MongoDB 2.4.7: An Open Source Document Database

MongoDB (from "humongous")  is part of the NoSQL family of database systems. Instead of storing data in tables as is done in a "classical" relational database, MongoDB stores structured data as JSON-like documents with dynamic schemas (MongoDB calls the format BSON), making the integration of data in certain types of applications easier and faster.

The following is a brief summary of some of the main features:

Ad hoc queries

MongoDB supports search by field, range queries, regular expression searches. Queries can return specific fields of documents and also include user-defined JavaScript functions.

Indexing

Any field in a MongoDB document can be indexed (indices in MongoDB are conceptually similar to those in RDBMSes). Secondary indices are also available.

Replication

MongoDB supports master-slave replication. A master can perform reads and writes. A slave copies data from the master and can only be used for reads or backup (not writes). The slaves have the ability to select a new master if the current one goes down.

Load balancing

MongoDB scales horizontally using sharding. The developer chooses a shard key, which determines how the data in a collection will be distributed.

File storage

MongoDB could be used as a file system, taking advantage of load balancing and data replication features over multiple machines for storing files.

Aggregation

MapReduce can be used for batch processing of data and aggregation operations. The aggregation framework enables users to obtain the kind of results for which the SQL GROUP BY clause is used.

Capped collections

MongoDB supports fixed-size collections called capped collections. This type of collection maintains insertion order and, once the specified size has been reached, behaves like a circular queue.

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