Introduction

Initially launched in 2009, MongoDB has become an industry-leading database used by organizations around the globe. But why is MongoDB so popular?

Organizations enjoy the scale and flexibility MongoDB provides as a cross-platform document-oriented NoSQL database. MongoDB can be used for high-volume data storage and uses collections and documents instead of the traditional tables. In these documents, data is stored in fields instead of rows and columns, making the data more flexible. MongoDB uses JSON-like documents with optional schemas with a focus on widespread language compatibility.

While MongoDB can be used on-premises or on the cloud. Organizations usually prefer using it on the cloud for various reasons, the primary one being the ability to autoscale according to real-time usage rates. Since MongoDB is a cross-platform database, organizations can host it on virtually any major cloud provider service.

MongoDB vs Azure Cosmos DB

Even though there are various cloud servers capable of running MongoDB on the cloud, there are some issues pertaining to the latency offered by the cloud services. Due to this, the two most widely used databases are MongoDB Atlas and Cosmos DB.

MongoDB Atlas

MongoDB Atlas is the fully-managed cloud database version of MongoDB. MongoDB Atlas takes care of all the complexities of deploying and managing databases on a cloud service provider of your organization’s choice; this may be Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud. Being managed by the developers of MongoDB, Atlas ensures support for all versions of MongoDB. Azure CosmosDB, on the other hand, offers the best-in-class latency with virtually unlimited scalability.

MongoDB offers cluster tiers based on the environment and the traffic. In ascending order of price:

• M0, M2, and M5 – Basic shared clusters with M0 being free
• M10, and M20 – Dedicated clusters for development environments and low-traffic apps
• M30, M40, and M50 – Dedicated clusters for high-traffic and large datasets (Highest cost)

Azure Cosmos DB

Azure Cosmos DB is Microsoft’s globally distributed, multi-modal service for mission-critical applications. The service implements wire protocols for various common NoSQL API’s such as Cassandra, MongoDB, Gremlin, etc. Cosmos is widely recognized for its millisecond response time and automatic and instant scalability.

Comparing the two databases, Cosmos DB’s pay-as-you-go model makes it easier for organizations to invest, irrespective of your organization’s size.

Being managed by Azure, Cosmos DB streamlines your process in such a way that customer support becomes an integral part of the organization’s plan, helping to ensure that your firm is progressing on the right path. It also offers the lowest-in-class latency and is very easy to integrate with other Azure apps.

On the other hand, MongoDB Atlas’s pricing model may become slightly difficult to manage for varied workloads. Since the developers of MongoDB run Atlas, organizations might have a better experience with the updates and the tools they use. MongoDB also supports a bigger document size, but this comes down to personal preference, and most organizations may not even be able to use this capability to its fullest.

This table provides a breakdown of additional features provided by each service:

Next Steps

If your organization is considering migrating MongoDB or is interested in leveraging Cosmos DB, Neal Analytics can help. Being a Microsoft Gold Partner since 2011, Neal holds deep expertise in running end-to-end migration projects and can jump in to help out at any stage of the migration process.

If you are ready to take the next step towards migrating MongoDB to Cosmos DB, contact us.