MongoDB Technical Administration and Operations Training Course

Module 1: Introduction and MongoDB Architecture (4h)

Topics Covered:

• History and the MongoDB ecosystem
• Common use cases, advantages, and limitations
• Core architecture: instances, processes, and configuration

Practical Exercises:

• Interactive exploration: connecting via Mongo Shell/CLI
• Creating a sample database and collection

Module 2: Installation and Initial Configuration (6h)

Topics Covered:

• Hardware and resource requirements
• Installation on Linux (deb/rpm), Windows, and macOS
• YAML configuration files (mongod.conf): dataDir, logDir, bindIp, port
• Startup options and systemd/service management

Practical Exercises:

• Deploying instances on local VMs or Docker containers
• Tuning configurations for development versus production environments
• Verifying secure remote connectivity

Module 3: Data Modeling and Basic Operations (5h)

Topics Covered:

• BSON documents, collections, and databases
• Modeling strategies: embedding vs. referencing; data design patterns
• Basic indexes (introduced in previous sections)
• Operations using Mongo Shell and scripting examples with drivers

Practical Exercises:

• Modeling a specific use case, such as an inventory or billing system
• Implementing CRUD operations
• Applying schema validation using JSON Schema in MongoDB

Module 4: Indexes and Performance (4h)

Topics Covered:

• Simple, compound, multikey, text, and geospatial indexes
• Using explain() to analyze query metrics
• The impact of indexes on write performance and memory usage

Practical Exercises:

• Creating collections populated with test data
• Testing queries with and without indexes; interpreting explain() output
• Optimizing indexes based on access patterns

Module 5: Security (5h)

Topics Covered:

• Authentication mechanisms: SCRAM, LDAP/Kerberos (overview)
• Defining users and custom roles
• Configuring TLS/SSL between clients and servers
• At-rest encryption: key configuration
• Implementing basic audit logging

Practical Exercises:

• Creating users with minimal necessary privileges
• Configuring TLS in local instances
• Verifying unauthorized access attempts and reviewing audit logs

Module 6: Replication and High Availability (6h)

Topics Covered:

• Replication concepts: Primary, Secondary, and oplog
• Replica set configuration: initialization, membership, and arbitration
• Monitoring cluster status and election processes
• Maintenance tasks: adding/removing members and reassigning priorities

Practical Exercises:

• Deploying a three-node replica set (locally or on VMs)
• Simulating primary failure to observe failover behavior
• Rebuilding secondary nodes and recovering replica sets

Module 7: Sharding and Horizontal Scalability (6h)

Topics Covered:

• Sharding concepts: shard key, config servers, and mongos router
• Shard key selection and associated risks
• Deploying config servers, shards, and mongos instances
• Rebalancing and chunk migration processes

Practical Exercises:

• Configuring a basic sharded cluster
• Inserting large-scale data to observe distribution
• Introducing shard key changes to understand limitations

Module 8: Backup, Restore, and Disaster Recovery (4h)

Topics Covered:

• Native tools: mongodump/mongorestore and filesystem snapshots
• Backups within replica sets and sharded clusters
• Basic use of Cloud Manager/Ops Manager for backup management
• Disaster Recovery (DR) planning: RTO and RPO definitions

Practical Exercises:

• Performing backup and restore operations on a test database
• Simulating system failure and recovering from backups
• Designing a DR plan for a hypothetical scenario

Module 9: Monitoring and Alerts (4h)

Topics Covered:

• Tools: mongostat, mongotop, and Cloud Manager/Atlas Monitoring
• Integration with Prometheus + Grafana (concepts and examples)
• Key metrics: CPU, memory, I/O, oplog size, and latencies
• Alerts: defining thresholds and setting up notifications

Practical Exercises:

• Deploying a local or container-based monitoring agent
• Setting up basic dashboards with sample metrics
• Simulating load to observe alert triggers

Module 10: Maintenance, Upgrades, and Best Practices (4h)

Topics Covered:

• Upgrade strategies for replica sets and sharded clusters
• Data cleanup, compaction, and integrity checks
• Reviewing logs and conducting regular audits
• Automating routine tasks using scripts, cronjobs, Ansible, and Terraform
• Data retention and archiving policies

Practical Exercises:

• Simulating minor and major upgrades in a controlled environment
• Creating automation scripts for backup and monitoring workflows
• Developing a periodic maintenance checklist

Summary and Next Steps