MongoDB Technical Administration and Operations Training Course

Module 1: Introduction and MongoDB Architecture (4h)

Content:

• Evolution and the MongoDB ecosystem
• Typical use cases, advantages, and limitations
• General architecture: instances, processes, and configuration management

Practice:

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

Module 2: Installation and Initial Configuration (6h)

Content:

• Hardware specifications and resource requirements
• Installation procedures on Linux (deb/rpm), Windows, and macOS
• Configuring YAML files (mongod.conf): dataDir, logDir, bindIp, port
• Startup options and managing services via systemd/service tools

Practice:

• 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)

Content:

• BSON documents, collections, and databases
• Modeling strategies: embedding vs. referencing; data design patterns
• Foundational indexes (introduced in earlier modules)
• Executing operations via Mongo Shell and scripting with drivers

Practice:

• Modeling a use case: inventory or billing system
• Implementing CRUD operations
• Applying schema validation using JSON Schema in MongoDB

Module 4: Indexes and Performance (4h)

Content:

• Types of indexes: simple, compound, multikey, text, and geospatial
• Leveraging explain() and analyzing performance metrics
• Impact of indexes on write performance and memory usage

Practice:

• Populating collections with test data
• Comparing query performance with and without indexes; interpreting explain() output
• Optimizing indexes based on access patterns

Module 5: Security (5h)

Content:

• Authentication mechanisms: SCRAM, and an introduction to LDAP/Kerberos
• Defining users and custom roles
• Implementing TLS/SSL for secure client-server communication
• At-rest encryption: key configuration
• Basic audit logging practices

Practice:

• Creating users with minimal privilege sets
• Configuring TLS in local instances
• Testing unauthorized access attempts and reviewing audit logs

Module 6: Replication and High Availability (6h)

Content:

• Core replication concepts: Primary, Secondary, and oplog
• Configuring replica sets: initiation, membership, and arbitration
• Monitoring status and understanding election processes
• Maintenance tasks: adding/removing members and reassigning priorities

Practice:

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

Module 7: Sharding and Horizontal Scalability (6h)

Content:

• Sharding fundamentals: shard key, config servers, and mongos router
• Selecting shard keys and associated risk factors
• Deploying config servers, shards, and mongos instances
• Rebalancing strategies and chunk migration

Practice:

• Setting up a basic sharded cluster
• Ingesting large-scale data to observe distribution patterns
• Exploring shard key changes and understanding their limitations

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

Content:

• Utilizing native tools: mongodump/mongorestore and filesystem snapshots
• Backup strategies for replica sets and sharded clusters
• Introduction to Cloud Manager/Ops Manager for backup management
• Disaster Recovery (DR) planning: RTO and RPO considerations

Practice:

• Executing backup and restore operations on a test database
• Simulating data loss and recovering from backups
• Designing a DR plan for a hypothetical scenario

Module 9: Monitoring and Alerts (4h)

Content:

• Essential tools: mongostat, mongotop, and Cloud Manager/Atlas Monitoring
• Concepts and examples of integrating Prometheus + Grafana
• Key performance metrics: CPU, memory, I/O, oplog size, and latencies
• Alerting: defining thresholds and setting up notifications

Practice:

• Deploying a local or container-based monitoring agent
• Configuring basic dashboards with sample metrics
• Simulating load conditions to trigger and observe alerts

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

Content:

• Upgrade strategies for replica sets and sharded clusters
• Data cleanup, compaction, and integrity checks
• Regular log reviews and audits
• Automating routine tasks using scripts, cronjobs, Ansible, and Terraform
• Data retention and archiving policies

Practice:

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

Summary and Next Steps