robust data protection, proactive monitoring, and unwavering security.

Database Management

MongoDB database management is simplified by managed services. It allows you to store, manage and retrieve data in a reliable manner.

Optimized Performance

• Tailored Storage: Based on your workload, we chose SSD storage and XFS file system to optimize your database's performance.
• Read-Replicas: The read-Replica feature is available to distribute read workload.
• Auto-Scaling (Considered): We explored the possibility of implementing auto-scaling for your MongoDB deployment to handle fluctuating workloads.

Robust Backups and Recovery

• Regular Backups: We established a robust Snapshot backup strategy to create regular backups of your MongoDB database, ensuring data availability in case of incidents.
• Documented Recovery Procedures: Recovery procedures are documented to facilitate swift restoration from backups in the event of an outage.
• Planned Maintenance: We maintain and execute planned and informed maintenance operational practices to ensure minimum downtime as well as seamless user experience.

Proactive Monitoring and Alerting

• Monitoring Tools: We implemented monitoring tools to track key performance metrics (e.g., CPU, memory, IOPS) and proactively identify potential issues.
• Automated Alerting System: An alerting system is established to notify us of any anomalies or performance degradations requiring attention.

Version Control and Planned Upgrades

• Version Control System: We used a version control system to track changes to MongoDB configuration and schema, facilitating rollbacks if necessary.
• Planned Upgrades: MongoDB upgrades can be executed in a controlled manner to minimize disruption and ensure compatibility with client applications.

Security

MongoDB security considerations cover a wide basis. This ensures your data and systems are set up with a strong security posture.

Authentication and Authorization

• Unique Credentials: Separate usernames and passwords were created for each user or process requiring MongoDB access. Shared accounts or generic credentials were avoided.
• Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): RBAC is implemented to grant specific permissions based on user roles. This minimizes the risk associated with compromised credentials.
• Maintain Strong Passwords: Enforced strong password policies for managed and system user accounts.
• Least Privilege: Applications were configured to connect to MongoDB with the least privilege necessary for their operation. Unnecessary permissions were not granted.

Data Encryption

• Data at Rest Encryption: Whenever possible, MongoDB instances leveraged the WiredTiger storage engine's built-in encryption for data at rest. For other storage engines, file-system, device, or physical encryption on the host machine was used.
• Data in Transit Encryption: TLS/SSL encryption was enforced for all communication between applications, MongoDB instances (mongod, mongos), and other components. This ensured data confidentiality during transmission.
• Client-Side Field Level Encryption (Considered): The possibility of implementing client-side field-level encryption for sensitive data transmission was evaluated.

Network Security

• Limited Network Exposure: MongoDB instances were run in a trusted network environment. Firewalls or security groups were configured to restrict inbound and outbound traffic to authorised IP addresses and ports.
• Disabled Direct SSH Root Access: Direct SSH access with root privileges was disabled to strengthen server security.

Auditing and Monitoring

• Auditing Enabled: MongoDB was configured to log user activities and database operations for identification of suspicious behavior and potential security incidents.
• Updates Maintained: Security patches and updates for MongoDB servers and client applications were applied promptly to address vulnerabilities.

Proactive Alert Management

At Tessell, the health and performance of your MongoDB deployment are part of the managed service. A key element of this strategy is a robust alerting system that notifies us of potential issues before they can significantly impact your applications or data. By being promptly notified of potential issues, we can take swift action to maintain the security, performance, and reliability of your MongoDB deployment.

Types of Alerts We Monitor

Performance Metrics

• CPU Usage: Alerts are triggered if CPU utilization exceeds predefined thresholds, indicating potential bottlenecks or resource constraints.
• Memory Usage: Alerts notify us of high memory usage, which could lead to performance degradation or slow queries.
• Disk Space: We monitor available disk space and trigger alerts when it reaches predefined limits to avoid unexpected outages due to storage exhaustion.
  • Storage Alerts: Alerts notify us if disk space is running low or nearing capacity, allowing proactive scaling measures to be taken.
• Backup and Recovery Alerts: The system monitors and alerts us of any failures during scheduled backups, ensuring your data protection.
• I/O Operations Per Second (IOPS): High IOPS can signal excessive disk activity. Alerts help identify potential bottlenecks or inefficient queries requiring optimization.
• Connections: A sudden surge in connections or a sustained high number of concurrent connections might indicate overloading or denial-of-service attempts. Alerts allow us to investigate and take necessary actions.
• Database logs monitoring: Database log files are monitored to keep track of the database backend.

Replication Health

• Replica Set Status: Alerts notify us if the replica set encounters any issues, such as a missing primary node or lagging secondaries(considered). This ensures data replication remains healthy and up-to-date.
• Oplog Window(Considered): The operation log (oplog) tracks changes made to the primary node. We monitor the oplog window size and trigger alerts if it falls behind significantly, indicating potential inconsistencies between the primary and secondary nodes.

Alert Notification and Resolution

• Real-time Notifications: Our administrators are notified in real-time via email, SMS, or team collaboration tools when an alert is triggered.
• Prompt Resolution: We prioritize investigating and resolving alerts swiftly to minimize any potential impact on your applications or data.

Customization for Client Needs

The specific alerts monitored and notification channels used can be customized to meet your unique requirements and risk tolerance. We work with you to define the most relevant alerts for your specific deployment.

Conclusion: Confidence and Future-Proofing Your MongoDB

This document has outlined a comprehensive MongoDB management strategy designed to deliver optimal performance, robust backups and recovery, proactive monitoring, and unwavering security. We understand your business needs are dynamic, and we are committed to continuous improvement.

Looking Ahead: Innovation for Agility and Enhanced Security

We're actively exploring promising features like auto-scaling to handle fluctuating workloads seamlessly. Additionally, we are looking to add more security features to provide an extra layer of data security.