Introducing Snapshot Distribution in MongoDB Atlas

Ashley Kuhwilm
September 29, 2022
#Atlas

Data is at the heart of everything we do and in today’s digital economy has become an organization's most valuable asset. But sometimes the lengths that need to be taken to protect that data can present added challenges and result in manual processes that ultimately slow development, especially when it comes to maintaining a strict backup and recovery strategy.

MongoDB Atlas aims to ease this burden by providing the features needed to help organizations not only retain and protect their data for recovery purposes, but to meet compliance regulations with ease. Today we’re excited to announce the release of a new backup feature, Snapshot Distribution. Snapshot Distribution allows you to easily distribute your backup snapshots across multiple geographic regions within your primary cloud provider with the click of a button.

You can configure how snapshots are distributed directly within your backup policy and Atlas will automatically distribute them to other regions as selected—no manual process necessary.

How to distribute your snapshots

To enable Snapshot Distribution, navigate to the backup policy for your cluster and select the toggle to copy snapshots to other regions. From there, you can add any number of regions within your primary cloud provider—including regions you are not deployed in—to store snapshot copies. You can even customize your configuration to copy only specific types of snapshots to certain regions.

Screenshot of the field to enable Snapshot Distribution in your backup policy
Copy snapshots to other regions

Restore your cluster faster with optimized, intelligent restores

If you need to restore your cluster, Atlas will intelligently decide whether to use the original snapshot or a copied snapshot for optimal restore speeds. Copied snapshots may be utilized in cases where you are restoring to a cluster in the same region as a snapshot copy, including multi-region clusters if the snapshots are copied to every cluster region. Alternatively, if the original snapshot becomes unavailable due to a regional outage within your cloud provider, Atlas will utilize a copy in the nearest region to enable restores regardless of the cloud region outage.

Screenshot of the point in time restore option in MongoDB Atlas
Perform point in time restore

Get started with Snapshot Distribution

Although storing additional snapshot copies in varying places may not always be required, this can be extremely useful in several situations, such as:

  • For organizations who have a compliance requirement to store backups in different geographical locations from their primary place of operation

  • For organizations operating multi-region clusters looking for faster direct-attach restores for the entire cluster

If you fall into either of these categories, Snapshot Distribution may be a valuable feature addition to your current backup policy, allowing you to automate prior manual processes and free up development time to focus on innovation. Check out the documentation to learn more or navigate to your backup policy to enable this feature.

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Built With MongoDB: Satori Streamlines Secure Data Access

Handling data imposes contradictory responsibilities upon organizations. On one hand, they need to protect data from unauthorized access. On the other hand, they need to extract value from data; otherwise, why collect it in the first place? The contradiction lies in the fact that to extract value from data, you have to grant access to it, but unregulated access to data can lead to its misuse. Data access service provider Satori enables organizations to accelerate their data use by simplifying and automating access policies while helping to ensure compliance with data security and privacy requirements. In addition to being a member of the MongoDB for Startups program, Satori has just added support for MongoDB workloads, so organizations running MongoDB can now take advantage of Satori's secure data access service. Balancing act Despite the immense volume of sensitive personal, financial, or health-related data within most organizations, managing access to that data is often a manual process handled by a small team struggling with other competing interests. Satori chief scientist Ben Herzberg says this task of managing data access at companies is slowing down innovation. "The majority of organizations are still managing access to data in a manual way," Herzberg says. "Everyone is feeling the bottleneck. The data analyst who wants to do their job in a meaningful way just wants to understand what data sets they can use and get access to it fast." Getting access to data can be an uphill battle, however. "Sometimes you have to go through three or four different teams to get access to data," Herzberg says. "It can take a week or two." Meanwhile, the data engineers who are primarily responsible for managing access to data are getting pulled away from their core responsibilities. "This places the company in an uncomfortable position of having time-intensive processes implemented by teams who would prefer to be working on other tasks," Herzberg says. Simple, fast, secure As a data access service, Satori streamlines access to data, accelerates time-to-value, improves engineering productivity, and reduces complexity and operational risk, all while protecting sensitive data and maintaining compliance with relevant data privacy regulations. The first job of protecting sensitive data is identifying it, but according to Satori's research , few companies have a system in place that continuously monitors for and discovers sensitive data. Organizations that do monitor sensitive data typically do so only quarterly or annually. Herzberg says Satori continuously discovers sensitive data as it's being accessed. "As one of our customers said: I want to remain continuously compliant. I want to know where my sensitive data is at all times. We do that," Herzberg says. Data users can request access to data over Slack, the Satori data portal, and through other integrations to get immediate access to data without any engineering effort, changes to infrastructure, schemas, or tables, or creating objects on the database. "When a lot of people want access to data, you need a simple, fast, and secure way to do it without exposing yourself to risk," Herzberg says. Instead of taking days or weeks to process data access requests, with Satori, it takes just minutes. Build the next big thing with MongoDB Satori chose MongoDB early on because of the inherent flexibility of the document data model. "We chose MongoDB to move quickly and without limitations," Satori software engineering manager Oleg Toubenshlak says. "We didn't know what type of data we would be storing or how we might want to extend objects, so we chose MongoDB because of the flexibility of the data model." "MongoDB is a core component of our infrastructure where we keep customer configurations," Toubenshlak says. "We started with MongoDB deployed on-prem and moved to MongoDB Atlas." Toubenshlak cites continuous backups, easy deployment, and scalability as additional Atlas capabilities he finds valuable. "MongoDB allows us to move fast with development so we can focus on other areas. It's very simple in terms of security and network access. In terms of clients, MongoDB Atlas helps us provide extended capabilities in order to map our Java objects to BSON. It's very compatible and does this very quickly. Once we moved to Atlas, all our problems were solved," he says. Toubenshlak also appreciates the help he received as a member of the startup program. "We had startup credits, and we used professional services to make sure everything was configured properly," he says. "Satori is a small cluster for MongoDB, but I'm very surprised at the time investment we've received." The company is also excited about adding MongoDB Atlas to its list of supported platforms. "Adding MongoDB support is very exciting for us," Herzberg says. "We're already working with some design partners in different industries and helping them with their deployment. It's a meaningful step for us in NoSQL databases. We're seeing a lot of traction with existing customers that want to expand their MongoDB deployments and with new customers." If you're running MongoDB and are interested in simplifying data access, visit Satori and set up a demo or test drive. Are you part of a startup and interested in joining the MongoDB for Startups program? Apply now .

September 28, 2022
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MongoDB Atlas Integration with Ably Unlocks Real-time Capabilities

Enterprises across sectors increasingly realize that data, like time, doesn’t wait. Indeed, harnessing and synchronizing information in real time is the new currency of business agility. Enter the alliance between MongoDB and Ably—a partnership that has led to Ably's new database connector for MongoDB Atlas . The new database connector provides a robust framework for businesses to create real-time, data-intensive applications that can provide top-notch user experiences thanks to an opinionated client SDK to be used on top of LiveSync, ensuring both data integrity and real-time consistency—without compromising your existing tech stack. The synergy of MongoDB Atlas and Ably LiveSync This new MongoDB Atlas-Ably integration tackles a fundamental challenge in modern application architecture: maintaining data consistency across distributed systems in real-time. MongoDB Atlas serves as the foundation—a flexible, scalable database service that adapts to the ebb and flow of data demands. Meanwhile, Ably LiveSync acts as the nervous system, ensuring that every change, every update, resonates instantly across the entire application ecosystem. The Ably LiveSync database connector for MongoDB Atlas offers a transformative approach to real-time data management, combining unparalleled scalability with seamless synchronization. This solution effortlessly adapts to growing data volumes and expanding user bases, catering to businesses of all sizes—from agile startups to established enterprises. By rapidly conveying database changes to end-users, it ensures that all stakeholders operate from a single, up-to-date source of truth, fostering data consistency across the entire organization. At its core, LiveSync is built with robust resilience in mind, featuring built-in failover mechanisms and connection recovery capabilities. This architecture provides businesses with the high availability they need to maintain continuous operations in today's always-on digital landscape. Moreover, by abstracting away the complexities of real-time infrastructure, LiveSync empowers developers to focus on creating features that drive business value. This focus on developer productivity, combined with its scalability and reliability, positions Ably LiveSync for MongoDB Atlas as a cornerstone technology for companies aiming to harness the power of real-time data synchronization. Figure 1: Ably real-time integration with MongoDB Atlas. Industry transformation: A real-time revolution This new integration has a number of implications across various sectors. For example, in the banking and financial services sector , the MongoDB Atlas-Ably integration enables instantaneous fraud detection systems that can promptly react to potential threats. Live trading platforms benefit as well, seamlessly updating to reflect every market change as it happens. Banking applications are equally enhanced, with real-time updating of account balances and transactions, ensuring that users always have access to the most recent financial information. In the retail industry , meanwhile, the integration facilitates real-time inventory management across both physical and online stores, ensuring that supply matches demand at all times. This capability supports dynamic pricing strategies that can adapt instantly to fluctuations in consumer interest, and it powers personalized shopping experiences with live product recommendations tailored to individual customer preferences. Manufacturing and mobility sectors also see transformative benefits. With the capability for real-time monitoring of production lines, businesses can implement just-in-time manufacturing processes, streamlining operations and reducing waste. Real-time tracking of vehicles and assets enhances logistics efficiency, while predictive maintenance systems provide foresight into potential equipment failures, allowing for timely interventions. The healthcare sector stands to gain significantly from this technology. Real-time patient monitoring systems offer healthcare providers immediate alerts, ensuring swift medical responses when necessary. Electronic health records receive seamless updates across multiple care settings, promoting coherent patient care. Efficient resource allocation is achieved through live tracking of hospital beds and equipment, optimizing hospital operations. Insurance companies are not left out of this technological leap. The integration allows for dynamic risk assessment and pricing models that adapt in real-time, refining accuracy and responsiveness. Instant claim processing and status updates enhance customer satisfaction, while live tracking of insured assets facilitates more accurate underwriting and expedites the resolution of claims. Finally, in telecommunications and media this integration promises buffer-free content delivery and streaming services, vastly improving the end-user experience. real-time network performance monitoring enables proactive issue resolution, maintaining service quality. Users can enjoy synchronized experiences across multiple devices and platforms, fostering seamless interaction with digital content. Today's business imperative As industries continue to evolve at a rapid pace, the integration of MongoDB Atlas and Ably LiveSync provides a compelling way for businesses to not only keep up but lead the real-time revolution. For IT decision-makers looking to put their organizations at the forefront of innovation, this integration turns static data into a dynamic driver of business growth and market leadership. Access MongoDB Atlas and Ably LiveSync Resources and start your journey towards real-time innovation today. Learn more about how MongoDB Atlas can power industry-specific solutions .

December 18, 2024